Mikey

This entry into the taboo 'killer kid' horror sub-genre involves 9 year old Mikey. The first scene shows him slaughtering his entire adoptive family (yes, really) in one fell swoop. Whats more, hes videotaped the whole thing for his later entertainment. Mikey is found hiding in a closet by the police officers investigating who could have done this. After fobbing them off with a fake description of the perpetrator he is then placed up for adoption.

The majority of the film is centred around Mikey's new life with his new family. He starts out by looking every bit the model angelic child but then red flags start to appear. Then the number of 'accidents' and casualties starts to grow.

The power of this film is that it was filmed and feels like a TV movie. It adheres to this genre's conventions but subverts it because of it's controversial subject matter. This juxtaposition works amazingly well especially as the film pulls no punches when it comes to the truly sadistic and brutal deeds of it's central character. The performance of Brian Bonsall is pitch perfect as the psychopathic child. It's also great to see Ashley Laurence from Hellraiser fame make an appearance as Mikey's concerned teacher.

This film was actually made for the 'straight to video' market in the US but was then to be released theatrically in the UK. The film was submitted for a certificate to the BBFC and was awarded an 18 cert in November 1992. But then things took an unexpected turn. The abduction of toddler James Bulger by two other children dominated the news in February of the next year and the media was stating how horror films and specifically home videos must be the cause. A number of films that had been released were targetted with Childs Play 3 taking most of the blame. The Daily Mail (who else) noted how Mikey was a future release and involved a child killer. Surely this couldn't be released now, could it, they opined. Head of the BBFC, James Ferman then took the unprecedented step of taking back the 18 certificate that had been granted to Mikey and banning it outright. It's hard to believe that this happened but it did. Mikey was resubmitted for a certificate in 1996 but was rejected. The film is still banned in the UK.

BUT, it's on YouTube.

Mikey is a pretty hardcore slasher flick when the villian who you should fear is not a guy in the hockey mask or a guy can kill you in your dream but the most harmless person in the world:A child.The movie is not messing around with viewer cause about 5 minutes in the movie Mikey the main character already kill his adoptive family start off with the drowning of a little girl.The subject behind Mikey is disturbing and not easy to understand but don't take it seriously cause put all the spychological stuff aside Mikey is still cheesy as hell.

"Mikey" reminded me a lot of "Stepfather" with Terry O'Quinn, only a crazed kid instead of a grown-up. "Mikey" is a pretty disturbing, yet predictable film. The film is pretty violent; even a little girl is killed in the thing.

I thought Brian Bonsall did an extremely good job as the disturbed boy, when we're used to him playing that sweet kid. The film has a good measure of suspense and keeps you on the edge, but then they throw in an awful ending that you see coming a mile away. "Mikey" is worth watching if you like fun horror movies, but they could've done much better with the ending.

Mikey is a horrifying thriller telling the story of a 10 year old boy with more than slight psychotic tendancies.

Many people say the concept is far fetched, I'd be inclined to agree but not to an extent where I couldn't take it seriously.

One fascinating fact about Mikey is that it's still to this day prohibited in the United Kingdom. It was banned due to the James Bulger murder, but alike the accused Childs Play 3 (1991) there are no similarities at all. Most movies are re-reviewed for release but due to red tape Mikey never has been and likely won't be.

It's one of those films that gets under your skin and succeeds in doing so from the opening through to the closing credits.

I'm not saying Mikey is a good film because it's not, but it does what it sets out to do and you have to give it credit for that.

The Good:

Kid does a great job

Very unsettling

The Bad:

Still a rather average effort

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

This is reason 7878952 why I don't want children

Ashley Laurence should have had a better career

Girls liking "Bad boys" when will they learn?

A seemingly innocent and sweet little boy causes murder and mayhem in his new neighborhood and falls for the teenage girl next-door.

As others have pointed out, this film has sort of the same feel as "The Stepfather", except the killer is now a little boy instead of a seemingly caring new dad. Of course, "The Stepfather" is the better movie, but that's no secret.

I do think the film needs to be brought into the light. I had not heard of it until a book by T. S. Kord made me aware, and then when I went to watch it on Hulu, I found the picture quality was not the greatest and the film was cut for full-screen. With horror veterans Mimi Craven and Ashley Laurence, as well as Lyman Ward, it seems like this would be a good film for Scream Factory to pick up.