11-year-old Mikey (Brian Bonsall) seems like the most adoptable orphan in the world. He’s smart, he’s cute, and will look good on next year’s family Christmas card. There’s just one little problem with Mikey. If he doesn’t get his way, he will go on a murderous rampage, make it look like an accident, and then move on. He’s the pint-sized equivalent to The Stepfather (1987). After knocking off his previous adopted family, Mikey gets another chance with two more suckers, Neil and Rachel Trenton (John Deihl and Mimi Craven). He quickly befriends Ben (Whit Hertford), the kid next door in spite of acting sketchy like immediately! Things spiral out of control when Mikey falls for Ben’s teenage sister Josie (Josie Bissett). He just can’t imagine what a grown woman wouldn’t see in him. Ugh, chicks! Am I rite?!
I didn’t know just how nostalgic I was for my parents’ couch and their cable box that just happened to get all the movie channels. Now I’m not saying they bribed our cable guy or anything to get hooked up with all of that sweet pay TV but yeah. Mikey (1992) feels tailor maid for those “I just turned this movie on in the middle and now I can’t help but finish it” Saturday nights when all of your so called “friends” ditched you because you’re “boring”. Just because you just want to stay home and watch movies doesn’t make you boring, okay?! Maybe racking up a huge tab at a bar so you can listen to Puff Daddy at an ear-splitting volume while people you hated in high school stare too long because they can’t quite remember who you are isn’t your idea of a good time! What was I talking about?
Director Dennis Dimster and his crew wanted to make an updated version of The Bad Seed (1956) and they were certainly successful. Brian Bonsall really delivers as The Mikester (patent pending). He’s quite convincing as the little killer and oh yes, you’ll end up rooting for him. The rest of the cast is solid as well featuring prolific character actor Diehl as Mikey’s clueless but good-natured adopted dad and Hellraiser alum Ashley Laurence as the teacher who knows something is terribly wrong with precocious little knucklehead. Lyman Ward, another veteran character actor, plays the gym teacher who foolishly waits until the 11th hour to concede that maybe, just maybe, Mikey might be trouble.
Mikey is a solid if by-the-numbers killer kid movie that sports a vibe that I can’t quite put my finger on. I love how it wastes no time getting to the violence. Think of this as The Good Son (1993) except way more fun. Mikey (the film and the character) also sports a very morbid streak and quirky sense of humor. The color palette is quite muted thanks to early 1990s decorators’ obsession with whites and beiges but cinematographer Tom Jewett sneaks in some very nice compositions to keep things from looking bland. If you’re already terrified of children like I am, then Mikey will help you face those fears (or make them infinitely worse).
Mikey looks and sounds pretty damn good on this release. There are two audio options: a DTS-HD 2.0 stereo track and an older Dolby 2.0 track. I’m not sure why both versions were included but the stereo is the one to go with since the Dolby is much less robust. The extras on MVD’s Blu of Mikey are so damn cool. In the place of an audio commentary, there’s an hour and a half long “Making of Mikey” documentary featuring interviews with the filmmakers and Brian Bonsall, the Mikenator (patent pending) himself. There’s a short featurette called “Mikey – Anatomy of a Scene” with director Dimster analyzing just what went into a key scene from the movie. The disc also features the original trailer for Mikey and other MVD releases.
Director – Dennis Dimster
Cast – Brian Bonsall, Josie Bissett, Ashley Laurence, Mimi Craven
Country of Origin – USA
Reviewer – Richard Glenn Schmidt