Meet the Applegates

Plot synopsis:
The film starts off in a forest with a family being attacked by a family of huge Brazilian Cocorada. It then moves to a typical-looking family moving into a well-off suburban Ohio neighborhood. They are the bugs that were seen earlier, after they took on human form and met every "normality" standard from the magazine Family Bazaar. They moved to the suburbs after the husband, Richard, got a job at a nuclear power plant; he works there to one day cause an explosion that would rid the world of humans and let bugs be. But after a while they drift from its normalities — the son, Johnny, a straight-laced A student, begins listening to heavy metal and becomes a junkie; Richard and his wife, Jane, drift away from each other, he having an affair at work and she becoming attached to her credit card; lastly the daughter, Sally, becomes a pregnant lesbian after being raped by a jock from the high school.
They each show their true bug form at least once in the film—Johnny does while smoking marijuana with his metalhead buddies, Sally while being raped by the jock, Richard when infiltrating the nuclear plant, and Jane when two Family Bazaar agents come to their house. As they drift away from normality (and nearly been found out by the neighbors) their aunt, Bea, is sent to help. She becomes a nuisance and they decide she should be taken care of. Richard decides to not blow up the plant, and kills Bea instead. At the end of the movie they return to their lives in Brazil, and are visited by the townspeople that grew to love them, although the plant did not blow up, enough radiation was released to remove the hair from much of the town's population.
A deleted scene reveals that Aunt Bea survived and still intends to destroy the world.

Tags: cult

Review:
Angered by a logging company encroaching deep into their natural forest, a family of large insects camouflage themselves as humans and blend themselves into a small American town.
Despite being a little too gory for my tastes, this comedy is actually quite sharp in it's main satire on American life.
The main joke for me was the way the family of bugs are sucked into the lifestyle of American mores  the mother gives in to commercialism, the son to drugs, the daughter to teenage sex and the father to adultery.
What is clear is the eco message which pokes fun at those who would make war on nature (whether bug or human) without respect for other life forms.For a 90 minute film it all works pretty well and is actually quite imaginative.
The kids are OK but the best performance is an outrageous performance from Coleman as the queen of the species  complete with full drag and moustache!Overall this never quite delivers as many laughs as it's clever and funny pitch but it is still worth a watch.
I couldn't disagree more with the other comment posted for this (unavailable..any body know of a release date for a DVD?) clever adult satire on the American dream and the life that accompanies it.
The movie is hilarious (as are the 4 films mentioned above) in its own twisted little way..
"The Applegates" can easily be considered a cult classic for three obvious reasons; a strong cast, a powerful story, and moments that will remain in the chambers of your brain.
Director Michael Lehmann,, who also directed a personal favorite film called "Heathers", knows how to make a socially viable comedy that doesn't feel dated or tired.
Who would have imaged I would be sitting here, typing on the computer, indicating to you that I deeply enjoyed a film starring Ed Begley Jr. and Stockard Channing  or even the fact that Dabney Coleman was mixed in there as well?!?
They were working together to create comedy (yet again another concept that seems to escape modern cinematic farces), they played off of each other, building their small character into something believable and witty for the greater good  the movie!
The human elements that invade these bugs' lives are over-developed for this film, but they work impressively well.
These Applegates, as well as the actors that portray them, prove to humans that even if they come to us, we will still destroy their sense of what is right or wrong."The Applegates" used a powerful technique for keeping this film easy on the eyes.
I wanted to laugh, bring in thoughts of what is destroying our world, and see a film that was fresh and genuine; and I was able to see it with "The Applegates".
Our obese lifestyles are killing these bugs, and Lehmann isn't afraid to show us that to our face.Overall, I thought "The Applegates" was yet another strong film released by Michael Lehmann.
It is a sad story of our human lives, wondering if others would ever watch this film and see us in such a light, one can only wonder.
I would give this film a 7.0.This is the kind of film you watch with a big bowl of popcorn.Stockard Channing is always great and the role of Sally Applegate is played extremely well.This film should be required viewing for Ed Bundy.I love the surreal and outrageous humour.We all seem to be afraid of being invaded by aliens but I do believe that not many of us considered cockroaches even though they may among the few species that survive..
The comic premise of giant bugs disguising themselves as humans is no more difficult to accept here than it was in "Men in Black," except this is a much better movie.
The predictable left wing environmental theme is here, but is by no means overpowering enough to detract from the riotously funny look at middle class suburban life, with all its pretensions, facades, commercialism, and sexual foibles that this movie supplies.
Though this film has a very strong moral (people who think insects are disgusting and live disgusting lives should first take a look at the human race) the whole thing is marred by the fact that it can't seem to decide whether it's a comedy or a more serious ecologically-themed drama.
The insect family trying to fit into human society and coming to terms with it could have been hilarious, but the film is too mean-spirited and bleak to be funny (the family daughter is date-raped, the father commits adultery with his secretary, the son takes drugs, the dog is poisoned by the same drugs and ends up reverting back to an insect before being crushed to death).
