October of Horror #20: Meet The Hollowheads (1989)
Posted by Trixter on October 27, 2018
(For an explanation of what these posts in October are, see the parent post.)
Synopsis
Witness a day in the life of the Hollowhead family, which takes place in a reality very similar to our own — if our lives relied on strange creatures and pipes filled with goo.
Opinion
I was attracted to The Hollowheads when I learned it was Anne Ramsey’s (The Goonies, Throw Momma From The Train) last film. I looked further and saw it also starred a young Juliette Lewis, and with very strange creatures and setting thrown in, I felt it was worth my time.
After watching it, I guess I have to say it’s not for everyone. It’s also not horror — I suppose it technically qualifies as a black comedy mixed with fantasy, maybe? It’s hard to classify. It plays like a gross, dark version of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse where every talking piece of furniture was replaced with a hose spouting goop or a frog-like creature that gets chopped up for a snack.
Frustratingly, there are hints of a good film in there, especially when the boys venture outside to go to the pumping plant. You get glimpses of an entire interesting world that wasn’t fleshed out due to budget and time constraints.
Recommendation
It’s interesting, but it’s not horror. But if you like learning the deep inside details of how films are made from proposal to celluloid, read The Edgewise Guide to Filmmmaking which is a production diary of Meet The Hollowheads from one of the writers, Lisa Morton. It gives a glimpse into the film they were shooting for, and how it turned into the film we got.
Oldskooler Ramblings 
A Premature End to October of Horror « Oldskooler Ramblings said
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