Reviewed by Melissa Garza
When I was a child, I thought the cult favorite “Parents” was a cool freaky little flick. It was scary enough to give me nightmares but kept me entertained enough not to change the channel. Then, I was too young to understand how complex and intelligent the overall production was. It is an in-depth film that provides multiple different realities. The plot itself may be a red herring which makes “Parents” all the more compelling.
On the surface Nick (Randy Quaid) and Lily (Mary Beth Hurt) are the normal 1950s couple who have just moved to a small town and are attempting to do their best to fit in. Nick is a scientist who works at Toxico, a chemical company. Lily is a housewife who cooks, cleans and is very overprotective of their young son Mike (Bryan Madorsky). When Nick demands too much from Mike, Lily often steps in and cools the waters.
Mike is a very disturbed young boy who is seemingly afraid of everything. He has nightmares, is petrified of the dark, and grows more and more fearful of his parents. Most concerning to him is their daily intake of meat which he becomes convinced is human.
He acts out in school much to the alarm of both his teacher and a social worker who begin watching the boy carefully. He draws pictures of his family covered in blood. He talks about skinning animals alive in class.
Things soon turn darker as Nick grows to loathe his son and one is forced to wonder whether the parents are actually cannibals or if young Mike is the true killer and his parents actions were just to cover up his sins.
“Parents” is a well-paced horror movie that is often viewed as a black comedy though that’s really isn’t the case. This is a straight-up old fashioned horror movie that uses many different techniques to build the tension throughout.
The movie is well-acted and Quaid does amazing in the lead. One has to hope that he is able to soon return to Hollywood and be cast in some new big screen productions.
Scared Stiff Rating: 6.5/10