There isn't much I could add to Tom's comment, except that for an European it is so refreshing to see an American director really make fun of America and Michael Lehmann definitely is always doing an excellent job at just that.
The Applegates (Ed Begley Jr, Stockard Channing) are a peculiar suburban family.
Meet The Applegates doesn't meet much intelligence, however, it is a fun movie to watch if you just want to watch, and not think.
I want to warn you, even though Meet The Applegates is in general a comedy, there are a few yucky scenes ( I won't spoil any of them for you, that would spoil the fun...and that's all I can see that this movie was made.
Director Michael Lehmann's second movie which takes a very witty look at the typical suburban American family, in all its cliched glory.
However, they soon realise that there is no such thing as the perfect family and very quickly things start to go wrong.The dialogue is sharp, witty and always amusing, although the directors attempt at a screenplay is not a patch on that of Dan Waters who wrote his first movie Heathers.
Keyword reference for this film indicates scenes of interracial sex.There were no scenes of interracial sex - barely scenes of interracial interaction (other than the law enforcement official that meets a slimy end -- no sex, though).Did I miss something?In fact, the sex scenes are not much to worry about -- the daughter's romp is not the least bit erotic, or funny -- for that matter.
Smelly and disgusting would-be comedy about a typical looking suburban family (led by Ed Begley, Jr. and Stockard Channing) who are actually giant cockroaches in elaborate disguises.
"Meet the Applegates" is a terrible movie that tries to be funny, but has too many unnecessary adult themed elements.
In 2007 however, it just looks tired, when people such as Tim Burton are capable of handling these things with far more subtlety.The satire is misjudged here because the wellspring itself is from other movies rather than anything close to real-life.
If this is an attack on American values then it adheres strictly to movie convention, because I refuse to believe that EVERY family over there contains the requisite sex-object daughter and pothead son.This takes aim at small screen morality on a bigger budget, and it's very rare that TV is a microcosm, so almost all of the jabs feel watered down when filtered through an entertainment medium.
A family of cockroaches living in some tropical country are disgusted with humans destroying their habitat, but they have a plan to put an end to their carelessness.
Head of the household, Richard Applegate (Ed Beagly, Jr.), a suave engineer, will pose as a worker at the local nuclear power plant, and then use his privileged access to figure out the layout of the plant and the key eliminating the human race, and pretty much every other living and non-living thing.However, their plan starts to fall apart when the perfect all-American storybook Applegate gradually turns into a seriously dysfunctional family.
Dabney Coleman is pretty funny in this movie with his small role as "Aunt Bea," the queen of the cockroach clan.
He plays pest control specialist, Greg Samson here.This kind of movie is really an acquired taste, and is a much different satire than Lehmann offers in 'The Heathers.' It is certainly a wild satire--cockroaches disguised as the perfect human beings?
And the question in the end is, is global nuclear destruction really necessary for humans to appreciate cockroaches, or hell, to quit destroying species in general?
The movie, too, may go overboard with some things such as the young Applegate daughter being raped by the horny jock, turning her into a lesbian.
Well it's not the best movie in the world, if it could possible help people understand the negatives of destroying the rainforest then its worth a watch in my books..
They had a good concept going at first, the unnecessary had to flush story down the toilet and replace it with unecessary rape, very cruel looks at life and dramatic problems with families that are considered funny.
MEET THE APPLEGATES is a comedy horror movie and I guess on that level it works very well as a bunch of giant praying mantis disguise themselves as an all American family and live in middle America while planning to sabotage a nuclear power plant in order to save their jungle environment So far so good as far as the premise goes but you quickly find yourself asking the question as to what the film is trying to say .
Surely if the movie has a green conscience it should appeal to children but within 20 minutes we've already seen an attempted rape while more and more bad language and adult situations like adultery and drug taking are introduced into the story and long before the movie ends you notice that there's a very uneven feel between scenes which makes for a very strange movie Okay I'll be generous and take it as entertainment in which case MEET THE APPLEGATES just about succeeds if that's what it's intended as .
A lot of "Meet the Applegates" (alternately called "The Applegates") is just straightforward comedy, with the insect family trying to behave like a "typical American family" in the suburbs.
No, it's not the funniest movie ever, but it's got some funny stuff mixed in with the ecological message..
Ed Begley Jr. has been in some pretty outrageous movies (see Eating Raoul), but it has to be both outrageous and entertaining, which this film is not.
Applegates is the duo's followup and what a delicious wedge of trash it is, a tart with a heart kind of a movie easily mixing the downright unpleasant with the lightly comic and a bit of social and environmental commentary.
The Applegates are not your ordinary suburban American family: they're giant insects bent on world destruction.
I started watching this expecting that the bug natures of the family (excellently played by Ed Begley Jnr, the always brilliant Stockard Channing and two bright young things whose careers have since faltered) would be played down because of the tight budget.
Someone somewhere has decided ropey-schmopey they're going with the effects lending a wonderful air of B-movie to proceedings.I said before that the Applegates weren't an ordinary American family but they are recognisable as a sort of hellish recreation of one in the late twentieth century and they evolve fast.
