By Geno McGahee
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.
When I was a kid, I loved The Banana Splits. The happy music and slapstick comedy were a lot of fun and even my two children loved the theme and joy it brought. When I heard that THE BANANA SPLITS movie was being made and that it was a horror movie, it got my attention right away and I was immediately interested. Released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and available on Blu-ray and DVD on August 27th, THE BANANA SPLITS is a lot of fun.
Beth (Dani Kind) wants a good birthday for her young son, Harley (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong). His favorite show is THE BANANA SPLITS and she buys tickets to see a live taping of the program. Her other older son, Austin (Romeo Carere), wants to see his younger brother have a great time while the stepfather, Mitch (Steve Lund), is a total jerk. In horror movies, it’s a rarity to have a kind and loving stepfather and this film follows the formula.
The family goes to see the show with Harley’s friend, Zoe (Maria Nash), and everything is going normally for the show as the excited crowd waits outside to see their heroes. Thadd (Kiroshan Naidoo) and his girlfriend, Poppy (Celina Martin), are there, hoping to broadcast it live for their social media followers. Jonathan (Keeno Lee Hector) wants his daughter, Parker (Lia Sachs), to be a star very badly and at any cost. So, the film immediately sets up some good characters for the Banana Splits to take out.
Even though the show is doing well, the new VP of Programming, Andy (Daniel Fox), has decided to go in a new direction and cancel the show. Drooper overhears it and doesn’t like the idea of being taken off the air. Also upset are the producer, Rebecca (Sara Canning) and employee, Paige (Naledi Majola). They will both be out of jobs.
The show goes on and all is normal. After the show, a select few have the opportunity to go backstage and meet the Banana Splits and this is when the film kicks into horror gear. The Banana splits begin killing people in the most gory of fashion but it’s all good fun. The film maintains a light feel despite the extreme gore. I found myself laughing a lot as I watched this.
The Banana Splits want the children to keep watching, but the show has extremely changed. They are now killing people in front of the kids and still doing the same bits, hoping for the same joyful reactions. Drooper runs the group, mostly, and finds great joy in punishing the adults that he holds responsible for ending his show. Fleegle and Bingo are on board, but Snorky, the elephant, Harley’s favorite, isn’t as sold on the idea, leaving some room for survival for the kids.
Beth finds out her hubby is cheating on her and makes some decisions about her life. She rediscovers lost strength and goes after the robots to save her family, leading to a really satisfying conclusion to this very unique and fun film.
THE BANANA SPLITS is a little FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S and some CHOPPING MALL, but it’s not a rip off of either. This is a very fun film that leaves plenty of room for a sequel, which I’m hoping for.
I really enjoyed THE BANANA SPLITS. I loved the first show when I was a kid and watching this horror-based follow up was really amusing. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 8/10
RELEASE INFO
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
Banana Splits: Behind the Horror
DIGITAL AND BLU-RAY COMBO PACK SPECIAL FEATURES
Banana Splits: Behind the Horror
Terror on Set
Breaking News! The Banana Splits Massacre
DIGITAL
The Banana Splits Movie will be available to own on Digital. Digital purchase allows consumers to instantly stream and download all episodes to watch anywhere and anytime on their favorite devices. Digital movies and TV shows are available from various digital retailers including Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu and others. A Digital Copy is also included with the purchase of specially marked Blu-ray discs for redemption and cloud storage.
BASICS
Digital Release: August 13, 2019
Blu-ray/DVD Release: August 27, 2019
Order Due Date: July 23, 2019
Blu-ray and DVD Presented in 16×9 widescreen format
Running Time: Feature: Approx. 86 min
Enhanced Content: Approx. 15 min
UNITED STATES
DVD
Price: $19.98 SRP
1 DVD-9s
Audio – English (5.1)
BLU-RAY
Price: $24.98 SRP
1 Blu-ray + 1 DVD + Digital Copy
BD Audio –DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 – English
CANADA
DVD
Price: $24.99 SRP
1 DVD-9s
Audio – English (5.1)
Subtitles – English
BLU-RAY
Price: $34.97 SRP
1 Blu-ray + 1 DVD
BD Audio –DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 – English
Subtitles – English
