shawnblackman This was a bizarre film, is one way of putting it. A con artist, played by Brad Dourif, kills a couple then steals their car taking it to his friend who deals in stolen items. The car ends up having a baby in the back of which the man wants to get rid of but his wife played by David Carradine (who wears make-up and several dresses throughout) wants to keep the baby. If that's not weird enough they keep him in a box and on his sixth birthday the man cuts the boys tongue off! He calls it getting the gift of silence. The depravity doesn't end there. As he grows up he is dragged behind cars and just constantly abused. The father wants to groom him to be his secret weapon. He later takes his son (now a man) to kill people he needs killed.Definitely a weird and dark film. You hear a cobbled version of the deliverance theme so as not to infringe on copyrights all the way through the film. The ending gets dull but entertaining until then.

nhbxxx Okay, let's start with David Carradine in drag...he gives a surprisingly touching performance. And any movie with Brad Dourif - well - what can one say? He always brings a certain something to his roles and I'm glad he continues to get work. This is one strange movie, but guess what? - it's better than some mainstream crap I payed money to see! (Blair Witch Project, for example). I caught if on TCM Underground one night (thanks, TCM!) and was instantly intrigued. If you didn't know it was filmed in 1989 you'd swear it was a product of the 1970's; it certainly has that feel to it. If you're a fan of "Spider Baby" and movies like that, you will enjoy (?) this movie!

bregund My theory about films is this: only a few of them are really good, most of them are okay, and some of them are awful. So if you're going to see a film and you're hoping it will be good, the odds are stacked against you. Therefore you might as well watch something awful that you've never heard of. I'd never heard of Sonny Boy until I saw it on TCM Underground's schedule and I knew it would be just bad enough to enjoy.Here are some gems from this film:David Carradine in drag, bursting through a window with a gun in each hand.Numerous facial closeups of a girl with brown teeth (you won't want to be eating anything during this film)Strangely non-catchy chanting by the bloodthirsty mobA pyramid constructed of two-by-fours and tissue paperBrad Dourif's maniacal laughPaul Smith and Brad Dourif, together again after the highly successful "Dune"Monkey tongueConrad Janis staring off into spaceA musical score consisting entirely of banjos, guitars, and harmonicas, despite the southwest settingAn "ice cream" truckIf you watch a big-budget blockbuster film and go away feeling a little empty from all the overdone special effects, paper-thin plot, and reconstituted characters, watch a truly awful film such as Sonny Boy and be truly disappointed. Unlike the blockbuster, this one will stick with you for days.

preppy-3 Pretty sick movie. Small time crook Slue (Paul L. Smith) and his girlfriend Pearl (David Carradine in drag--seriously!) inadvertently get a stolen car with a baby in the back. Pearl wants to keep the kid against the objections of Slue. Slue treats the boy named Sonny Boy like an animal. He cuts off his tongue when he is still a child, drags him around with a chain, forces him to live in a steel shack. By the time Sonny Boy is 17 (played by Michael Boston under the name Michael Griffin) he's little more than an animal and does anything his father asks...even murder. But Sonny Boy realizes there has to be something more than this life.Sick, disturbing, no budget film. When it has David Carradine playing a woman in drag you KNOW this isn't a normal film! This was made on a VERY low budget and it shows. The sets are tacky and the sound is frequently inaudible. The story doesn't have much of a plot--just seeing how Sonny Boy was bought up and seeing the poor man trying to cope with his environment. To make it worse Boston's performance as Sonny is just fantastic. You can see the confusion, hurt and anger in the poor man's face. You really FEEL for him so when he's attacked or forced to kill it's just heart-breaking. Also Carradine in drag is--interesting. He's in drag the entire movie and there isn't any real point to it that I could see. Still he WAS very good. Also Brad Dourif plays another psycho role and Alexander Powers is very good in the small part of Rose. It would be easy for me to dismiss this film as a piece of utter repulsive garbage--but the acting by Boston and some nice directing makes it too hard to just ignore. I'm sure the filmmakers HAD a point--I'm just not sure what it was! A 5.