A Família Applegate

New World Picturs must have really dug Heathers (1988) as director Michael Lehmann had this in production before that even hit theaters. It tells the story of a group of giant bugs that move from the Amazon rainforest to the USA suburbs and pretend to be humans in order to destroy a nuclear power plant. The parents (Ed Begley Jr. And Stockard Channing) want to project normalcy on their mission, but are stuck with only 1950s stereotypes as reference. Soon their kids (Camille Cooper and Bobby Jacoby) are succumbing to evil American ways and the parents aren't far behind.

This has to be the oddest film in New World catalog post-Corman sale in 1983. Lehmann obviously must have been a big fan of Beetlejuice (1988) as this is totally trying to copy that Tim Burton style here. It must have worked in some regard as after this Burton teamed up with this film's producer, Denise Di Novi, for the next decade. This is actually pretty fun once it gets going as each family member has to hide their foul ups by cocooning people. Kevin Yagher's team provides some impressive big bug FX, but the filmmakers goof in the action climax as all the bugs look the same so you can't tell who is who as they fight the bad bug (played by Dabney Coleman in human form). The fact New World funneled money from successes like Hellraiser (1987) into something like this won't leave you shocked to learn the company was in financial trouble by the time this was wrapping up and delayed the release for several years.

I would say the most important statement in this corny flick; has to be that societal (social) influence can be much greater than anything else (including your priorities for survival) in this case.

Yeah, they're aliens trying to fit in. Transformed into a human appearance, pretty much every member of the alien family ends up succumbing to the (not so virtuous) practices (and vices) of those (humans), with whom they interact. And that does have its funny moments, however predictable.

I think the alien son (getting stoned with buddies), is pretty funny. Kid plays it well. Begley too, is fairly funny.

It's worth the watch. And; vs the hearltess, mindless releases of today, who knows, this might be a masterpiece.

Angered by a logging company encroaching deep into their natural forest, a family of large insects camouflage themselves as humans and blend themselves into a small American town. Dick gets a job with the nuclear power plant in order to sabotage it and wage war on the human population. However the family finds that their attempts to blend in are working a little too easy and they endanger their own mission.

Despite being a little too gory for my tastes, this comedy is actually quite sharp in it's main satire on American life. The main joke for me was the way the family of bugs are sucked into the lifestyle of American mores – the mother gives in to commercialism, the son to drugs, the daughter to teenage sex and the father to adultery. It's comical to watch their descent and works pretty well. Where's it's all going is less clear and the message is not so clear in regards whether becoming `normal' is for the best or not. What is clear is the eco message which pokes fun at those who would make war on nature (whether bug or human) without respect for other life forms.

For a 90 minute film it all works pretty well and is actually quite imaginative. The gore put me off a little, in the gore of the eggs and bugs generally and I would have preferred if they had just had the bugs without all the slime and stuff. The cast do a good job carrying the material – their performances generally help keep up the mood of weirdness! Begley Jnr and Channing are both good in the leads – each giving in to their human environment. The kids are OK but the best performance is an outrageous performance from Coleman as the queen of the species – complete with full drag and moustache!

Overall this never quite delivers as many laughs as it's clever and funny pitch but it is still worth a watch. It has a surreal picture book image of `normal' America that it slowly explodes. For me, you could take or leave the eco message and still enjoy the film. Not great but different enough to be worth a try.

I highly recommend this film to all. For some unexplainable reason I'd call this film a mixture of Tim Burton and John Waters (although neither of them have any association with it) For instance, if you are a fan of Beetlejuice & Mars Attacks (Burton) or Cry-Baby & Serial Mom (Waters) this film is definitely up your alley. This film has the subtle strangeness of Burton and the sick humor of Waters. That's all I can really say. The movie is hilarious (as are the 4 films mentioned above) in its own twisted little way.

The Applegates (Ed Begley Jr, Stockard Channing) are a peculiar suburban family. They live under assumed identities to infiltrate and sabotage the nuclear power plant. They are actually giant preying mantis from the Brazilian rainforest which is being stripped by development. Their queen, Aunt Bea (Dabney Coleman), is invading Ohio in three months. The daughter Sally falls for Vince Sampson from next door. When Vince forces himself on her, she goes mantis on him. The suburbs are harder than it seems. Sally gets pregnant. Johnny turns into a weed head. Jane goes crazy with her Discovery card. Richard gets fired. Then Aunt Bea arrives.

I wouldn't say that there are any big laughs. It does have a weird dark satirical take on the suburbs. There is also an environmental message. This all adds up to an unseen cult movie. It has some fun takes. Michael Lehmann directed one of the great teen satires of all times, Heathers. This is way weirder.