It appeared to be from the 1970’s. I watched it in the very early 1990’s. It was a family-friendly horror comedy. The movie was about a boy living with his older sister and two parents in a house in which sometimes monsters appeared. The family may have had a dog as well.
The boy drew or wrote often. And every time he was unsatisfied with what he drew or wrote he would crumple the piece of paper he was writing or drawing from and throw it in the waste basket. When he did so, a different thing would happen each time. In one scene the waste basket burst into flames. In another the basket spat the crumpled paper back out and into the dad’s dinner. Prompting him to tell the boy that if he wants food he should just ask for it.
There was an old man wearing a suit who controlled the monsters. Sometimes he wore a hat. At the end of the movie the house was transported to another dimension and the boy had the final confrontation with the old man. There were very trippy visuals as the house existed in a psychedelic dimension during the final battle.
can you remember anything else specific, maybe even character names?
edit: what did the monsters look like?
No names, but I remember the old man and the family were white. The older sister was blonde. The old man had a receding hairline, but he wasn't bald. He had a somewhat thin mustache. The dad may have had glasses and brown or sandy hair. The monsters materialized in the house. The family may have had a dog. I believe the dog survived. If it had died I would've been upset and hated the movie, but I really liked it. I remember watching it in the movie channels. There were no commercials. This was around 1993. I have not seen it since. Also, I believe one creature may have been bug-like.
The memory of the bug-like monster maybe from an X-Files episode I saw several years later, but I am not sure. The house, I believe, had two floors. Also, the monsters differed and varied in appearance. The film may have been from the very early 80’s or very late 60’s, but everything about it screamed 1970’s to me. Not scary at all. It was a family film. No gore and no nudity. I was a scaredy child and it did not scare me at all. I believe da was eating meat/veggies when the crumpled paper fell on his plate. It was the last time the running gag appear. Shortly before the final battle began.
Thank you for helping, but this one isn’t it. There was no evil doll in the movie. I do believe the patriarchal figure in the movie was the boy’s dad and not a stepdad nor uncle. There also weren’t any other children (unless you count the older adolescent sister as a child, she looked to be in her mid-to-late teens) in the film. Just the boy.
Making Contact does look interesting, though. So, if nothing else, at least I have a a new addition to my list. Still, I hope I find the movie I watched someday.
In thinking some more about the movie I managed to remember a particular detail about it that I had forgotten about. While I do not 100% trust this memory, I do believe that it is likely an accurate recall.
Throughout the film portals opened in the house where the monsters might have come through. I used image editing software to re-create what these portals looked like. This is the first image edit that I made.
A memory that I 100% trust is of the final battle at the climax of the film. I re-created the view from inside the house in this second edit. I believe this mental image has stayed with me all these years because, up to that point, the portals had only appeared in single doors or windows, but at that point it appeared in multiple doors/windows as if to show the house was sent to another dimension.
I re-created the visual from that climax in this second edit.
If these images can stir the memories of anybody else who may have also seen this movie then any information you could provide would be appreciated.
portals may help my searches. i will check back after I get time to thoroughly dig. are we sure it was for kids/family?
EDIT: On a funny side, Saturday the 14th was yesterday (or is today, depending on Your timezone)
I'm watching it right now. I just saw the scene you're talking about. It's definitely not the movie I saw...but the similarities are eerily accurate. Is this a parody of the movie I saw, like Scary Movie and Haunted House? I don't know. It's good fun so far, though.
No names, but I remember the old man and the family were white. The older sister was blonde. The old man had a receding hairline, but he wasn't bald. He had a somewhat thin mustache. The dad may have had glasses and brown or sandy hair. The monsters materialized in the house. The family may have had a dog. I believe the dog survived. If it had died I would've been upset and hated the movie, but I really liked it. I remember watching it in the movie channels. There were no commercials. This was around 1993. I have not seen it since. Also, I believe one creature may have been bug-like.
– WeirdNerdThe memory of the bug-like monster maybe from an X-Files episode I saw several years later, but I am not sure. The house, I believe, had two floors. Also, the monsters differed and varied in appearance. The film may have been from the very early 80’s or very late 60’s, but everything about it screamed 1970’s to me. Not scary at all. It was a family film. No gore and no nudity. I was a scaredy child and it did not scare me at all. I believe da was eating meat/veggies when the crumpled paper fell on his plate. It was the last time the running gag appear. Shortly before the final battle began.
– WeirdNerd