Such a frustrating disappointment

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Veteran character actor Bob Balaban made his filmmaking debut with this darkest of dark comedies, set in 1950s suburbia. Young Michael Laemle (Bryan Madorsky) has moved from Massachusetts to a new setting, where he starts to become suspicious of his incredibly straight-laced parents (Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt). The biggest issue is that the only thing they ever seem to have for dinner is leftovers, and Michael is curious as to where the meat came from in the first place. He's become a fairly odd, disturbed kid, but growing up in this setting, you can't hardly blame him.Written by Christopher Hawthorne, "Parents" does benefit from portraying the less pleasant aspects of childhood life, although one has to wonder if the budget for Balabans' film was cut down at some point. The script has its interesting qualities (it's partly a social satire), but "Parents" reeks of potential not fully realized. It wraps up a little TOO quickly, and has at least one plot thread (Michaels' befriending of offbeat classmate Sheila Zellner (London Juno)) that never really gets paid off.Still, this film shows off an admirable visual sensibility on the part of Balaban and his crew. There are some truly creepy moments, and gore hounds need not fret as things do eventually get fairly bloody. The score, credited to both Jonathan Elias and Angelo Badalamenti, is quite effective - the mambo music is insidiously catchy.The cast is first-rate. Quaid delivers a remarkably controlled performance, Hurt is delightfully giddy, and Sandy Dennis gets to be a little off-kilter herself as the social worker concerned with Michaels' welfare. Young actors Madorsky and Juno are appealing, and Kathryn Grody (the schoolteacher) and Deborah Rush & Graham Jarvis (the girls' parents) offer fine support.Balaban could have continued to have a somewhat lucrative directing career with features of this sort (his next big picture was the romantic horror comedy "My Boyfriend's Back"). His direction is certainly capable enough; his daughter Mariah has a small role.Six out of 10.

Fantastic film however, its not for everyone, if you are a fan of horror, creepiness and weirdness, and can appreciate art and have a very artistic point of view on films you will totally love this! Plus, the acting is fantastic, the father nails the part of being scarily creepy, and the kid also did wonderful. like I said it's not for everyone, you might really love love this or you might completely hate it. It completely depends, so do give it a try.

I liked this film, but I'm honestly torn between the aspects I liked and the obvious flaws. This film couldn't decide what it wanted to be. A dark comedy, a satire, a surrealist film, a thriller? In some ways, the film is a blend of all of these genres, but it sparsely executes any aspects of those genres effectively.There's not enough laughs for it to be a dark comedy. There's a scene in particular where a character is getting stabbed, whilst a '50s pop song plays. The delivery of the scene is like a thriller, yet the use of the song makes it feel like a comedy. I feel like an opportunity for some great dark comedy was missed (think Shaun of the Dead, with the use of the Queen song). The nods to '50s pop culture are cute at best. There's some suspense near the end, but we already know from the start that the parents are cannibals - so why was there a "big reveal" scene? The dream sequences are fun, but never really amount to much. It seems like the dreams were only added to make the audience think the lead character had a wild imagination, so that the "big reveal" scene would be even more shocking. Again, it's not really a secret that the parents are cannibals... the poster gives it away! The directing by Bob Balaban was quite good. Some fun takes, and great set up shots. Going back to the flaws though, it really feels like the director had a plethora of creative ideas, and wanted to fit them all in to one film. There's a a recurring theme of the colour red throughout... but then there's also a theme of the colour green... then both seem abandoned when the nearing the finale. It's like the director wanted to throw in some symbolism, or deep meaning, but then forgot about it due to focusing on another idea. It's sad, because I think Balaban is a creative director, and he went on to director a legit underrated cult classic - "My Boyfriend's Back". This film was more like a "my first cult film" than a true classic.The acting was great by all involved, especially Randy Quaid. The soundtrack was generally good, with the use of some '50s songs. The placement of the score was hit or miss though.Despite the flaws, there's something charming about the film. Maybe it's the '50s setting, or the surreal aspects, interesting direction, or even a surprisingly good performance from Randy Quaid. Whatever it is, this film has all the makings of a cult film... however, this is more like a cult not-so-classic.

Horror movies often exploit what is familiar, mundane and safe to us in order to shake up our sense of security, playing on this ingrained sense of security to generate fear. Halloween did it using a home, Ringu did it using a TV set, Parents gets literal with the familiar and uses ...well parents. Randy Quaid's performance is something to behold, his quirky chipper exterior belies something very dark and unpleasant indeed. There are several dream-like sequences in this movie which are deliciously ghastly. Powerful themes are at work here which will touch and unsettle anybody at a base level- revulsion at parents as sexual entities, the powerlessness and frustration of childhood it's all quite Freudian but in a most entertaining way. If the object of any horror movie (this is certainly a horror movie) is to scare then Parents is probably going to fall short of instigating terror in a hardened horror fan like myself. I did find it unbelievably creepy and pervasive however, this movie does cleverly tap into the childhood fears I'd forgotten about and for that it succeeds where so many more contemporary films will fail spectacularly (Mama springs to mind) The period setting and music in this movie are wonderful, the score (by Angelo Badalamenti of Twin Peaks fame) is perfectly tuned to the themes and narrative. Sound is so very important in horror and when it's right it can make the difference between a scary movie and a boring one. Overall Parents is a very enjoyable film, it's funny, clever and gruesome what more could you possibly want?