The 90s were certainly cluttered with those "'fill in the blank' from Hell" movies. (The Best Friend from Hell ("Single White Female"),the Temp Employee from Hell ("The Temp"),etc.) Here at the beginning of the decade, we got this "kid from Hell" flick from the writers of "Ed Wood", and it is indeed like a comic spin on "The Bad Seed". Michael Oliver (what ever happened to him?) plays "Junior", a thoroughly obnoxious devil-child who often makes life miserable for people, including his new adoptive parents, Ben (John Ritter) and Flo (Amy Yasbeck). Yet underneath that ultra-bratty exterior does lurk a kid who's crying out for love and attention.

In that sense, this viewer wonders how it would have played if Junior were *completely* unrepentant and never revealed any inkling towards sensitivity or vulnerability. Not all children in real life are perfect little angels, after all. It might have been refreshing, but this being a Hollywood movie, we have to have that glimmer of hope and, ultimately, that happy ending.

Undeniably, "Problem Child" can be crude and childish, but it's still fitfully amusing what with its outrageous gags. In one twisted touch, Junior thinks psycho-killer / sleaze ball Martin Beck (a scenery devouring Michael "Kramer" Richards) is a cool guy to emulate, and becomes pen pals with him.

Basically, if one can tolerate the variety of disagreeable characters here, they may get through the movie. Ben is a typical Nice Guy who tries his mightiest to be patient, but he's also kind of a dope. It takes a lot before he snaps. Flo is a superficial wannabe social climber. Ben's dad (Jack Warden) is a crass jerk (and sporting goods magnate) running for mayor. There are snooty kids who raise Juniors' ire. And, of course, we have Gilbert Gottfried on hand for good measure.

Some of the more entertaining gags occur at the birthday party; overall, "Problem Child" does have its moments. The closing theme song was performed by the Beach Boys, of all people.

Followed by two sequels, the second made for TV.

Six out of 10.

"Problem Child", according to many, is a horrible film in most every way. The film is apparently not good for kids to watch because of all the evil and nasty things Junior does and it has a metascore of 27 and an IMDB score of 5.3....both of which are pretty bad. Despite all this, I somehow like the film...which would make many of my friends and family doubt my sanity. Call it a guilty pleasure!

The story is about a boy who is thoroughly rotten and spends most of the film tormenting those around him...even after he's adopted from the orphanage by a nice but incredibly naive man (John Ritter). Afterwards, the new dad ends up spending most of the movie apologizing to everyone for the atrocities the kid committed.

For me, I loved watching most of the vile and awful things Junior did...which is NOT typical, I know. The problem I had with the film was the ending. While Junior was like Charles Manson Jr. throughout the story, the schmaltzy ending simply didn't ring true in the least. You would think Junior would love traveling the country committing acts of terror with his pen pal, an escaped maniac from prison! For this reason, I give the film a 6...and had the ending been better I would have scored it higher. I know, I know....I should be ashamed of myself for liking this mostly heartless story...but I am not.

A baby is left on a woman's doorstep. However it doesn't go well and the baby keeps getting pass along. Junior (Michael Oliver) is a real problem child. Even the nuns can't take him. Ben (John Ritter) and Flo Healy (Amy Yasbeck) are completely 100% infertile. His father Big Ben Healy (Jack Warden) sells the sporting goods store and is leaving him with nothing. He would love to adopt but Florence is selfish who only agrees to adopt so that she can join other parents at parties. Adoption agent Igor Peabody (Gilbert Gottfried) cons the Healys into taking Junior. Junior is a pen pal to prison inmate The Bow Tie Killer Martin Beck (Michael Richards). Then Beck escapes from prison and shows up at their door.

Junior isn't funny or cute or anything. Ritter is reacting. Yasbeck is annoying. It's not funny at all and it's basically the same joke over and over again anyways. It tries to have heart but it doesn't work. There is nobody to care about. This dark comedy needs a better child actor and a more interesting sense of humor. Him taking a bat to everybody is actually good but it's a rare smirk worthy joke.