Firstborn (1984)
Directed by Michael Apted
Maybe not traditional horror, and more of a drama thriller, but the realism of Firstborn made me include it in this year. Domestic violence is more common that any of us want to admit. So a movie that covers the topic is more true horror than any slasher movie or monster.
Firstborn is about a single mother (Teri Garr) and her two sons (Christopher Collet & Corey Haim) meeting the mother’s new boyfriend Sam (Peter Weller). At first Sam comes off as a nice guy, buying the kids gifts and taking the mother out on dates. Soon things take a turn starting with wild cocaine fueled parties and neglecting the boys. Jake the oldest son played by Christopher Collet from Sleepaway Camp (Paul) gets into arguments and physical altercations with Sam. Everything builds up to Sam trying to hunt Jake down and beat him, if he doesn’t give him his coke supply back. The climax has a final face off between Jake, Brian, Wendy and Sam.
The acting in this movie was pretty good. I was shocked to see anyone from Sleepaway Camp branch out and have another role in anything but a Slasher movie. Christopher Collet did a solid job as Jake. Peter Weller aka fricking RoboCop was awesome as Sam the unhinged boyfriend. He was menacing and dangerous. Teri Garr was as good as always, she was born to play motherly roles and to see a side of her as uncaring was impressive. The rest of the cast is a who’s who of 1980s teen movies: Corey Haim (RIP), Sarah Jessica Parker, Robert Downey Jr all have roles in this movie. There are more than a few unsettling scenes, the abuse Sam puts on Brian especially since he is maybe 10 years old.
I was impressed with this movie. I’ve had it for a while on CED and I finally got around to spinning it. I’ll likely watch it again because it is so well acted. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. I give Firstborn an A-.
