USA, 1992
Review:JA Kerswell
1992 was arguably the most popular year for the Blank From Hell movie, where the <insert here> arrives to terrify and demolish a god-fearin’, almost certainly white, upwardly mobile North American family. What MIKEY perhaps lacks in marquee value, it makes up for in sheer notoriety and its slasher movie stylings. A young, nine-year-old boy is passed to another set of adoptive parents after his last set was brutally slain—by him! Will his new family live up to his high standards, or will they, too, fall victim to the tyke assassin?
Mikey (Brian Bonsall) doesn’t take criticism or perceived favouritism well. He drowns his kid sister in the family pool, fries his Mom in the bathtub with a hair dryer, and beats out Dad’s brains with a baseball bat. Given that he is the picture of innocence, the police believe his story of an intruder, and he convinces a psychiatrist that he is well-adjusted enough to be placed with another family—after the dead woman’s sister makes a rare correct horror movie choice and says hell no to taking him on!
He is placed with a new couple, Rachel (Mimi Craven) and her husband Neil (John Diehl)—who have been trying, but failing, to start a family of their own. Ahead of the adoption, Rachel even quips, “I haven’t even had a chance to childproof the house yet!”—an irony not lost on the audience but not in the way she intended. Mikey is warmly welcomed into the family and makes friends with the neighbour’s kid, Ben (Whit Flint). At first, he plays the role of the perfect son as long as he believes he is part of the perfect family. However, cracks start to show when Rachel’s friend and Mikey’s teacher, Gilder (HELLRAISER (1987)’s Ashley Laurence), begins to pick up on some strange behaviour in class—such as painting a bloody, decapitated turkey for Thanksgiving. His parents are still blissfully unaware of any problems and dismiss a painting he does of his previous sister lying face down, dead in a pool, as a coded cry for space (!).
Mikey also develops a serious crush on Ben’s much older teenage sister, Jessie (Josie Bissett). However, when she understandably rebuffs his affection, he becomes obsessed with removing anyone who gets in his way of romancing her or doesn’t measure up to his idea of a perfect friend or family member …
I’ve written before about how prestige Hollywood thrillers from FATAL ATTRACTION (1987) (after reshoots) tended to borrow many tricks from the slasher movie toy box, although their makers would certainly baulk at the tag being attached to their high budget, studio crowd pleasers. Nevertheless, as the 80s went into the 90s and the From Hell genre became an increasing staple on screens, this magpie nature became ever more apparent—and no more so than in these films’ climactic scenes. 1992’s biggest From Hell hits included THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE (psycho nanny), SINGLE WHITE FEMALE (psycho room-mate) and, arguably, BASIC INSTINCT (psycho sex addict). I’m sure someone could write a thesis on how, notably, none of these home invaders are adult men (although, of course, we do have THE STEPFATHER (1987) and SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY (1991)—where the enemy is already inside the home; although this is something of a rarity). However, Mikey was not a studio picture and wasn’t even released theatrically in the United States. In some ways, this gave the makers of the indie pic freedom to jettison the illusion of class and indulge in some campy and disturbing elements that perhaps helped make it more reminiscent of the slasher movies the others were pretending they weren’t cribbing from. Not to mention the film’s tagline, specifically namechecking slasher movie behemoths Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees.
MIKEY veers wildly throughout its running time. At times—especially when other children are on screen—it feels like you could be watching a film aimed at kids. Other times, it has the cosy feel of a made-for-TV family movie. However, it deals with some pretty dark themes—not least the burgeoning sexual desires of the main character (the scene where Mikey oggles his stepmother’s breasts as she relaxes in a bath is particularly icky). It is a scene that is eerily similar to the setup for the early 70s psycho sickie WHAT THE PEEPER SAW (1972) (where a pre-pubescent Mark Lester terrifies Britt Eckland, who suspects he killed his mother the same way). Yet ultimately, whilst MIKEY aims to shock, it does so with a wink at the audience in a way similar to the original killer kid movie THE BAD SEED (1956). Mikey tells his new Dad that he is a better hitter than a catcher in baseball as the still bloody and dented bat that killed his last adoptive family swings around on the luggage carousel at the airport, is a good example.
MIKEY echoes a lot of earlier movies—although, perhaps, not always intentionally. The young psycho watches back camcorder footage of his killings in his room on his VCR (which is very PEEPING TOM (1960) via HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1986)). His model behaviour until the facade of a perfect family cracks is a FREAKY FRIDAY variation on THE STEPFATHER. The childlike ways and instruments he uses to kill people (such as a marble in a slingshot) bring to mind the killer kid troop in DEVIL TIMES FIVE (1974)). Whilst the film perhaps settles into a lull in its middle section, it goes full slasher movie nutzoid mode in its last half hour, with Mikey killing people with a slingshot and bow and arrow (perhaps lifted from another killers kids movie BLOODY BIRTHDAY (1981)). Of course, the gruesomeness of it all is undercut by its sheer absurdity—not least of all the idea that Mikey is able to source the skeleton of a ten-year-old boy to fake his own death. But, hey, that’s all part of the fun.
As previously mentioned, MIKEY failed to secure North American theatrical distribution but did get a cinema release in other territories such as Canada and Australia. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it didn’t receive the best notices. Rob Salem in the Toronto Star said that although the ads drew comparisons with other slasher villains “… little Mikey just isn’t in their league.” But admitted that Brian Bonsall was “quite believable” and “makes an uncomfortably convincing bad seed.” He said the film left itself wide open for a sequel—with a Part 3 probably starring Rebecca De Mornay!
Marc Horton in the Edmonton Journal (in a no-stars review) said it lacked the menace of THE BAD SEED and the style of THE STEPFATHER. But again praised the performance of Bonsall. Steven Masy gave it a one-star review in the Ottowa Citizen saying: “ … the whole thing is embarrassing and painful to watch.” Paul Wells in the Montreal Gazette said: “People looking for something to get mad at will be shocked by the way first-time director Dennis Dimster-Denk plays a pressing issue like child abuse for cheap thrills.”
MIKEY also gained a certificate for cinema distribution in the UK as an uncut 18. It is, however, unclear whether it got any kind of release before it got embroiled in the moral panic over the tragic murder of toddler Jamie Bulger by two young boys. In commentary reminiscent of the height of the ‘video nasties’ hysteria, the film CHILD’S PLAY 3 (1991) was cited as a corrupting influence on the pair. Although it was found that the boys had never seen the film and the connection was bogus, the damage was done, and MIKEY was drawn into the furore and refused a certificate for home video in the UK (and its cinema classification revoked) amongst a hostile media and political backdrop. Hence, the film attracted a notoriety that it didn’t really warrant and remained unavailable in the country for nearly 30 years.
Despite—or perhaps because of—its magpie nature, MIKEY is an entertainingly off-the-wall From Hell movie that also ticks enough slasher boxes for it to be included here.
BODY COUNT 8:
Female 4 / Male 4
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MIKEY trailer