Mikey

If the supernatural shenanigans of Damien seemed too subtle to you, maybe the Bad Seed antics of Mikey are more in your wheelhouse.  Part of the MVD Rewind Collection, which brings back popular rental store titles in clever VHS-style packaging, the film stars little Brian Bonsall (a late addition on Family Ties) as the titular 8-year-old who kicks things off by murdering his entire adoptive family in the first five minutes.  Ridiculous?  Impossible?  Downright comical?   You can call first time director Dennis Dimster-Denk's film a lot of things, but boring definitely isn't one of them.

Cleverly cleared of any wrongdoing at his previous home, Mikey is adopted by the Trenton's, who are charmed with his wholesome good looks and warm disposition.  But psychotic cracks begin to show quickly, as Mikey becomes romantically obsessed with his next-door neighbor (Josie Bissett) and downright vindictive towards his suspicious elementary school teacher (Hellraiser's Ashley Laurence).  By the time family pets and boyfriends start turning up dead, the whole neighborhood ripe for slaughter!

 

While not as gonzo as 2009's Orphan, another Bad Seed imitation, Mikey is built around the wisecracking slasher clichés of the previous decade, name dropping icons like Freddy Krueger and pointing the blame at horror movies for Mikey's bad behavior.  While there are a couple attempts to keep things psychologically grounded (the school principal, played Ferris Bueller's dad, quotes a few catchy disorders), the film is far more interesting when it dismisses reality altogether, like the go-for-broke finale where Mikey switches between weapons like a Fortnite game.  

 

Amidst all the chaos is a pretty good cast.  Josie Bissett is as cute as a button (she turned up on Melrose Place the same year), Ashley Laurence provides a familiar horror face and Brian Bonsall switches between precocious and predatory with a good amount of skill.  If anything it's the bland TV-movie style visual style that drags the film into also-ran territory.  But there's a reason this was a rental staple during the Mom and Pop video era: it's damn entertaining.

 

MVD's Blu-ray presentation looks solid throughout and comes with one heck of a perk: the hour-and-a-half documentary The Making of Mikey, which gathers most of the principal filmmaking team for a comprehensive retrospective.  Things get more specific with the Anatomy of a Scene segment where director Dimster-Denk goes through the finale frame by frame.  Trailers and a collectible mini-poster round off the extras.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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