Product Description

Little Michael has everything his ten-year-old heart could desire - including a great dinner every night. But soon he questions where all the "leftovers" come from and discovers that his dad is bringing home much more than the bacon. Yikes, his parents are cannibals! Special Features include: Cast and crew filmographies, trailer, film facts, and scene access. Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65262 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-05-25
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 81 minutes

Amazon.com
In Parents, director Bob Balaban deconstructs our Father Knows Best perception of '50s suburbia, skewing it via moody cinematography and Angelo Badalamenti's sinister score. Ten-year-old Michael Lamele (Bryan Madorsky) thinks his parents (Randy Quaid and Mary Beth Hurt) are cannibals. His constant fear of his folks and their supposedly evil doings begin to warp his view of the world, and he starts seeing a social worker to confront his problems. Are they merely childhood fears intensified by an overactive imagination, or do Michael's parents really crave human flesh? Much in the way that David Lynch approached the sinister underside of small-town America in Wild at Heart, so too does Balaban challenge our notion of the 'burbs as an escape from the harsh reality of the city. If anything, Michael's parents show their true colors once they become wrapped up in the materialistic, socially predatory world of suburban life. Vastly underappreciated, Balaban's Parents is one of those rare modern horror films that uses psychology to freak you out rather than tossing buckets of blood at you (although there are a few in the film, given its theme). This is one horror film that stands up, and deserves repeated viewings. --Bryan Reesman

Customer Reviews

Brilliantly disturbing!
Parents is a film I had known about for quite a while before I finally decided to check it out. I was quite surprised by what I saw. Bob Balaban's cold, minimalistic style was just the touch this film needed. What could have been slapstick horror comedy (a la Dead-Alive or Evil Dead 2, both of which are great; that style just wouldn't work as well for this film) instead becomes a superbly filmed satire of 1950s family culture.

I never thought I could actually be afraid of Randy Quaid, but his performance is truly blood-curdling. (Strangely enough, due to the facial expressions he makes throughout the movie, this is the first time I've ever noticed a resemblance between him and his brother Dennis.) He plays the character with a understatement I didn't realize he was capable of.

I understand why some critics came down on the climax and resolution of the film, feeling it much too conventional in light of what had preceded it, but I feel that there weren't too many more possibilities they could have utilized. The film works fine the way it is, and I recommend it to fans of horror films and sharp-witted satire alike.

Leftovers, anyone?
"Parents" is a modern-day comedy about a 1950s family... the Laemlies (lem-lees). Young Micheal Laemlie lives a life of secrecy, pain and anxiety. Plauged by regular nightmares and, to some extent, "daymares", Mike is a suffering child. He is moody, emotionless, withdrawn, and a 'picky eater'... apparently emotionally disturbed. In response to a drawing he is asked to create at school, Mike begins to see the school pyschologist... but, well, she doesn't hang around for too long.

This is a howingly funny gallow's-humor flick with a cannibalistic twist that is sure to catch your attention and earn a special place in your video collection. The music is idiotically happy, even in the midst of some horribly gruesome scenes. The effect is... eerie, disturbing.

Remember, people... what's the scariest thing of all? PARENTS!

What is real?
Parents is one of those rare film gems that, although is masterfully crafted, may never get the recognition it deserves. It's a 'film', not a 'movie'. It is a horror film, psychologically and with a bit of grossness thrown in. It really tells the tale of idle young minds which can stagnate and rot in the tepid pools of parental medicority - probably secretly funded by wealthy vegetarians. The boy has a lot going on inside his head - just like his father's boss tells him about his father. Worth owning - especially if you can get a DVD copy.