Sexylocher Masterful Movie

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Michael_Elliott The Good Son (1993) ** (out of 4) When Mark (Elijah Wood) loses his mother and his father most go a business trip, he goes to stay with his family and at first everything seems great. That's until he starts to realize that his cousin Henry (Macaulay Culkin) isn't normal yet none of the adults will believe him.I still remember all the hype surrounding this film when it first came out. Everyone was wondering how the HOME ALONE star would do in a thriller. The critics pretty much hated the movie and many of them attacked the film for showing children in such violent situations. I was never a big fan of the movie when I watched it back then but I was only thirteen at the time so I was curious if my opinion would have changed after seeing it as an adult. Well, it actually didn't change any.There are many problems with THE GOOD SON but the biggest is the fact that it's a pretty boring thriller that just doesn't have enough thrills to make it work. The biggest problem is certainly the screenplay because it's a rather generic story where we see Henry do one bad thing after another while the parents of course don't believe the really good kid. The good kid is tormented and of course the parents only see whenever he goes back after the bad kid. The direction is so dry and so bland that there's never any real tension going on.As far as the performances go, Wood certainly steals the show and manages to turn in a very good performance. He's quite believable in the part of a young man who has lost his mother and is now dealing with even more trauma. David Morse is good during his few scenes as his father. Wendy Crewson is also good as the bad kids mother and especially during the finale. As far as Culkin goes, he's okay in the part. I thought he handled the brat side of the character quite well but I never really believed we went far enough in showing how crazy or demented this kid was.THE GOOD SON is mildly entertaining in a cheap "B" movie kind of way but there's no question that as a thriller it's a failure.

ironhorse_iv This movie is one of my guilty pleasure. I just love the inner battle between two of the best child actors of the 1990's. Both, Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Woods are wonderful in the roles, they play in this film. Some critics might hate this movie because of the controversy of having the 1990's Home Alone play such an evil role. I didn't mind, because it's shows how great Macaulay Culkin can act. Who knew that the Home Alone kid could be so creepy? And the horrid part is that he looked so natural playing a scheming, serial-killing kid. Directed by Joseph Ruben, the movie starts with 12-year-old Mark Evan (Elijah Wood) having to move to Maine to stay with his Uncle Wallace (Daniel Hugh Kelly) and Aunt Susan (Wendy Crewson) after one of his parents has die, and the other is on an oversea trip. While, there he meets with their son, Henry (Macaulay Culkin). They slowly become good friends, but after a series of sinister acts by Henry, Mark starts to question their friendship as he thinks that Henry might be more dangerous than what he seems. Too bad, that none of the adults believe him. Elijah Wood is just amazing actor when he was younger. He is a winner early on in his career and the proof is in this role. His eyes convey such fear and concern that you really feel his performance is for real. The two stars have great chemistry together. They work with each other so well, I thought this story could have been a real life story. Trust me, why the movie might not seem real. I heard news stories of very evil children doing awful things to each other, without the adults knowing. So it's not so far fetch like some critics panned it to be. The settling in Maine, makes it seem like the movie was written by Stephen King. Surprising it wasn't. A tie-in novel was published alongside the movie's release in 1993, written by Todd Strasser. That explain more about Henry's backstory. The book also concludes differently from the movie that interesting to read. The screen writing by Ian McEwan might be a bit over the top and pretty exaggerated in the film. Even if a child is a sociopath, it still has a child's vocabulary, intelligence, etc. Just being a sociopath doesn't mean you sound like Hannibal Lecter right from the womb. Also, they tend to master the art of acting and sounding normal, which is how they make their way through life without people cluing in. Granted Henry is pretty young and may not have learned those skills yet, but this movie really stretches reality with how obviously unsettled he is and the fact that even people trained to recognize a disturbed child can't see him. The actions he did doesn't seem too far from what an evil child might have done. It's hammed up, but it's no different from any other evil bad seed film like 2009's Orphan and 1956's Bad Seed. Yes, the film was inappropriate for children, but it never was for kids. It's a thriller, and a scary movie. So for Robert Ebert to call the film a creepy, unpleasant experience. I think the movie did its purpose. It's not supposed to make you feel lovely, it's a horror movie. I don't understand why people think this movie is any different than other horror films. At less, this horror movie was smart. I love the final action scene at the end of the cliffs. In my opinion, it's one of my favorite fight scenes in the 1990s. It's get more intense, when a hard choice was given to one of the main characters. I wouldn't spoil it for you. The music by Elmer Bernstein was chilling and works for the intense moments. In my opinion, this R film isn't that bad. Yes, it has children fighting, harsh language, and smoking, but it's not as gory as 1984's Children of the Corn, and 1976's the Omen. This movie could had been rated PG-13 with a few edits. The DVD transfer is good. So it's worth finding this movie, it's has a lot of DVD extras worth checking out. Overall: This film isn't for the faint of heart conservative watchers. You have to open to anything, even if it's seems odd for a child to act this way. Once you get pass that, you will realize that this movie isn't as bad as what some critics say it is. You find yourself, cheering Elijah Wood on with this thriller as the story takes you in. You find out that the film is badly overlook and panned by critics just angry because at the time Culkin was American darling at the time and they believe that he shouldn't play a bad seed at the time. It's like watching 1930's horror movie with Shirley Temple as an evil daughter. People are just typecasting the child actor to only family friendly roles. The Good Son is a rare gem of a horror movie that needs to be check out again. It's a good movie, and it's good enough for me.

