Meet the Hollowheads

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: A cult classic! This movie is absolutley engrossing...and at times simply gross. I loved renting this movie when I was little but time made me forget what it was about...that is until I purchased it a month ago. I even love it more than I did as a child. It's an interesting take on what the future will be like (that is, what the people in the 80's thought the future would be like). Excellent film, go out and buy it today because it's practically impossible to find any place that rents it.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: A cult classic! This movie is absolutley engrossing...and at times simply gross. I loved renting this movie when I was little but time made me forget what it was about...that is until I purchased it a month ago. I even love it more than I did as a child. It's an interesting take on what the future will be like (that is, what the people in the 80's thought the future would be like). Excellent film, go out and buy it today because it's practically impossible to find any place that rents it.

Rating:
Summary: How One Family Survives The Future
Review: A day in the life of the Hollowhead family. The action centers around the father bringing the boss home for dinner. The family is made up of the Father, Mother, young son, teen daughter, and older son.

What makes this movie so quirky is the dystopian society that makes up the setting. Everything comes into the home through tubes run by a giant company that Father works for. Goofy gadgets and strange bio/hybrids make for a visually unique film. The family has been compared to the Bundys but Father is successful (written up in trade journals an #1 at his job), Mom is an excellent cook and homemaker, the youngest son is sort of like Beaver with a Haskel-like friend who gets him in trouble, the daughter is trying to grow up despite restrictions, and the eldest son is a struggling musician.

Many who watch this film will be reminded of Brazil with its dependence on strange technology but this world is harder to grasp. There seems to be no outside, there is an "edge" and the umbilical tubes are central to everything. This is supposed to be a comedy, but the world's lack of reference keeps it from working well. With Brazil we could believe government taking over and being slaves to necessary technology and those that maintain it, but we just can associate with this world.

Still, the acting is quite good with a strong cast (including uncredited Bobcat Goldthwaite as a policeman). It's not really bad, just hard to grasp.

Rating:
Summary: Bizarre Cult Gem
Review: I was wondering if this one would ever come oozing back up from the tubes. Juliette Lewis, John Glover, Bobcat Goldthwait and Anne "Where's the Beef" Ramsey join an ensemble cast in a story about a subterranean society whose lives depend on an infrastructure of tubes. At the center of this tale is the Hollowhead family, consisting of a hard-working dad with hopes of promotion at the job, a sparkly mom who gets food out of a duct in the wall, a young boy who gets amusement picking parasites from the family (dog?) and slingshotting them into a fan, an older sis whose hormones are in overdrive, an older brother who plays an instrument that resembles a cross between an accordion and a rubber chicken, and of course an eyeball plant that lives in the hallway.

Dad is having the boss over for dinner and needs to make an impression for his promotion, so mom gets busy preparing a special dinner for the occasion. Sis has some partying to do with friends that night, and mom reluctantly gives in to letting her feel grown up and using her "Softening Jelly" before going out. Dad's boss proves to be a true predator of a dinner guest, and things get ugly as the evening evolves into a genuine game of primal survival for the HH family. To complicate matters, sis is escorted back home by the police after they bust the party she went to, who claim that these kids tapped a forbidden feed of some choice "Butt Polish". Of course, this being a family offering, all is somehow made right in the end. But not before considerable fluids are spilled ......

Obviously not for everyone, Meet the Hollowheads is a tweaked-out live action cartoon vision of an alternate universe, sort of a Leave It To Beaver drops acid and goes to Jupiter. As such, much of the film is devoted to creating an environment, and does so beautifully, though occasionally at the cost of the story itself. The story, as is, is a simple one and serves more as a vehicle for the spot on performances and extraordinary production values - the makers of this odd work were well aware of its limited appeal, and it is apparent throughout that all involved had great fun doing it. Perfect for those nights when only good, clean, wholesome and extremely warped entertainment will do.

Rating:
Summary: Bizarre Cult Gem
Review: I was wondering if this one would ever come oozing back up from the tubes. Juliette Lewis, John Glover, Bobcat Goldthwait and Anne "Where's the Beef" Ramsey join an ensemble cast in a story about a subterranean society whose lives depend on an infrastructure of tubes. At the center of this tale is the Hollowhead family, consisting of a hard-working dad with hopes of promotion at the job, a sparkly mom who gets food out of a duct in the wall, a young boy who gets amusement picking parasites from the family (dog?) and slingshotting them into a fan, an older sis whose hormones are in overdrive, an older brother who plays an instrument that resembles a cross between an accordion and a rubber chicken, and of course an eyeball plant that lives in the hallway.

Dad is having the boss over for dinner and needs to make an impression for his promotion, so mom gets busy preparing a special dinner for the occasion. Sis has some partying to do with friends that night, and mom reluctantly gives in to letting her feel grown up and using her "Softening Jelly" before going out. Dad's boss proves to be a true predator of a dinner guest, and things get ugly as the evening evolves into a genuine game of primal survival for the HH family. To complicate matters, sis is escorted back home by the police after they bust the party she went to, who claim that these kids tapped a forbidden feed of some choice "Butt Polish". Of course, this being a family offering, all is somehow made right in the end. But not before considerable fluids are spilled ......

Obviously not for everyone, Meet the Hollowheads is a tweaked-out live action cartoon vision of an alternate universe, sort of a Leave It To Beaver drops acid and goes to Jupiter. As such, much of the film is devoted to creating an environment, and does so beautifully, though occasionally at the cost of the story itself. The story, as is, is a simple one and serves more as a vehicle for the spot on performances and extraordinary production values - the makers of this odd work were well aware of its limited appeal, and it is apparent throughout that all involved had great fun doing it. Perfect for those nights when only good, clean, wholesome and extremely warped entertainment will do.

Rating:
Summary: Bizarre surreal and ... stylish?
Review: Imagine: A world where food, makeup, and telephone calls are all delivered through tubes. Medicine is administered through a creature living in your kitchen cabinets. The main employer is United Umbilical, the company that provides and maintains the tube system.

If you can imagine that, you have to see this movie. Low budget but they definitely made do. The props are awesome and the writing bizarre, definitely not for the "Runaway Bride" crowd -- it's far far better than that. Highly recommended!!

-David

Rating:
Summary: Bizarre surreal and ... stylish?
Review: Imagine: A world where food, makeup, and telephone calls are all delivered through tubes. Medicine is administered through a creature living in your kitchen cabinets. The main employer is United Umbilical, the company that provides and maintains the tube system.

If you can imagine that, you have to see this movie. Low budget but they definitely made do. The props are awesome and the writing bizarre, definitely not for the "Runaway Bride" crowd -- it's far far better than that. Highly recommended!!

-David

Rating:
Summary: Odd.
Review: People must wonder why on earth I gave this movie a perfect five star rating.

Explanation?

IT'S SO INCREDIBLY PSYCHO.

I watched it and continued to laugh and laugh at how odd beyond odd it is. A must see for all.