Purple People Eater (1988)

VHS Movie

This is a delightful movie for all ages. I just purchased this for my husband and the transaction went very smoothly and the video was in great shape February 27, 2008

Oh, no, Longfellow! You're not supposed to be on the balcony!

Purple People Eater (Linda Shayne, 1988)

There are bad movies, and then there are bad movies. There are those that transcend the usual badness and become gems of such pure awfulness that they must be seen to be believed. Night of the Lepus is the classic example, because who thought giant mutant killer bunnies were a good idea? Purple People Eater is another entry in that august company, a movie that goes so far down the scale of awful that it starts lookin' like up to me. It helps that, in the light of hindsight, so many of the kids in this movie went on to be the deeply dysfunctional child stars they promised to be here.

The plot: Billy Johnson (Doogie Howser M.D.'s Neil Patrick Harris)'s parents are going away for the summer, leaving him and his sister Molly (American Beauty's Thora Birch in her first screen appearance) in the care of their hard-of-hearing, slightly loopy grandfather (Ned Beatty). While they repaint grandpa's apartment, they pull out an old record player and play Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater," causing the title character to appear, looking, as purple people eaters do, for work in a rock and roll band. Meanwhile, Grandpa's landlord, Mr. Noodle, is continually raising the rents in the neighborhood so he can drive everyone out and turn the whole place into condos. Purple to the rescue!

This is a train wreck of a movie, but like a good train wreck, it's one you simply can't stop watching. The plot and structural holes are painfully funny, the acting is godawful, the script is a mess, and, wow, Dustin Diamond as the guitarist! (As a side note, one of the things that really bugs me in movies makes its presence very highly felt here: the director obviously didn't care enough to have the people playing the instruments even come close to synching with the music.) But before you get your hate on, this movie is chock full of the kinds of awful lines you'll be repeating as in-jokes amongst your hip friends for years to come. "No, Longfellow! Not the balcony!"

You need a copy of this, if only to say you own one. ** October 12, 2007

VHS

This is very funny movie. I ordered it for my nephew.

Joan January 15, 2007

littletuxedo03

This is one of my alltime favorite films! After hearing the song I had to have the movie! Youll love it and kids will love it! A must have for any collector! March 24, 2005

Two words - Dustin Diamond

enough said - that should make you want to go out and get it.Rainbow Pride 4 Eva. September 20, 2004

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