Bananas

Even with the best intentions, some kids films just turn out creepy, guaranteed to give the young ones nightmares. I myself love watching these, jaw dropped, wondering just how did this get bankrolled. Case in point is the 1987 groan fest Going Bananas. The story sounds harmless enough. A wealthy young boy befriends a talking chimp while on safari in Africa. But wait till you see the chimp. It truly is horrific. It looks like somebody took the Chaka costume from Land Of The Lost and dragged it behind a truck for six months. And his high pitched voice can best be described as Tiny Tim after inhaling helium. Creepy, creepy, creepy.

I'm sure the filmmakers had the best intentions. Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus produced this mess. Mostly known for films featuring Chuck Norris kicking things, they were probably trying to broaden their audience by making a family flick. In this case, stick with what you know. They brought on Boaz Davidson to direct. He made The Last American Virgin for them five years earlier. It makes total sense to have a man best known for directing a teen sex comedy helming your PG rated monkey movie.

David Mendenhall plays the young boy. He was probably still on the Golan Globus payroll since he was in their Stallone movie Over The Top. Dom DeLuise plays Mendenhall's guardian, and he looks miserable in every scene. Probably wishing that it was Burt Reynolds calling him to be in a movie instead of Golan Globus. Jimmie Walker is their tour guide. Definately not Good Times for him. Herbert Lom is an evil police chief trying to capture the chimp for the circus. He gets to ham it up a bit in this without worry of being upstaged by Peter Sellers. And with the rest of the cast phoning it in, it gives him plenty of scenery to chew. And as the creepy chimp is Deep Roy. Probably best known as playing the Oompa Loompas in Tim Burton's Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. I'm sure this wasn't on his resume when auditioning for Burton.

This one is painful to watch, but if you're in the mood for a family film that will creep you out, you might want to check it out. It sometimes pops up on the This TV channel late night.