Stunningly weird and truly clever horror-comedy is an unforgettable trip.

Young boy begins to suspect that his too-normal parents are up to something strange as they continue to push him to eat his meats at dinner.

A royally twisted satire on 50's Americana, Parents is a wildly warped cross between Blue Velvet (1986),The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and various sitcoms of the McCarthy era. The story is quite intriguing, disturbing, and down-right funny at times. The direction is sharply done creating lots of inventive cinematography and hauntingly eerie visuals (namely that shot where our young hero dives into his bed only to sink into an ocean of blood). A good music score by Angelo Badalamenti, nice sets, and an over-all atmosphere of dread and mystery also help to make this film memorable.

The cast is a true highlight as well. Randy Quaid is downright frightening as the stern father. Mary Beth Hurt is solid as the high-strung mother. Sandy Dennis is quite good as the school councilor. Brian Madorsky does perhaps the best performance, especially considering his young age, as the nervous and understandably scared kid.

Parents is a film that is almost beyond words for me. It's surely one of the most horrific black comedies ever and one that must be seen to be felt! A winner.

**** out of ****

Ever since the '60s, the "Leave It to Beaver" image of America has become an object of scorn (and rightfully so). "Parents" does one of the neatest jobs of mocking it. Michael Laemle (Bryan Madorsky) lives in a typical '50s suburban household: dad Nick (Randy Quaid) is the breadwinner, while mom Lily (Mary Beth Hurt) stays home in a polka dot dress and cooks all day. Ah, but maybe this isn't the typical '50s suburban household. You see, the meat that Nick and Lily feed Michael might not be coming from the store.

"Parents" is certainly a little weird at times, but overall I liked it. There are a few scenes that will likely get anyone's sex drive going (you'll know them when you see them). I guess that one of the most surprising things is that this movie was directed by Bob Balaban, best known for roles in movies like "Gosford Park". Is this a horror movie? Maybe on some level, but it mostly seems to be a combination of various genres. Very interesting.

In the 50's, the Lamele forms a typical medium-class American family, and they have just moved to a house in the suburbs. Dad Nick Lamele (Randy Quaid) has a new job in the city, Mon Lily Lamele (Mary Beth Hurt) is a lovely housewife and Michael Lamele (Bryan Madorsky) is the lonely and weird son, who believes that Mon and Dad are cannibals. Their parents become very happy while preparing lots of meat everyday, what is not common in USA, and the boy is intrigued about the provenience of the meat. He become friend of Sheila Zellner (Jun Mills Cockell),a strange girl and daughter of her father's boss. In the school, the social assistant notices that the boy has some kind of psychological problem and tries to help him. This movie is a weird, dark and bizarre tale, with great interpretation of the cast, but something is missing to make it an excellent film. The problem is that the director did not define well what genre he wanted to present to the audience. Therefore, the plot is too much dark for a black-humor comedy, and too much funny for a horror movie. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): `O Que Há Para Jantar?' (`What Do We Have For Dinner?')