Meu Amigo Munchie

Munchie can make pizzas fly down the street. They found munchie in some box hidden away in a mine or something. Jennifer Love-Hewit is in this. So is Loni Anderson. This is a heartwarming tale of a kid who finds Munchie, then gets springboarded to popularity. Munchie is cool. He looks stupid, and when he talks, his hands twirl around. Watch this movie late late at night with friends, you'll laugh your head off. That one big guy from Canonball run is Munchies voice.

Do you remember Steven Spielberg's classic story of an alien creature who interacts with a lonely kid who just needs a friend?

This is like that, if you take out the joy, sense of awe, and all the heart - and heap on alllll the campy over the top schlock of a low budget movie.

Is it "so bad it's good?" Yeah, I laughed quite a bit at some of the ridiculous situations that were super problematic for a movie aimed at kids. I'm not sure how they managed to get Loni Anderson and Dom DeLuise for this, but would have loved to be a fly on the wall when those negotiations were going on.

All in all, it deserves a spot in the, "what did I just experience?" list of movies.

I really have to lay into this movie. The acting is terrible, the lines are awful, nobody sounds like a kid for one, secondly the adults are written like kids, it's atrocious. The film has no depth or emotion to it, just a series of pointless gags, including tripping on a banana skin.... The special effects are bad, the magical friend is very gratting and the ending is incredibly lazy. Children deserve better than this and I feel sympathy for the young cast who do their best with a poor piece of writing. Again and again with bad movies it comes back to the writing. If this was meant to be a comedy then at least put in some funny jokes for us.

My review was written in June 1992 after watching the movie on New Horizons video cassette.

T&A director Jim Wynorski tries on the family film with good results in "Munchie". Picture opened in May in Nashville, but is mainly of interest to video fans.

The Title is a bit confusing, since the singular "Munchie" is a sequel to Bettina Hirsch's 1987 film "Munchies". That kind of moniker reversal is rare, though Universal remade the 1939 classic "Destry Rides Again" in 1954 as simply "Destry". (Adding confusion, Universal's original 1932 version was also called "Destry Rides Again").

Thi time, the one critter, an oversize smiling puppet voiced in wisecracking style by Dom DeLuise, is discovered in a mineshaft by young Jaime McEnnan and becomes his pal, helping him with bullies at school and magically granting other wishes.

Film laks the frenetic nature of its models, such as "Gremlins" and other imitations like the "Critters" and "Ghoulies" series. However, Wynorski's pacy direction and frequent sight gags keep things moving and entertaining.

McEnnan is an ingratiating young hero, and Loni Anderson makes for a most glamorous single parent. Arte Johnson has little to do as a neighboring archaeologist (filling the role of Harey Korman from the original), while Andrew Stevens overplays his nominal heavy as the hero's future stepdad.

Effects, such as a flying pizza, are minor, with the accent on comely, Wynorski's trademark of buxom women in the cast is amply delivered not only by Anderson but Toni Naples as Mcennan's math teacher and Monique Gabrielle as a sexy secretary to the principal.

Munchie (1992) is a movie that my daughter and I watched together on Tubi. The storyline follows a young man who gets bullied at school and struggles to fit in. He finds a mysterious box with a Munchie inside that agrees to grant his every wish. The young man is about to get his life flipped upside down.

This movie is directed by Jim Wynorski (The Lost Empire) and stars Loni Anderson (WKRP in Cincinnati), Andrew Stevens (10 to Midnight), Dom DeLuise (Blazing Saddles) and Jennifer Love Hewitt (I Know What You Did Last Summer).

This movie has a way better cast than it should. Loni Anderson looks amazing as the mother and Dom DeLuise was a tremendous choice as the voice of the Munchie. The next thing I must say is this movie is bad...but there are some scenes that will make you smile. The pizza scene with the chef with the meat clever was a lot of fun. The funeral dream cracked me up and is something all kids do. They also did a great job creating the various Munchie outfits. The ending is predictable but the mom's boyfriend is so annoying it's still fun to see it happen.

Overall, this movie is more fun than it should be...but still bad. I'd score this a 4/10 and recommend seeing it once.