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VHS or Bust: The Applegates
As technology propels us forward into a world of increasingly digital media, our access and selection seems to grow. But what about those films that were lost in the scuffle, never ported to DVD and certainly not to be found on your NetFlix instant watch? Thankfully in Austin, TX, we haven't forgotten. Presenting "VHS or Bust", an ongoing column of hidden gems on VHS you can find at your local video stores I Luv Video and Vulcan. Get your VCRs ready, your popcorn popped, and please -- don't forget to rewind.
The Applegates, AKA Meet the Applegates, continues the proud 80's film tradition of skewering suburban mores with a snarky smile planted firmly on face. The sophomore film from director Michael Lehmann (best known for his dark teen masterpiece Heathers and currently working on HBO's "True Blood"), The Applegates opens with a Beetlejuice-ian helicopter shot over the Colombian rainforest, where bulldozers are busy leveling trees to make way for commerce. That is until they're attacked by 7-foot praying mantises defending their natural habitat. Meet the Applegates.
Moving to Median, Ohio, the capital of middle America, the Applegates assume human form and attempt to assimilate into their version of the "perfectly average" American family. They're not just trying to escape the devastation of their hometown, though -- these bugs want revenge, and like a sleeper cell of insect terrorists, they work their way into the woodwork of the town. Patriarch Dick (Ed Begley, Jr.; Pineapple Express, Stan Sitwell on "Arrested Development") quickly takes a job at the local nuclear power plant, with the ultimate goal of total meltdown (bugs survive radiation, humans do not). Meanwhile, wife Jane (Stockard Channing) and kids Johnny and Sally start researching the ways in which to be perfectly average, and it's here that the film's at its snarkiest and funniest (Jane opts to buy Tide for the laundry because the ad tells her it's what most housewives use).
Lehmann (whose only writing credit to this day is the film) clearly relishes in his mix of biting humor and grotesque horror. Like fellow satirist Larry Cohen (The Stuff, It's Alive) however, he's not one to leave his movie without a message. There's a strong environmentalist push going on here, as well as the more immediate social commentary, but the The Applegates never feels too heavy handed, mixing up awesome monster effects, spoof sensibilities, and a subversive edge to satisfyingly dark result. As the Applegates fall prey to the vices of suburban living (credit card addiction, extramarital affairs, pot, teen pregnancy, to name a few), Lehmann clearly wants us to see just how like the "average American family" they're truly becoming. But if you really want to sum up how fun the movie is, simply consider the scene where Spot, the family dog, accidentally inhales some marijuana, morphs into a giant fly, and speeds off to terrorize the terrace. There goes the neighborhood.
The Applegates can be found on VHS at I Luv Video and Vulcan Video in Austin, TX. It is rated R.
