PARENTS

US, 1989, 81 minutes, Colour.
Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt, Sandy Dennis.
Directed by Bob Balaban.

Parents is a brief, oddball movie. It starts like a parody of the ideal American family of the 50s - and moves into touches of horror and grotesque. The film is a first direction effort by actor Bob Balaban. Randy Quaid and Mary Beth Hurt are very good as the epitome of nice-seeming 1950s parents. There is a musical background of 50s popular hits like Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White (matching the colour schemes of the production design of the film) to create the atmosphere. Sandy Dennis has a role (with her mannered style) as the school counsellor. The film shows the nice family with a secret - and it turns into a satire on scientific developments as well as poking fun at the human devouring of a nice American family. Brief, odd - but quite effective in its way.

1. Entertaining horror film and satire? The innocence of the title?

2. The production design and style: middle America of the 50s, the family moving, the suburban house, everything nicely framed, everything sweet and apple pie ways of speaking, not getting upset, loving family? The darker undertones - the little boy's suspicions, the emphasis on food and eating, his fears of the dark, going to school and behaviour there, the girlfriend? The teacher, the school counsellor? Moving the audience gradually from the neat surfaces to the sinister depths? The musical score and the range of songs: Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White, Memories are Made of This?

3. The title, the focus on Lily and Nick, their relationship with Michael? Nick's parents and the loving grandparents at the end? The focus on the family and sinister heredity?

4. The nicely framed opening, the photos? Nick and Lily and their manner, niceness, beautifully dressed, relationship with Michael? Settling into the new house? Cleaning the house, continually cooking - and the supply of left overs from the freezer? Michael and his being scared of the dark? Listening to his parents? The atmosphere of niceness?

5. Michael, his dreams and nightmares, there being visualised, the way that he saw his parents, lovemaking, blood on their mouths? His being suspicious of his parents? Not eating the food?

6. Nick and his work, the laboratories, the experiments? Everything neat in the laboratory? Getting supplies? The autopsy and his getting the samples? At what point did the audience realise that the parents were eating the human meat?

7. Michael at school, being introduced to the class, friendly with the new girl, their talking and their sinister stories? Together? The drawing - and it being covered in red? The teacher and her apprehensions, Michael going to the school counsellor and their interchanges? The school counsellor interviewing Lily and her explanations?

8. Nick and Lily, at home, not being ruffled? The food? The realisation of what was happening? Preparing the meat and trying to get Michael to eat? His reaction? The clash between the two, Lily protecting her son, Michael stabbing his father, Lily killing her husband? Her own death? Mayhem in the nuclear family?

9. The school counsellor and her manner, trying to understand, her treatment of Michael? Visiting the home, trapped in the house? The discovery of the body, her death?

10. Michael's dreams, wishful thinking? Safe with his grandparents? The photos? The midnight snack - and the human meat again? The final photos of the credits?

11. The film as a fable? A satire on family? On American apple pie attitudes? The deeper and blacker meanings?