"The Peanut Butter Solution" Reviews/Discussion - 2023 Horror Challenge
 

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Re: "The Peanut Butter Solution" Reviews/Discussion - 2023 Horror Challenge
 

For those who want to know, I watched this on Tubi and there were zero ads which was nice.

What wasn't nice was the movie. I picked this movie because i remembered Severin making a big deal about its release and then seeing tons of posts here and there about how this movie ruined their childhood. Seriously. Go look at the IMDB reviews and half of them are talking about this movie like it is still affecting their daily life.

So being a 12-year-old HBO addict in 1985 and having never heard of this movie, I was definitely intrigued. How could I have never stumbled upon this on cable or anywhere after all these years yet so many people are crying about it 30+ years later?

Well, after watching it, I could see that if you saw this movie when you were 5 or 6 that there were some parts that probably did stick with you through many years.

This movie can be fun at times but also seems to drag quite a bit. It has some cute parts mixed in with the minor spooky stuff. It reminded me of the many ghost short story books that I devoured as a kid during the scholastic book fairs that came through every few months in elementary school (or when you could place an order for said books with your hard-earned lawnmowing money from that pamphlet. That cool black light dinosaur poster and new Choose Your Own Adventure book...better nab those too!).

And that is what this should have been...a short story. An episode of Tales From The Darkside or Amazing Stories perhaps but definitely not a 90-minute feature.

Cute...but no cigar. My rating: **1/2 out of *****

Re: "The Peanut Butter Solution" Reviews/Discussion - 2023 Horror Challenge
 

I agree with Spiderbite. I was 20 when this came out and it was never on my radar. Maybe if had seen it when i was 10-15 years old it might have had a bigger impact. I dont really see this movie as shocking/scary or disturbing watching it now with adult eyes. Its an okay watch overall, but a bit too long for such a thin story.

Re: "The Peanut Butter Solution" Reviews/Discussion - 2023 Horror Challenge
 

I guess kid's horror movie maybe? Def was on the fantasy side of things. More Thrillers have more horror elements than this. I guess getting scared and having your hair fall off would impact a child. As another mentioned, this would have been better as a short story, 60 mins tops.

Re: "The Peanut Butter Solution" Reviews/Discussion - 2023 Horror Challenge
 

I was in the target demographic for this upon release, but I never heard about it surprisingly until the challenge.
It was ok. As others have said, it would have worked way better as a short.

Re: "The Peanut Butter Solution" Reviews/Discussion - 2023 Horror Challenge
 

It's a cool hook for the character to lose his hair after seeing a ghost; I wish more films let the characters be drastically changed by encounters with the supernatural - too often they just seem to go on around their business once any threat of the ghost is over. New rule should be any character who sees a ghost loses hair.

I appreciate Peanut Butter Solution has characters that are largely more realistic and subdued - too often family friend movies are clogged with hammy overacting or odd slapstick antics. Even the French art teacher who hates imagination handles his lines with a bit of gravity and theater.

Those pink robes were pretty stylish.

Where the homeless people trying to help him regain his hair or curse him? "Sometimes Im mean, sometimes Im nice" - that weirdness might have been the most brilliantly under stated twist of the film; ambiguous homeless people ghosts.
Overall I enjoyed Peanut Butter Solution and am glad I finally got to check it out.

Re: "The Peanut Butter Solution" Reviews/Discussion - 2023 Horror Challenge
 

I assume this is some Canadian thing. Celine Dion…. I got the blu during one of those Severin sales, and I’ve honestly never heard of it either. I’m definitely in the targeted age range when this came out.

My wife kept on commenting that it felt more like an after- school special, but that would have shied away from Connie’s use of the solution to grow pubic hair.

I think the pink robes were karate outfits.

Re: "The Peanut Butter Solution" Reviews/Discussion - 2023 Horror Challenge
 

I was in the target demographic for this as well. This is my second time seeing it on Blu-ray. It feels vaguely familiar to me each time I've seen it. I'm sure I likely saw it on cable or something, but it wasn't some traumatic event or something. The little girl looked super familiar, but I think I confused her with the girl from Cloak & Dagger.

So, is this the movie you show your kids to prepare them for David Cronenberg? I saw a lot of it as body horror lite. It's kind of an odd little movie, and I appreciate it for that. It just has a very weird feel to it. The after school special description to its appearance is a good one. Things do get stretched out too much. I can't believe I hadn't noticed Celine Dion did the songs for this. :lol:

Re: "The Peanut Butter Solution" Reviews/Discussion - 2023 Horror Challenge
 

This would be good for younger kids. I'd say under 10. It felt long to me as an adult. Definitely more fantasy than horror. There's a bit of witchy magic in it and a couple of "ghosts", but it's not scary at all., even for a kid. I thought the sister was a good actress. Seems like I've seen her before. The other kids were passable. The story felt a little lie a Roald Dahl tale, but not as good. An OK watch but nothing I'd want to see again.

ETA: Reading others' reviews, I am reminded of the pubic hair. Now I could see that traumatizing a little kid! Does anyone else find it weird they just dropped that? Why didn't his pubic hair keep growing or why didn't he constantly have to cut it? After that one bedroom scene it's just completely dropped. Weird.

Re: "The Peanut Butter Solution" Reviews/Discussion - 2023 Horror Challenge
 

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...593689da5a.gif

Re: "The Peanut Butter Solution" Reviews/Discussion - 2023 Horror Challenge
 

Funny you ask that because I entirely forgot about that plot point.

But I did look at my wife while watching this and asked her if she thought that joke with kids would fly today. I can see people getting crazy offended and making a huge deal out it. That joke probably wouldn't even make the movie nowadays.

Re: "The Peanut Butter Solution" Reviews/Discussion - 2023 Horror Challenge
 

I watched this on Thursday night and had a road trip to Minnesota the next morning. I got back on Sunday and took care of some things at home yesterday before returning to work today, so I wasn't really on dvdtalk until today. With that out of the way, I really didn't find much of interest here. Maybe if I watched it as a kid it would have been interesting, but as an adult, this was just too kiddie for me. In that way, it kind of reminds me of "The Lady in White", which I also never saw as a child, and my wife tried to show it to me as an adult and I just found to be dull and silly. Without nostalgia, there's really nothing for me in either film.

It was a bit funny that discount Short Round uses the solution to grow pubes, and funny how that side plot is just dropped without further explanation while the main character's hair keeps growing. I also found it hilarious that the Signor looks like Heisenberg after his hair falls out. And wow, Celine Dion did the songs for this. I wouldn't have known without the on screen credits. Didn't even sound like her to me. This was obviously before she was world famous, so funny to see beginnings like this.