I was watching TV the other day and The Good Son was on. When I first saw it I think I was a teenager. The movie came out in 1993 so I’d have been 14 at the time but there’s no way I saw it in the theater. I want to say I first saw it when it aired on HBO. Remember when they’d play movies 1600 times when they first aired on the channel? Actually they still do that but I digress. At that time, to my teenage self The Good Son was merely just a “thriller” type movie where it was cool to see Macaulay Culkin play a psychotic kid, especially after his “nice guy” stints in Home Alone.
If it weren’t for Elijah Wood’s hair in that film I might even like him as well. But consider this about the movie. It was rated R. I think that’s a super gutsy move by the studios and by Culkin. This is a movie about a sick kid who literally wants to kill people. But it’s not like he’s some wack job horror movie guy like Chucky. He’s just a “normal” 9 or 10 year old type who winds up completely messing with his cousin (Wood) before eventually trying to kill his own mother.
Surprisingly the movie did pretty well in the box office. $17 million budget and it grossed $65 million worldwide. Not bad.
Anyway, the reason I’m suggesting you watch it as an adult is because it’s completely screwed up….especially now that I’m a parent. While thankfully most kids aren’t capable of this madness, it kind of makes you think twice about these little buggers.
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