The Good Son (1993)

Instant Favorite.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

A while ago, I remember seeing this movie on an episode of one of my favorite web series, The Nostalgia Critic. To sum up the video in one sentence: he hated it. Even after watching the review and listening to some of his criticisms, I didn't think the movie looked that bad. So eventually, the movie came on Netflix and I decided to watch it for myself. And I feel proud in saying....I'm with the NC on this one. This movie kinda sucks.In all fairness, the idea of delving into the psychopathic mind of a child is pretty interesting, but this movie's biggest flaw is how detached from reality it is. Macalay Culkin's character was totally unrealistic. He talks less like a 10 year old kid and more like a Machiavellian schemer. I understand that psychopathic children tend to be more isolated, emotionless, and have no sympathy for others, but when the kid starts talking like a miniature James Bond villain, I think it's fair to assume the idea of mentally ill children isn't very well represented. Every time Culkin gave one of his hammy little speeches that sounds like it would fit better in an old Marvel comic book, I found it harder and harder to take him seriously. I've heard some people talk about how "deep" and "psychologically intriguing" this film is. And I honestly don't really know whether we watched the same movie or not. There's almost nothing to Culkin's character. We know he's manipulative and he's been able to cover his tracks for lord knows how long without his stupidly naive mother noticing, but that's about it. There's no attempt to understand his character or have the audience get invested in anything he does. The film just basically throws up its arms and says, "He's just evil." It's that simple. Pretty insultingly simple if you ask me. Culkin could've been a really complex and interesting character that could've made this movie ten times better. Perhaps he felt some sort of sick demented reason why he does all the horrible things he does. Maybe something in his past sparked his need to kill? Maybe Elijah Woods's appearance sparked his need to kill given how his relationship with his sister was fine prior to his arrival, but then suddenly after he arrives, he wants her dead. I dunno, his character is so poorly developed, we don't know what the case is other than just being an evil little devil child. If you really wanna do a psychological thriller, making one of your characters a generic villain probably isn't the best route to go. It hurts the film a lot.This film could've been great if it was given to a more competent director like maybe, Brian De Palma or someone. I do believe that there's a good movie buried underneath, it's just blocked out by its fundamentally flawed execution. If you want a good evil child movie, Richard Donner's The Omen is your best bet. It has a much stronger and coherent story, more realistic characters, and the kid actually acts like a kid and not like the little boy version of Lady MacBeth. I guess if you wanna make fun of how laughably hammy Culkin is in this, then I guess you'll find some enjoyment out of The Good Son. If not, then stay away. There's not much for you here. 4/10

The Good son (1993)This not really horror movie, more of a very dark Thriller.The movie start off 12 year old boy Mark, who mother passes away and then in upcoming days his father as to take business.Then Mark had to live with aunt and uncle for bit, at first he seem to get along fine with his cousin Henry. As they do seem have a lot fun at first but then he when he see that Mark start to do some really bad and stuff, started to wonder , if is cousin is Evil as movie goes on it's dose more evil things.I found some scene really good in this movie, the pile up scene was really good a bit out dated a little, Ice skating scenes (I felt like I see that scene some were else before) I really liked the whole movie, I was not fan of the ending, I didn't not like how it ending at all and I hoping more for the aftermath.The acting was great from the youngsters8 out of 10

Following his mother's death, Mark Evans (Elijah Wood) is sent to Maine to stay with his uncle (Daniel Hugh Kelly) and aunt (Wendy Crewson) by his father (David Morse). He becomes fast friends with cousin Henry (Macaulay Culkin). However, Henry shows signs of manipulative violence and all the classic bad boy behavior. He is obsessed with death and may have killed his little brother.This was big news to see young Macaulay Culkin play a bad guy. He shows that he has great range as a child actor. I just think that the movie works better as a straight up horror. Director Joseph Ruben who just filmed 'Sleeping with the Enemy' is using a similar style. This has a little too much of that movie-of-the-week feel. There is a good creepiness about this but that's all Ruben achieves. Every adult is an idiot and the movie strains under that construction. Why doesn't Mark call his father again? Why doesn't the father call the psychiatrist? The movie bends over backwards to come up with that ending. I don't have a problem with evil kids in horror. It's a try and true subject, but this is not a good example.

Meet Mark! Mark's problem? He just doesn't know how to have fun. Also, his mom just died but that is no excuse to not keep an open mind when it comes to murder and mayhem. Meet Henry, an ice-skating, dog-loving, cherub-faced bad boy with the most clueless parents a 4 foot psychopath could want. When goody-2-shoes Mark meets Satan spawn Henry, things quickly escalate out of control as Mark is introduced to a world where hide-and-seek is not a game and treehouses are built at irresponsible heights. Mark soon learns that when it comes to juvenile mischief, Henry's intentions are much more ambitious than TPing houses. The last straw for Mark is when Henry decides he wants to show off his scarecrow- making skills and introduces Mark to his life-sized man doll, Mr. Highway. Mark doesn't seem to appreciate Henry's creativity and when he sees what Henry has planned, he is even more mopey. You see, for a precocious young whippersnapper like Henry, Mr. Highway is the key to having a fender-bender blast, the kind of whip-lashing party that only Henry knows how to get started. Unfortunately, Mark doesn't appreciate having a front-row seat to the auto carnage and the tension escalates from there. Enjoy!