Project Terrible: Munchie (1992)

 

Welcome back to Project Terrible, horror fiends! This is that time wherein some very brave bloggers put their pain tolerance to the test when they let other bloggers decide which movies they must watch and review. Participants this round include what is becoming the core four of us - Alec from Mondo Bizarro, Robert from Gaming Creatively, Maynard from Maynard's Horror Movie Diary, and yours truly. So because I made Alec watch a horrible comedy with a strange creature in it called Mac and Me last time, he served up a dish of revenge by making me watch yet another very odd children's film - Munchie.

Gage Dobson is the new kid in town who just can't seem to get a fair break. His mother is dating a mean idiot, he is picked on by some bullies at school, he's failing math, his principal has it out for him, and he has an unrequited love for the prettiest girl in school. One day Gage finds a strange trunk with an even stranger creature inside named Munchie, who promises to be his friend and make all his problems go away. But Munchie's help ends up causing more chaos than good!

First of all, Munchie is mos' def' NOT a sequel to 1987's Munchies - the only thing they took from that movie was the title. Secondly, this is supposedly a "children and family" movie but at times seems a bit inappropriate for that targeted age group. I found myself laughing at much of the humor, though, because some of it was actually good! One of my favorite lines was "So, did you make the football team yet?" "No, but I decked the star quarterback." Very tongue-in-cheek, smart humor that reminded me a lot of another terribly inappropriate children's film, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie. Munchie is thankfully not as unintentionally terrifying as that movie is, but instead is just a quick little slapstick story that never goes any deeper than the surface situation. But really, why would you want it to?

The biggest thing this movie can boast is that it is the film debut of one Jennifer Love Hewitt
(credited as just "Love Hewitt"), who plays young Andrea, the object of Gage's affections. She is damn adorable just like I knew she would be. Loni Anderson is Gage's well-endowed mother, and Arte Johnson played my favorite character, Gage's friend and neighbor Professor Cruikshank. He is everybody's favorite quirky old guy, and a handy friend to have because of course he just happens to know something about our mysterious little creature. The kid playing Gage was happily not an annoying little shit, and actually was a good little actor with good comedic timing and facial expressions.

Munchie himself is of course the strangest thing about the movie. Despite a very slim attempt at explanation from the professor, Munchie's origins or the reasons for his magical powers are never explained. You seriously have no idea what Munchie is, and Gage never seems to give a crap because he never asks so I guess we're not supposed to care either. He is brought to life by some of the worst and most unenthusiastic puppeteering I've ever seen - his mouth barely moves and his hands just kind of spin about willy-nilly, not matching what he is saying at all. As aforementioned, he has magical powers but only uses them for stupid stuff like making a pizza fly across town so he and Gage can eat it. Horrible flying-pizza POV shot in here, by the way.

The plot is equally horrendous, if you can call this a plot. Most of it is Munchie causing some not-so-hilarious scenes while helping Gage catch the principal in a love tryst with his secretary (see what I mean? Inappropriate!); humiliate the preppy popular boy; beat up the football player; and ruin his mother's date with Dr. Carlisle, who is a bit of a douche. None of the physical comedy is nearly as entertaining as the written comedy. Dom DeLuise does his best as the voice of Munchie, but everything he says is only mildly funny and mostly annoying. Too bad, he could have been pretty awesome actually.

Though I was around the right age when this movie came out, I'm so glad that I never had the displeasure of seeing it. I will give it this, though, it was good for a laugh on an evening when I needed something to perk up my mood. You were half successful, Alec! Stupid movie, but in a stupidly entertaining way.

Also... added entertainment comes when you notice Angus Scrimm in a small but funny role in Gage's funeral daydream.