Meet the Applegates (1990)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Michael Lehmann

Writers:

Michael Lehmann (written by)
Redbeard Simmons (written by)

Release Date:

1 February 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Giant preying mantis living in a south American jungle decide to move into suburban USA. Disguised as humans...

Plot Keywords:

Insect | Cockroach | Rape | Praying Mantis | Giant Insect

Cast

Ed Begley Jr.	...	Richard P. Applegate
Stockard Channing	...	Jane Applegate
Dabney Coleman	...	Aunt Bea
Robert Jayne	...	Johnny Applegate (as Bobby Jacoby)
Camille Cooper	...	Sally Applegate (as Cami Cooper)
Glenn Shadix	...	Greg Samson
Susan Barnes	...	Opal Withers
Adam Biesk	...	Vince Sampson
Savannah Smith Boucher	...	Dottie (as Savannah Smith Bouchér)
Roger Aaron Brown	...	Sheriff Heidegger
Lee Garlington	...	Nita Samson
Philip Arthur Ross	...	Kevin
Steven Robert Ross	...	Kenny
Mark Bringleson	...	Rich Block, Family Bazaar Magazine
Chuck Lafont	...	Clem Shepherd

Also Known As:

The Applegators (Philippines: English title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Company:

Cinemarque Entertainment

A slice of glorious early nineties garbage

Michael Lehmann has had a somewhat checkered career: on the one hand he is responsible for the excellent 'Heathers' and the warm and competently made 'The Truth About Cats and Dogs' and on the other hand he also produced not only 'Hudson Hawk', a textbook flop of the highest order, and the awful '40 Days and 40 Nights' but also My Giant, a film so bad that audiences leaving the theatre should have been provided with complementary hypnotism to remove the experience from their memories. However it is no surprise that the team responsible for this film - Lehmann and the wonderfully named Redbeard Simmons - should have produced a film entitled Beaver Gets a Boner. Applegates is the duo's followup and what a delicious wedge of trash it is, a tart with a heart kind of a movie easily mixing the downright unpleasant with the lightly comic and a bit of social and environmental commentary.

The Applegates are not your ordinary suburban American family: they're giant insects bent on world destruction. I started watching this expecting that the bug natures of the family (excellently played by Ed Begley Jnr, the always brilliant Stockard Channing and two bright young things whose careers have since faltered) would be played down because of the tight budget. I hadn't realised what sort of territory this film is staking out: mention of John Waters is totally justified in the best possible way and there is also a whiff of Troma. Someone somewhere has decided ropey-schmopey they're going with the effects lending a wonderful air of B-movie to proceedings.

I said before that the Applegates weren't an ordinary American family but they are recognisable as a sort of hellish recreation of one in the late twentieth century and they evolve fast. Developing their personae from a sort of Janet and Jim book the family arrive as fifties cardboard cutouts, in that curious way that only a film born of the 80's and that decade's fifties fixation can achieve. That in a sense is what this film is really about for exposure to Bush Mark I's America leaves Dad jerking off to insect porn in the bathroom, Mom a hopelessly addicted shopaholic, Johnny a rather scuzzy ultra-pothead and daughter Sally stroppy, pregnant and rather more than bi-curious. Best of all, that's not even the plot. There's lots to love here: cross dressing Queen Bea (a lovely turn by Dabney Coleman), Kevin and Kenny the twin dealers who now look like something out of a time warp and a whole lot of gore. This isn't a film for the easily offended or the weak of stomach and even I found one or two moments a touch unpleasant. But a broad streak of comedy and a thin veneer of environmentalism gives this in many ways bleak film plenty of heart and if the dialogue sparkled a bit better then this quite political tale (is it really about communism vs. capitalism?) would be a trash classic. As it is this is quirky, unpredictable and looks dated in the best way possible. Don't get me wrong this is no Citizen Kane. They don't make films like this any more and maybe they shouldn't but I'm glad they made this one like this, so sit back, relax, crack open the beers, light up whatever and enjoy because this film - though at times a touch heavy handed - is lots of fun. Just don't show it to Granny.