A Poção Mágica

It seems almost all the posts people have on this movie are memories of watching it as a child, and then having vague memories of bits and pieces as an adult...

I must say, I'm not much different in this matter either. All I could remember was bits and pieces of the plot line. I do remember getting nightmares from it (like most people), not that this is particularly a scary movie by today's standards, but to a child it definitely puts a psychological fear that stays with you. So I looked it up, trying every search word I could think of, (i.e. hair loss, regrowth, solution, paintbrushes) Ehh... after browsing through tons of rogain ads, I finally came across it. I managed to find a copy and watched it again.

It's actually a truly unique movie. A novel idea about a kid who loses his hair, and gets more than he wishes when he applies a magical hair-growth solution. I think perhaps it wasn't marketed correctly back in the 80's because while it seems like a childs movie, I wouldn't recommend it to young children. Maybe not just the marketing either, but the movie itself would've probably been able to stand on its own without being characterized as a child's movie. I would bet that there are probably even people today who have been scarred from watching this as a very young child...

So, if you come across it, it's worth checking out. But sensor before letting your kids see this one!

I can't vouch for how scary this film might seem to a child - this is one of the few IMDb reviews written by someone who didn't see the movie when young - but I can confirm that it has a very weird tone that could be disturbing to kids: the way the story is told is just a little off-kilter, making the whole thing feel like a bad dream.

The bizarre plot concerns 11-year-old Michael (Mathew Mackay), who investigates a burnt-out spooky mansion where something frightens him so much that all of his hair falls out. Bullied at school for being bald, Michael is delighted when he is visited by two ghosts who give him a recipe to solve his problem, the crucial ingredient being peanut butter. Painting the concoction on his head before bedtime, he wakes the next day to discover that the mixture has worked - but having put too much peanut butter into the solution, his hair growth is rapid and unstoppable.

Matters get even more strange when Michael is abducted and used by mad painter Sergio (Michel Maillot) as the source of hair for his magic paintbrushes, which are assembled by other kidnapped children. It is up to Michael's sister Suzie (Alison Darcy) and best friend Connie (Siluck Saysanasy) to come to the rescue.

Given a bigger budget and a better cast, I could imagine this film receiving the same level of love and admiration reserved for family favourites like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Labyrinth and Coraline - it certainly has a lot of imagination - but as it stands, it's merely a curiosity remembered fondly by those who saw it at an impressionable age. I can imagine most adults struggling with the cheap production values, poor performances and awkward storytelling - factors that help to make it a surreal experience but which discerning grown-ups might not find that appealing.

I just was cleaning out our basement and came across our old betamax movie collection.

Aahh memories....

Anyways one of the movies was Peanut Butter Solution...it immediately brought back forgotten memories, but sadly, since we no longer own a beta machine, I cant watch it.

Now, I haven't seen this movie since I was a (young) kid, but one thing I do remember about this movie was that it FREAKED ME THE HELL OUT! (Along with another movie we has on Beta, ET, but thats another story)

I'm reading here its a comedy? I don't remember the complete story, except for the fact that the peanut butter stuff grew hair (sounds funny) but I don't remember laughing at all, I remember my sister loving this movie but I hated it cause it scared the hell out of me, and creeped me out big time, I really am looking forward to finding this somewhere and watching it now that I'm older....And although ET still freaks me out to the point of not being able to watch it, maybe this will be different.

I totally agree that the movie is not a comedy and not for children. I can't think of a darker film.

I saw this as a child and have vividly horrible memories of the scene where he gets his wig yanked off in the soccer game. All the imagery taps into a child's deepest fears. Even the gooey quality of the peanut butter itself and spreading it all over your head. And the orphanage / sweatshop where they starve the children. I had nightmares of being trapped in there.It's just so wrong.

It would probably seem campy to watch now, but the original impact my psyche is irreversible. It's so funny that literally everyone in the forums had the same experience. I've never seen such unanimity in on IMDb.

Watched this several times as a kid. My babysitter had it on VHS. I was fascinated by it and it really got into my psyche. It's dreamlike, weaving seemingly unrelated elements into a story with almost free-association. There's peanut butter mixed with flies and other gross stuff, super fast-growing hair, paintings that come to life, a sugar trail being washed away, and other random images. I wonder if this movie was actually inspired by a dream, or by someone picking random words out of a dictionary maybe?

Anyway, I loved it and longed to be able to paint a picture that I could walk into. The plot is unique and imaginative. I was too young when I watched this to pay attention to dialogue or acting - they're probably not great. The imagery is amazing, though. I don't remember the story being especially scary, but it was disturbing. I believe the boy who is the victim of all this was in a coma and also kidnapped. I just wonder if I watched this movie now whether it would still seem as magical to me, or would I be disappointed?