There's lots to love here: cross dressing Queen Bea (a lovely turn by Dabney Coleman), Kevin and Kenny the twin dealers who now look like something out of a time warp and a whole lot of gore.
But a broad streak of comedy and a thin veneer of environmentalism gives this in many ways bleak film plenty of heart and if the dialogue sparkled a bit better then this quite political tale (is it really about communism vs.
Meet the Applegates, there's the head of the family Richard Applegate (Ed Begley Jr.) also known as Dick, his wife Jane (Stockard Channing) & their two teenage children Johnny (Robert Jayne as Bobby Jacoby) & Sally (Camile Cooper as Cami Cooper).
The Applegates at first glance appear to be a normal middle class American family when they move into a quiet suburban town somewhere in Ohio to all their new neighbours & friends.
But in reality the Applegates are in fact giant cockroach type insects from the Amazonian rain forests disguised as humans.
Dick talks himself into a job at the local nuclear power plant & plans to cause a meltdown, the Applegates & their species then hope the resulting radiation leak will wipe out the entire human race & leave the insect kingdom to live in peace.
At first things go extremely well & their plan works perfectly but soon enough the pleasures & peril's of everyday American life begin to have an effect on their family unit & their plans.
First Sally has sex with Vincent Sampson (Adam Biesk) whom finds out that she is a giant cockroach so Sally cocoons him & takes him home which causes problems as Vincent is the son of one of the Applegates neighbours, Greg Sampson (Glenn Shadix) who is a bug exterminator.
Their carefully thought out plans & the very existence of their species lay in tatters as living an everyday American life has all but destroyed them, but others of their kind are on the way...Co-written & directed by Micheal Lehmann I thought Meet the Applegates was a highly original & very enjoyable comic horror.
The script by Lehmann & Redbeard Simmons really hits the nail on the head with it's witty & satirical look on middle class American life.
I loved the scene where Jane wouldn't have sex with Dick so he finds a picture of two insects having sex & masturbates, or the scene when Johnny questions if smoking dope is safe & his two spaced out friends say "we do it all the time" "and look at us", in fact Meet the Applegates is full of great individual scenes.
The Applegates descent from the perfect American family into the emotional wrecks they ended up as was just spot on for me & although obviously the story is pure fantasy it seemed almost believable.
Meet the Applegates is rather silly when all said & done but if you want something a little different & you are able to just go with the bizarre notion of giant cockroaches disguised as humans then you should be rewarded with a great viewing experience, the ending was a bit of a cop out though.
The acting is pretty much spot on from everyone & all the characters are likable except Johnny Applegate & Aunt Bea (Dabney Coleman) who both irritated me.
Overall I really liked Meet the Applegates, it's a very original piece of storytelling that definitely stands out as being just that bit different which makes a nice change.
In the wilds of Brazil, as yet more rainforests are being cut down to make way for burger bars and other such makers of food which doesn't taste as nice as the little cardboard boxes it comes in, an unknown species of giant bug finds a children's 'Learn to Read' book which contains pictures of the 'ordinary' family.
In no time, the outsized mantids are disguised as a human family and are on a mission to cause a nuclear disaster which will wipe out humanity.Though this film does have serious things to say about ecology, it is also a black comedy about the seedier side of families and married life.
Now one of the reasons that this movie doesn't work is because the concept of it, giant insects moving into middle class America and disguising themselves as humans, is really something aimed at children, yet a lot of the in movie concepts, such as the continual drug references and hints at homosexuality, is something that only adults can understand.
I don't know if this movie flopped, but in America it did receive an R rating (which is MA in Australia).Now let us look at the critical side of the film.
Meet the Applegates focuses on the middle class society and it seems to satirically attack what is considered average.
The Applegates are supposed to be the average American family so that they don't look out of place.
What angered me was that the guy practically raped her, yet at the end of the movie it is the Applegates that are accused of being bad.
The bug killer is attacked but in general all of the things that went on in the movie seem to be ignored.
It's fun and bold satire that had been done as a little skit which was a cross between black comedy and gory horror.
I told you earlier it's the movie where the human must emulate the more perfect creatures : the bugs !
what an acrid criticism for a movie that is.(Stockard Channing) exceeded everybody, (Ed Begley Jr.) was good but lacks charisma and looks always cold plus he didn't add anything to his role, (Dabney Coleman) was disgusting for no reason but being odd !
Meet the Applegates is a black comedy that isn't particularly funny.
The costumes and set design are going for that 50's era kitschy look that John Waters uses so well, but Applegates is just a cheap imitation.The "story" is about a bunch of giant bugs disguise themselves as humans and invade America in an attempt to sabotage a power plant and wipe out a town as a first strike in the war between mankind and bug puppets.
Along the way we get some environmental messages that are more forced than the average Captain Planet episode, but not nearly as funny.Dabney Coleman is much better in other movies, as for the rest of the cast...
Ed Begley and Jr. It's about as bland and dull as the stereotypical American family they're mocking in the first place.If you have insomnia and happen to stumble across Meet the Applegate on late night cable as I did, you might want to keep flipping, with all the channels we've got there's definitely something better on.