Frazzle22

It's absurd that "Problem Child" is marketed as family entertainment. The main character, Junior (Michael Oliver), is seven years old, and a budding sociopath. His cruel treatment of people and animals is played for laughs, but there's nothing funny about tormenting cats. Parents would be wise to not expose their children to this young character's antisocial behaviour. If the filmmakers wanted to make a movie about an odious "Dennis the Menace," they should have geared Problem Child toward an adult audience.

Moreover, John Ritter does well with the part of adoptive father, Ben Healy, and Jack Warden is mildly amusing as grandfather, Big-Ben Healy. Michael Richards, of subsequent "Seinfeld" fame, is stodgy in his role as (bow tie killer) Martin Beck.

Problem Child is an abysmal, unfunny film, and the injection of political messaging is petty and unnecessary. A must miss!

"When the Wind Blows" (WTWB) is an animated full length feature that depicts the grim outcome of a nuclear strike against western society by the Soviet Union during the cold-war Era.

The film is centered around English pensioner couple, Hilda and Jim who, naively try to save their lives and countryside home by following the government's futile emergency preparedness plan.

While the main characters remain sanguine throughout, WTWB has a melancholy vibe. The film is heavy in dialogue, and voice actors Peggy Ashcroft (Hilda) and John Mills (Jim) turn in brilliant performances. Furthermore, the hand-drawn characters are cool, and some interesting CGI effects are used.

When the Wind Blows is not a film for children; although, I fully recommend it for teens and adults who enjoy animated movies containing serious subject matter.

While it's more of a comedy than it is a true slasher-thriller, "Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland" is surprisingly good. This third film sees a mid-twenties Angela Baker (Pamela Springsteen) posing as a teenage camper motivated not by tenting and swimming, but rather maliciousness and blood-lust.

Part three plays like a satire, and the characters are based on egregious racial stereotypes that are further categorized by social class. The camp leaders are a middle aged white couple: a dumb woman and her perverted, philandering husband. Additionally, a police officer is on the "Camp New Horizons" staff (so we know the kids will be safe).

Inner-city street kids and affluent kids of the suburbs make up the group of teen campers. While I feel this movie is a satire designed to lampoon the first two films, the stereotyping of the youths is brutal, and the characters' use of racial slurs is shocking. For example, one of the inner-city teens is a boom-box carrying, foul mouthed black male who is depicted as being lazy. The prejudice is not limited to characters of colour, however, as the privileged white teen girls are portrayed as promiscuous, ignorant racists.

Sleepaway Camp III isn't suspenseful or thrilling, but the blatant ridiculous stereotypes, shocking language, and absurd kill-scenes made me chuckle. Also, in one particularly amusing scene, Angela spits a rap verse to share in the interest of her fellow aforementioned camp-mate.