jacobliterator Y'know, when I first saw this movie as a child (about 10 years old), I hated it. I thought the humour was vulgar and predictable, the effects were unconvincing at best and the characters trying to resemble real life ended up being so stereotypical, even Punch-Out would be jealous. But after watching it again, I realized something...IT'S EVEN WORSE NOW! Not only do all the complaints I put before still apply, but the psychological side of this movie is just terrifying. Nothing these characters do is logical and they frequently break out into behavior we would deem as unacceptable or even insane. The concept of fantasy meets reality is completely shot in the foot if THIS is the reality you're creating.The only decent thing in this movie and I'm really pushing it is when Fred interacts with the other imaginary friends. I must admit, that idea, while still immature, had some potential.Apart from that, this movie is unacceptably bad. Without a doubt, the worst movie I've ever seen.

popcorninhell Mental health in this country is a very serious issue. Approximately 14.8 million American adults suffer from some form of depression. 1.1 percent of the country contends with chronic and severe schizophrenia and nearly everyone in the United States knows or has known someone with a debilitating psychological disorder that are many times beyond the persons control. Much of this can be managed of course but one thing that we can all do more of is making sure these suffering (and a lot of the time marginalized) people are given a means to express themselves. Thank goodness the makers of Drop Dead Fred were able to clamber out of their mental illness to create such a film. Oh wait...none of the makers of this film are known to have schizophrenia? Then what the hell movie?This ugly, vulgar and interminably sophomoric film follows the life of Lizzie Cronin (Cates), a woman whose life has taken a turn for the worst. She's lost her job, her philandering husband (Matheson), her car, her money and her self-respect and is forced to board with her mother (Mason). While back in her oppressive childhood home she comes across an old jack-in-the-box that imprisons Drop Dead Fred (Mayall); a doggedly irritating imaginary friend who used to get her into trouble when she was six. With Fred now free to roam about the cabin, the mousy Lizzie's already messed up life turns topsy-turvy with psychotic meltdowns, loud noises and poop jokes.Holy cow this movie is abominable! The thundering, cloying obnoxiousness of this film panders so heavily to very young children that anyone with the ability to form a clear thought will immediately be turned off. Logic is completely thrown out the window in the service of crude, painfully unfunny jokes that add nothing to the plot but does make any reasonable person want to throttle the characters and leave them for dead in a shallow grave. Because of Lizzie's "condition," the actress Phoebe Cates is left with nothing to do but stare blankly or gesticulate dismay. Her character arc would approach inspiration for the mentally ill if not for it's stunning, flat-out insulting improbability. Children too innocent and naive to consider Drop Dead Fred's central theme will only pickup the multitude of bad habits that Fred proudly exhibits. I'm not the type to say children shouldn't watch Peter Pan (1953) lest they try to fly but in the case of Drop Dead Fred I say avoid introducing kids to this movie unless you want them looking under your skirt and yelling "cobwebs!"Apparently Lizzie's psychosis is contagious as she's not the only main character who seems to be unwell. After her imaginary friend essentially destroys the quaint and quiet existence of her mother and her best friend Janie (Fisher) they react, not as if someone has completely torn their life asunder but as if their being inconvenienced by a bus running late. Lizzie's possible love interest acts even more unreal, swooning with delight as she (I mean Fred) throws food at an expensive restaurant while talking to herself. It's clear to anyone who isn't five that she needs help. Yet everywhere she's surrounded by enablers and if this movie were thirty minutes longer, there's no telling how it'd end.The movie's Achilles heal, the one thing that makes this disaster almost too terrible to behold is Rik Mayall's insufferable performance as Fred. His antics, likely inspired by Jerry Lewis comes across as crude and mean-spirited. His jokes are the very definition of trying too hard. His physical appearance approximates the results of painting Easter eggs on acid mixed with a pedophilic Willy Wonka. I downright hated this character. I'm not sure what boggy bridge they searched under to inspire this character but this walking, talking personification if the id is the reason some countries still hang people.This film is an insult to the tots it targets. It's an insult to the adults foolish enough to see it with their kids. It's an insult to the film's admirers who are held hostage by its nostalgia and most egregiously; it's an insult to those truly suffering from schizophrenia, depression and all other disorders Lizzie likely has but I'm not qualified to diagnose. If you are one of the few but surprisingly vocal people who like this film, I think your unstable to say the least. I wouldn't tell you though for fear of my life so if you must debate the value of this film please send your comments to:Martin Shikreli XXXXXXXXX Ave. XXXXXXX, XXXXXXX XXXXXwww.theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com

justincward Daughter of control freak mother has an imaginary (English) friend who she can blame for doing all the malicious, obscene and childish stuff her mother has tried to suppress in her. Except she's an adult - for some of the movie, that is.DDF takes an age to get going. By the time it does, you're failing to understand why Elizabeth (Phoebe Cates) hasn't been sectioned long ago. Is it because her mother is apparently very rich? There is just not enough subtlety in the way Elizabeth's disastrous dependence on Fred is portrayed. Time and again she acts out her most disgusting and destructive impulses in some stilted slapstick, only for the blaming of 'Fred'(Rik Mayall) to make everything all right.As a kind of primer in psychological metaphor, DDF has a lot going for it. But then it's a Disney children's film. Oh no it isn't, it's a gross-out comedy - no, wait, it's a rom-com. It all comes down to whether you can find any time for Rik Mayall's "punk Gene Wilder" act. Very clever, very hard work, and some pathos among the madness, but the movie's premise is developed so slowly the whole thing gets very tedious.

Jason Kleeberg Drop Dead Fred (1991)Watching Drop Dead Fred as an adult is 100% different from watching Drop Dead Fred as a kid. Yes, I know that certain movies are like that - you'll pick up on jokes that you didn't get when you were eight years old...however, most don't give you an entirely different experience. If you haven't seen Drop Dead Fred, the basic synopsis is about a girl who goes to live with her (terrible) mother after she loses her car, her husband, and her job. As a kid, I remember cracking up at Fred's antics, flinging boogers at people and looking up the skirts of unsuspecting women. As an adult, this movie really ventures into dark territory. It's about a girl, verbally (and possibly physically) abused by her mother - so much so that her father ends up leaving. Finally an adult, she escapes the throngs of her household only to find herself completely co-dependent on men, and ends up in another abusive relationship - this time with an abusive husband. All the while, she conjures up an imaginary friend named Fred (who has a British accent, much like her father).Watching this as an adult, this movie has some heavy things going for it. Lizzy, the main character, definitely has issues upon issues. It's actually fun to see her transformation from co-dependent to independent. Fred's humor doesn't exactly do it for me anymore, but the scenes in which he's simply making Lizzy's body move are still hilarious (a standout scene in an Italian restaurant comes to mind). The acting is fairly pedestrian, the only real standout being Phoebe Cates as Lizzy. Since this, the director went back overseas and hasn't done any movies that I've heard of since then.Kids movies were definitely different back then. Watching this now, I can honestly say that I don't think this is a good movie for kids, but if you saw it when you were younger, it's definitely worth another exploration now.Final Score: 3/5