Nitzan Havoc One of the best things about being a Horror freak is discovering these little Easter egg surprises in "old" films. This time, I had the pleasure of finding Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood as little kids, playing in one of the most disturbing, unnerving and well made Thrillers I've ever seen.Not using any cheats at all (I mean none - no sudden loud music that would force the audience to jump, no nude shots, no cellphone without a battery or signal and no cars that won't start), The Good Son derived its Horror aspect from pure reality. There's nothing supernatural or involving esoteric theories. Just a blunt and slightly exaggerated case of Psychopathy in children. Good ol' fashion uneasy horror!The acting is wonderful and almost flawless! David Morse (Mark's father Jack) and Daniel Hugh Kelly's characters weren't given enough screen time to really have depth, and I found Morse's acting to be slightly unconvincing (he didn't really make me feel like he was a recently widowed father). Besides that - nothing but praises. Wendy Crewson was excellent as Susan Evans, little Quinn Culkin (Macaulay's sister) was quite impressive as Connie Evans (especially the pond scene, that took some talent and probably lots of practice), and Jacqueline Brookes really managed to portray the elderly kind-hearted and empathetic psychiatrist Alice Devenport. As for the two "stars" - Elijah Wood seemed to have been made for the role of Mark, the kid who had recently lost his mother. His big round eyes, when wearing a sad expression, are a secret weapon for any director. His laughter immediately made me think of his role as Frodo Baggins, and reminded me of his great talent of depicting the full spectrum of emotions (although for that one must also bear in mind his role as the cannibal killer in Sin City). And for the grand finale - Macaulay Culkin. Dear God, I'll never be able to view Home Alone/Richi Rich/The Pagemaster the same way! Talk about a talented kid actor with many faces... Culkin's acting as "evil" Sociopath non-caring Henry Evans was creepy and disturbing to the point of being truly horrific! Try to count how many time he really smiled, and in which situations. Macaulay Culkin was the single most disturbing "evil child" I've seen so far, more that any of the Children of the Corn or The Children cast.The story was also profound, and the events that described Mark's relationship with Henry were realistic, reasonable, clear and horrifying. None of the scenes felt redundant or forced in any way, and some of them were as sad and touching as the others were creepy and bone chilling. My only slight small problem was the with the final scene. Without giving any spoilers, it simply felt unrealistic and I didn't think it could happen that way in real life. Though you might disagree.All in all - I don't think I have anything bad to say about this film. I'd have given it a 10 had I not felt biased due to Culkin and Wood's other roles which I've seen prior to this film. However, even if you haven't seen any of them in action before - if you're a Children Horror/Thriller fan you simply cannot let yourself pass on this one. Extremely highly recommended!

FlashCallahan After his mother's death, a young boy, Mark, is left with his aunt and uncle while his father makes an important trip.Cousin Henry is at first great fun, but isn't your average boy next door.Mark believes Henry is evil, but no one else can see this...Where was Culkin going to go after Home Alone? according to his dad, this weird little film. At the time, Culkin was this behemoth of a child star, but that star was fading quickly.But this is such a strange film to pick. Firstly, it's not scary in the slightest. And I really feel that this movie was marketed wrong as a horror.Secondly, Wood steals the film from everyone. He shows just how talented he is, and why he has the career he has today. Thus, showing that the casting of Culkin as the 'bad' son, is just a parlour trick by the makers to put bums on seats.Which never worked here in the UK.But the film is still watchable thanks to Wood, and some unintentionally funny moments (the scene where Culking uses bad language is supposed to chill, it doesn't), and the film does try and raise a 'what would you do' question at the end.It's a fun movie, but it ultimately shows that Culkin didn't really have range.