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FAMILY REUNION (1989)
Directed by Michael Hawes
Image Entertainment DVD
Reviewed 12.21.07
Review by Dan Budnik
THE FILM
It certainly feels like Christmas,
what with the desert sands and the
ghost town with the dusty streets
and all the Satanists. Grampa is
real nice. Hi, Grampa! How are things?
Where's Gramma? Did you bring your
heart pills? Why don't you stop
smoking for two minutes? What horrible
secrets do you have in your past,
you blasphemous shell of a man?
A family (and Gampy) climb in their
car on their way to somewhere or
other for Christmas. But, they must
stop at a ghost town for reasons
that seem foolish. ("We're
here! Why not go see it?")
A cop leaving the ghost town tells
them to skip it. There's a rather
supernatural vagrant in the cop
car with an evil look. No one seems
too thrilled about the ghost town
except for the annoying little boy.
But, of course, they end up there.
It's all tied in with this strange
vagrant and a dream the Dad is having
about Satanists. What is going on?
And who is that man with the exposed
brain in a plastic...Oh wait. This
movie and Silent
Night, Deadly Night 3 have
mushed into one movie in my mind.
Now, that would be a movie! The
"Open Air Brain" killing
of Ricky alongside the supernatural
vagrant from...? I watched these
two films on a Saturday evening.
Together, they made one really entertaining
film.
Family Reunion has gore
and horror. Silent Night, Deadly
Night 3 has a generally humorous
attitude (more or less) and a sense
of fun but little horror and no
drive. Silent Night Deadly Night
3: Family Reunion! I'm going
to spend my holidays editing these
films together.
Sorry. Sometimes I get the urge
to re-shape the films we have into
what I'd like to see.
So...
The family is stranded at the ghost
town. Dad is going crazy. This supernatural
vagrant is drawing closer to them
for some reason or other...It all
culminates in a big Satanic hoo-hah
where, somehow, I lost track of
Grandpa. What happened to Gampy?
Apart from a few moments, this one
is kind of run of the mill. It's
definitely worth 90 minutes of time
but it doesn't stick with you. There's
some decent mayhem and some of it
is clever. And, this seems to happen
often, there is one actor who is
much better than the others. Erin,
the daughter, played by Kaylin Cool,
is excellent. She's very sarcastic
but she's never annoying. Her dialogue
is much better than everyone else's.
How did the writer make everyone
else sound stilted but get the dialogue
of a 15-year-old girl right? It
probably had nothing to do with
the writer, I imagine. The actress
makes it work.
I think, at the end of the day,
I wouldn't have watched this film
except for the fact that it was
Christmas-related. But, it's pure
Los Angeles Christmas: boring. That's
probably what makes this film more
blah than anything else. Christmas
in the desert is one of the most
tiresome things I can imagine. And,
this film captures that feeling
perfectly.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
The crazy-ass synth mix of "God
Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen" over
the credits is awesome. The picture
is fine. For a bland film, it has
a bland picture.
EXTRAS
Previews for Necromancer
and Night
Screams. (I love that the
first thing I see in the Night
Screams preview is a shot from
Graduation Day. Awesome.)
FINAL THOUGHTS
There are better Christmas-themed
horror films out there. Family
Reunion has some gore, a touch
of cleverness here and there and
a good performance from Kaylin Cool
(the daughter of The Fonz?). It's
worth a viewing but I wouldn't run
to meet it. |
Ditto
Here come the claw
Christmas Kools
So very LA
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