You know you’re in for a treat when the opening credits begin with “A Topps Chewing Gum Production”… I was as much a devoted fan and purveyor of the classic cult trading cards as the next weird, outcast kid in school, but the fact that they actually made a feature film based on the hobby still astounds me. Garbage Pail Kids were the treasure of many kids back then and likewise, the very same cards were Satan’s very own diabolical creation of pure child corrupting evil to many parents. While little girls were playing with their cute little Cabbage Patch Kids, the boys were sifting through and trading their Garbage Pail Kids cards, laughing at the grossness of the different characters featured on each card.
‘The Garbage Pail Kids Movie’ (1987) is generally categorized in the family/kids section, which… in and of itself is kind of disturbing. For the first time viewer [assuming they could sit through it], the movie may give a slight impression of teaching kids that it doesn’t matter how you look, or whether you’re “different”, it’s what’s inside that counts… well, that’s a stretch. In reality, this is simply a poorly made ridiculous little film that’s filled with gross-out jokes and cheesy special effects.
Directed by Rodney Amateau, whose biggest credit goes to directing 101 episodes of the TV show ‘The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis’, this film ended up being his final swan song. ‘GBKM’ would mark the last film from Rodney Amateau who passed away on June 29, 2003. Having lived a long 80 years, I’ll refrain from picking on the man himself, out of respect for the dead. Instead, I’ll pick apart the movie that single-handily almost destroyed the memories I have of collecting and trading my GPK cards with friends… that is, before I came home from school one day and found they had mysteriously vanished.
Continue reading Best of the Bad … ‘The Garbage Pail Kids Movie’