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The Good Son

The Good Son

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: pretty good thriller
Review: I caught this on the FX cable channel the other night.....kinda weird seeing Macaulay in this sort of role after the Home Alone films. I really liked the part where he pushes the mannequin off of the overpass. When Mac says, "This is Mr. Highway---he's had a bad life", I was busting out laughing. Elijah Wood also plays a good role as Mac's cousin.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: THE BAD SEED with a sex change.
Review: Macaulay Culkin, one of the most successful child stars of his time, stars in this male variation on THE BAD SEED as a prepubescent psychopath who delights in terrorizing his young cousin(Elijah Wood) and just about everyone else around him. Culkin and Wood are two equally gifted young actors, but when it comes to this film, Wood comes off better than Culkin. I must admit, there's something morbidly fascinating and wickedly funny about seeing the HOME ALONE kid walking around smoking, using four-letter words, and generally making life Hell for those around him. But this spectacle wears off pretty quickly. It's not that Culkin isn't believable in his role(he is), but we've seen this type of movie before, and it's been done better. THE BAD SEED is at the very top of my list for favorite evil child horror flicks. My next favorite(and one that I would recommend over THE GOOD SON) is a little-seen British thriller called "What the Peeper Saw"(1971) starring another talented, angel-faced actor, Mark Lester, who is best known for playing the title role in the award-winning movie musical, OLIVER!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: not bad but THE BAD SEED was better
Review: IF YOU HAVE READ A LOT OF THE FOLLOWING REVIEWS QUITE A FEW PEOPLE ARE RECOMMENDING THE FILM 'MIKEY' BUT EVERYONE HAS FAILED TO MENTION THAT BOTH MOVIES(THE GOOD SON AND MIKEY) ARE JUST RIP-OFFS OFF THE 1956 CLASSIC 'THE BAD SEED' IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE BAD SEEN I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO FOR IT IS ONE OF THE GREATEST SUSPENSE FILMS EVER MADE AND THE MAIN CHARACTER OF RHODA(THE BAD SEED HERSELF) IS A MUCH MORE ENTERTAINING CHARACTER TO WATCH THAN CULKIN OR THAT STUPID KID IN 'MIKEY' NEITHER OF THESE FILMS CAN TOUCH 'THE BAD SEED'

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Well done, but could have been better
Review: I first saw this movie on video several years after it came out in the theater. This movie was the first I saw from director Joseph Ruben. Since then, I have also seen his movie the stepfather. It is interesting to watch one and then the other. You notice many subtle similarities. For example: In The Stepfather, after murdering his original(or so we think)family, the stepfather whistles the song camptown races as he waltzes out of the house as if nothing ever happened and disappears. In the hide and go seek scene in The Good Son, Henry (Mac's character) hums camptown races after the first terrifying round of the game, almost as if thinking sinister thoughts inside his mind. I also notice that Joseph Ruben uses New England settings for both these stories. Out of the two films mentioned, I thought that Stepfather did a better job with suspense and character development. However, both movie were well acted and enjoyable. Also, If you like The Good Son, then I would highly recommend the movie MIKEY, which is even more interesting.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES EVER MADE!
Review: This movie is so incredible good, that I cant really describe it with a "Review" but I will try. This movie is about Mark(played by Elijah Wood) who loses his mother. His father figure out that Mark should take a vecation to his family(cousin) well then they do that. While Mark is there he become "Friend" with "Henry"( played by Macaulay Culkin). They have fun, untill "Henry" shows him how he really is! unfortunitialy nobody will belive Mark when he is warning the family.

This movie is if not the best, one of the best Thrillers ever made! I am not a fan of neither of the actors, but al of them are INCREDIBLE GOOD! I saw this movie 6 times when I first rented it(well a man rented it for me to me and some friends). And now I have seen it 1000000 times, and still I can see it another 100000000 times. This movie is so exciting, and good, that you just sit and think "Wow is this really a movie"? The end is the best.... also a non typicially american movie... If u are into Thrillers, then this is the perfect movie. It also has an important messages, kind of hidden messages, you have to think about alots of things to understand the movie, it is very deep, but when you have found your idea of what the amaizing director is trying to say, they you will just love it....... I

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Movie is No "Big Stretch" for Culkin
Review: Contrary to mass opinion, the character Culkin plays in this film is not that different from his more familiar one in the "Home Alone" flicks. The big difference is that in "The Good Son," Culkin is devoid of smiles as he carries out his evil plans. His "Henry" is a calculating and self-absorbed child who has no remorse for any of the acts metted on friends and relatives. Although a fairly routine "thriller," the movie benefits from a great Elijah Wood performance as a tormented - in more ways than one - cousin of Henry. His acting makes up for the over-the-top melodrama of Culkin.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Worth A look - - "A" (as in one)
Review: It has its moments, few, but it still has them there. I saw it first in 1993 and as a young boy, it did truly scare the wits out of me. But it is not very scary after the first viewing. The ending is always predictable but still rather well done. Yet, Culken is used as if he is the wire hanger. The rest of the crew and cast is the shirt and depends on the wire hanger to hold it up. A cute, young Elijah Wood can be seen in it. The acting is rather lame, but I suppose Culken is okay. You gotta give him atleast a little credit. I mean it was his last decent film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: one of the best thrillers i've ever seen!
Review: this is one of the best thrillers ever! most people reckon it was immoral of the director to pick macaulay culkin for the part of henry,the pre-teen psychopath.But i think he acted out the part really well.And Elijah Wood is in one of his best performanes ever!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: one of the scariest movies yet!
Review: this film is awsome! i loved the way macauly culkin performed as the psychotic henry!although it's not really the kind of film you'd expect to find mac in,as he usually stars in comedies and other stuff.but still brilliant.and elijah did great too.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Success spoiled the child star
Review: Like many preteens in the early 90s, I eagerly anticipated what Macaulay Culkin might do next. Wanting to see "The Good Son" was no different. Mom's policy about seeing R-rated movies kept me from seeing it, though--and I'm glad she kept me away! I'm sure I would have enjoyed this when I was 12, but when I rented this not too long ago from a campus video store, I was cringing on how inane this was. I still love Macaulay Culkin, and will always believe he was one of most underrated of child actors, but this was not a role for him.

Nauseatingly derivative, predictable, packed with cliches. Culkin seems terribly uninterested in his part, as does sister Quinn, who squawks her lines out like a little elf. Elijah Wood makes do with what's there, and does a pretty decent job, and the same goes for most of the other actors. And as the more positive reviews attest (albeit blindly), had Culkin not been in it, this movie would have not been remarkable. For Culkin, this is his "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?". And for that, "The Good Son" is destined to be a camp classic.

The best suspense movie ever? Compared with "Chinatown" and "A Touch of Evil", or more recently, "The Sixth Sense" or "The Limey", this seems played out. As for Culkin, you're better off watching "Home Alone" for the 103rd time. Or better yet, seek out Culkin's earlier work, specifically "Rocket Gibraltar", or his best post-"Home Alone" work, "My Girl" and "Richie Rich". This movie is not recommended unless you and your friends are holding an "MST3K" night.


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