Parents (1989)

Set in suburban 1950s America and intended by director Bob Balaban (in his directorial debut) to be “Donna Reed meets Psycho“, Parents introduces the Laemle family, who seem, at first glance, to be the quintessential Eisenhower-era family.

They drive a shiny new Oldsmobile and furnish their new split-level with kidney-shaped tables and Eames chairs.

Lily (Mary Beth Hurt) – in a June Cleaver hairdo, neat stilettos and poodle skirt – is a model housewife who manages to bake cakes and grind meat without chipping her ruby-red nails.

She is an obedient wife and protective mother who keeps her perfectly colour-coordinated home spotless.

Nick (Randy Quaid) is an up-and-coming defoliant expert at the Toxico chemical plant. He’s a perfect husband and father who plays golf and is something of a wine expert.

The couple are adept at socialising with Nick’s new boss and his ditsy wife (Graham Jarvis and Deborah Rush). When the Laemles face the world, there are no chinks in their polyester armour.

At home, though, Nick is forever glowering, lurking and reciting sadistic fables about what happens to nosey, disobedient children.

Nine-year-old Michael Laemle (Bryan Madorsky), who’s been warned never to bring friends home, has persistent nightmares, as well as suspicions. He wonders what’s really in those laundry bags and why he has to stay away from the freezer in the basement – an area from which strange, chiselling sounds sometimes emanate.

At Michael’s new school, his teacher asks the class to draw pictures of their families, and Michael covers his with blood-red crayon.

Enter the guidance counsellor, a delightfully disorganised character named Millie Drew (Sandy Dennis), who calls a conference with Lily.

Asked about her son, Michael’s mother can think only of one thing to report: “He’s not much of an eater”.

Prodded by Sheila (London Juno), his only friend, Michael stakes out his dad’s lab, where there’s a ready supply of corpses for experiments.

There are more grisly finds when he checks out the basement at home – and at this point, his parents confess their little secret.

Coaxing Michael to take just one little bite of “leftovers”, Nick says, “I’m sure you’ll acquire a taste for it. Your mother did”. From this point on, the film gets gorier and gorier.

Nick Laemle
Randy Quaid
Lily Laemle
Mary Beth Hurt
Millie Dew
Sandy Dennis
Michael Laemle
Bryan Madorsky
Sheila Zellner
London Juno
Miss Baxter
Kathryn Grody
Mrs Zellner
Deborah Rush
Mr Zellner
Graham Jarvis
Grandmother
Helen Carscallen
Grandfather
Warren Van Evera
Lab Attendant
Wayne Robson
Little Boy
Uriel Byfield
Little Girl
Mariah Balaban
Announcer
Larry Palef

Director
Bob Balaban