Bob Balaban, "Parents" (1989)

The idea of making a vegetarian horror film might seem silly on its surface. After all, what's so scary about meat? Many in the United States consume it daily. Do you get flashes of flesh-eating zombies when you watch your grandmother sit down to a steak at Ponderosa? No, the carnivorous lifestyle is something many of us take for granted. Certainly there is ample conditioning in American society directed at creating an arbitrary detachment between the idea of food and its actual source. How often have you ever sat with a Slim Jim in your hand, pondering the origination of that delectable matter?

But on the other hand, every horror movie could be loosely defined as a vegetarian's nightmare. All that blood and gristle being splattered is merely one or another form of "meat". It is fairly well understood by anyone who understands the concept of suspension of disbelief that many gore effects employ a wide range of animal tissue. Indeed many of the entries of the genre serve to remind us that we are indeed ultimately "meat". It's for that reason I think this type of entertainment is edifying. So I reserve a special category of respect for director Bob Balaban and his efforts in truly driving the notion home. Have a look at his feature Parents, and I'm confident that you'll see what I mean.

Parents concerns the shifting perceptions of a young boy (named Michael, and played competently by Bryan Madorsky) coming to grips with his growing awareness of the nature of adult life. His folks (Randy Quaid and Mary Beth Hurt) have just moved him to a new town, and the strange surroundings cause him to re-evaluate his relationship to the world. Mom and Dad become increasingly concerned about the difficulties of adjustment their son is experiencing. He is having nightmares and is refusing to partake in family dinners. To make matters worse there in an underlying Oedipal theme, and a glimpse of his parents engaged in "love-making" leads to the formation of some rather odd associations. Most disturbing of all is the steady diet of leftover meats (which are left vaguely unidentifiable) his father is continually foisting upon him.

Perhaps if Dad wasn't acting so creepy and dispensing oddly enigmatic advice, Michael's suspicions would not have grown to the point of compelling him to initiate a campaign of detection and investigation. Spurred on by his lone friend, the boy begins searching for the explanations that will clear up the mysteries that are plaguing him. All the time, the adults in his life assume that Michael has an extraordinarily rich imagination. His deteriorating relationship with his father is of great general concern. The viewer may think that he/she knows how the story will unfold, but Balaban has some well articulated surprises up his sleeve. Parents is hallucinatory, moody, offbeat... and at the same time hugely entertaining.

While its unlikely that this well-made "B-movie" will make you adopt a new lifestyle, it should go a long way toward helping you understand the worldview of the herbivore. If watching Parents gives you a craving for German food, then you are no doubt sincerely in touch with your bestial nature. Let me know if that's the case, for I think it would be best to consider this information before accepting your dinner invitation.