PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The other day, I was watching an episode of NCIS featuring a young(er) Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things, and the NCIS crew was trying to figure out who killed her mother. It turns out that SHE killed her mother, and she did it so she could be closer to her father. The idea of a 9 year-old murderer reminded me of a movie I saw many years ago. No, not The Good Son, something different. I’m talking about Mikey. This low budget horror flick was released to video in November of 1992, and it was frighteningly good.
Brian Bonsall (Family Ties TV series, Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series) kicks serious ass in the role of Mikey. This movie wastes no time establishing the 9 year-old child as a homicidal maniac as he murders his whole adopted family through various means. He’s able to convince the Detective (Mark Venturini: Friday The 13th: A New Beginning 1985) that a random robber did it (Kevin McCallister, eat your heart out), and so he’s taken to a new foster home.
Neil (John Diehl: Miami Vice TV series) and Rachel (Mimi Craven: Nightmare on Elm Street 1984) adopt Mikey. His new next door neighbors, Ben (Whit Herford: Jurassic Park 1993) and Jessie Owens (Josie Bissett: Melrose Place TV series) are friendly enough towards him. Mikey also has a new, cool principal, Mr. Jenkins (Lyman Ward: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 1986), and a friendly teacher, Ms. Gilder (Ashley Laurence: Hellraiser 1987), but none of that will stop Mikey. He seems to be enjoying his new surroundings, but man, oh man, when you tell him, “No,” watch out!
The bread and butter of this movie is Mikey. He comes across as a sweet boy one minute and a 30 year-old serial killer the next. He does it so flawlessly that you really start to think Mikey is the greatest killer of all time. What makes this movie so good is that writer Jonathan Glassner (Stargate SG-1 TV series) and director Dennis Dimster (Desire 2006) focused on character development. Normally in movies, the kid is a victim of abuse and takes his revenge on his abusers, making the young killer an anti-hero. Not this time! Principal Jenkins, Ms. Gilder, Ben and Jessie, along with Neil and Rachel, come across as genuinely nice people just looking to make Mikey feel comfortable. When the kid snaps and starts his final killing spree, you’re openly rooting for the rest of the cast to stop him, because they essentially did nothing wrong to deserve what devious plans Mikey has in store for them. Mikey is the heel and there’s no other way to look at it.
The acting in this movie is spectacular. We at PopHorror are very familiar with Ashley Laurence’s work on the Hellraiser series, so we’re not surprised by her performance. However, the rest of the cast hits it out of the park as well. As I mentioned earlier, character development is a big thing here, and you really feel for the Owens, the Trentons, Ms. Gilder and Principal Jenkins. The only one who was shallow by design was Jessie’s boyfriend, David (David Rogge, who’s best known for being in that god awful Marky Mark game), who had as much personality as bathroom tile. When even the guy that’s expendable plays the expendable role well, you know the cast did their best.
The FX were about as special as a glass of water, but that also was by design. It was a low budget flick and, quite frankly, the movie didn’t need any big time special effects. Apart from the electrocutions (which I’ll get to in a moment), every gore effect was short and to the point. Unless you are OCD in detail, nobody is going to complain about the FX or lack thereof. The only hiccup is in one scene where Mikey tosses a hairdryer into the tub to fry one of his victims, and the dryer doesn’t even hit the water. Then again, that also was most likely by design because if it did, it would have legitimately fried the actress.
The dialogue was witty and made sense which, once again, compared to other low budget, unknown movies, was a great surprise. Most B movies phone in the dialogue, but not this one. Some of Mikey’s one liners can be repeated in public, if only Mikey was more well known and anyone knew what you were talking about. The soundtrack isn’t anything to write home about, but the opening score is creepy and does set the tone for what you’re about to see, which always a good thing. Cinematography and lighting are a bit of an issue, but that could also be by design. Mikey is dark, very, very dark, but once again, that could be the point. You can barely see what goes on during scenes at night, but that gives the scene a creepier feel. Again, unless you’re REALLY a stickler to absolute perfect detail. there isn’t anything that bad in this movie, as long as you know what you’re getting into.
All in all, can Mikey be recommended? Yes. If you liked The Good Son, you will definitely want to check this film out, because Mikey came first. It’s a perfect, low budget flick. It knew it was not a Hollywood production, and it didn’t want to be a Hollywood production. If you accept it as it is, you’re going to have a great time rooting for Mikey to get his comeuppance. HUnti it down on Netflix, Amazon, Ebay, Blockbuster (just kidding)… but if you can find it, then definitely watch it.
