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Meet the Applegates
Meet the Applegates
Meet the Applegates
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Meet the Applegates
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Lehmann
Written by
  • Michael Lehmann
  • Redbeard Simmons
Produced byDenise Di Novi
Starring
CinematographyMitch Dubin
Edited byNorman Hollyn
Music byDavid Newman
Production
companies
Distributed byTriton Pictures
Release dates
  • June 6, 1990 (1990-06-06) (Philippines)[1]
  • October 28, 1990 (1990-10-28) (France)
  • November 8, 1990 (1990-11-08) (Australia)
  • February 1, 1991 (1991-02-01) (United States)
  • August 1, 1992 (1992-08-01) (Japan)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • Portuguese
BudgetUS$5 million
Box officeUS$485,772[2]

Meet the Applegates (released in the Philippines and the United States as The Applegates) is a 1990 American science fiction horror black comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann. It was filmed during 1988-89, but not released in the United States until 1991 due to the financial difficulties surrounding New World Pictures, its production company. It takes a dark, satirical look at the end of the world, nuclear holocausts, alienism and terrorism. It was filmed in Oshkosh, Appleton, and Neenah, Wisconsin. It has gained a cult following.

The film focuses on a family of mutant shapeshifters from Brazil who have taken human form and settled in Ohio, set to cause nuclear holocaust and human extinction, but their experience of life is beset by very human vices and flaws.

Plot

[edit]

The film opens in a Brazilian rainforest with a logging crew being attacked by a family of huge shapeshifting mutant bug creatures called, "Brazilian Cocorada". It then moves to a typical-looking family called the Applegates moving into a well-off suburban Ohio neighborhood. It is revealed that the Applegates are secretly exploring human society on a mission to eradicate the humans.

They are tasked with assimilating into the human culture. The Applegates have moved to the suburbs after the husband, Dick, got a job at a nuclear power plant. It is revealed that Dick is secretly working on a plan to cause a nuclear explosion that will rid the world of humans and leave the bugs in peace.

The Applegates start off living the American Dream. Dick is the patriarch, a loving father and the main breadwinner, while Jane is his loving wife and mother to Johnny and Sally. Johnny is initially a strait-laced A student but begins listening to heavy metal and becomes a pot-head. Sally starts out as the all American stereotypical high school girl. She is dating Vince Samson, who is the captain of the football team.

Dick and Jane's "perfect" marriage begins to crumble as they drift from each other. Dick begins having an affair at work and Jane becomes addicted to shopping and credit cards. While Johnny begins smoking marijuana with his metalhead buddies, Johnny accidentally displays his true bug form. In a panic, he cocoons his friends and hides them. Sally, while being raped by Vince, displays her true form. Also in a panic, she cocoons him and hides him in the basement. As they drift away from normality and their mission, their aunt, Bea, is dispatched to get the family back on track with their mission.

Chaos ensues when Dick's affair with his secretary leads to them both getting fired and his lover deciding to blackmail him. Dick in panic cocoons her and hides her in his basement. At the bank, Jane is denied the continued usage of her credit card and makes a scene as a result. Jane, in an effort to pay off her debts, tries to rob a local convenience store but is caught by the sheriff while fleeing the scene. With no other options, she cocoons the sheriff and returns to the family house. Johnny walks in on her hiding the sheriff.

Sally enters and is revealed to be a lesbian, having become disillusioned with men after her interaction with Vince. The Applegates go into freefall when Jane's spending results in their possessions being repossessed. In a twist, just as they are at their lowest, a journalist and photographer enter to notify them that they have won a prize for being the most normal American family. However, after spotting Sally's pregnancy they attempt to rescind the prize. In the struggle the journalist pushes Sally over, which induces labour. She gives birth to a large insect egg, which rolls towards the journalist. Disgusted, he stomps on it and kills it. They are quickly cocooned and hidden away.

"Aunt" Bea arrives and is shocked at the Applegates status. She then attempts to forge ahead with the mission but after the family realize they have grown to like living amongst the humans they decide they must prevent Bea from completing the mission. Dick intervenes and in the struggle he kills Bea, preventing the nuclear explosion. They save the town and humans.

At the end of the movie they return to their lives in Brazil and are visited by the townspeople that grew to love them. Although the plant did not blow up, enough radiation was released to remove the hair from much of the town's population.

A deleted scene before the closing credits reveals that Aunt Bea survived and still intends to destroy the world.

Cast

[edit]

Release

[edit]

Meet the Applegates was released in the Philippines by First Films as The Applegates on June 6, 1990, with "[f]ree cassette tapes to lucky patrons."[1] Meet the Applegates was released in the United States by Triton Pictures on February 1, 1991.

Critical response

[edit]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 9% based on reviews from 11 critics, with an average rating of 4.2/10.[4]

The film was met with mixed reception.[5][6]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Meet the Applegates

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
is a 1990 American satirical black comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann and starring Ed Begley Jr. as Dick Applegate and Stockard Channing as Jane Applegate. The plot depicts a family of giant praying mantises from the Amazon rainforest who disguise themselves as humans and relocate to a suburb near Dayton, Ohio, with the initial goal of infiltrating a nuclear power plant to trigger a meltdown and eradicate humanity. Produced by New World Pictures on a low budget with special effects by Kevin Yagher, the film blends elements of horror and fantasy in its examination of suburban assimilation, as the insect family gradually adopts human vices like consumerism and promiscuity, undermining their destructive mission. Critically, it holds a 5.5/10 rating on IMDb from over 2,800 users and a 9% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 11 reviews, with Roger Ebert awarding it two out of four stars for its repetitive, one-joke structure despite a promising premise reminiscent of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. While commercially obscure and delayed in release due to distributor financial issues, it has developed a niche cult status among fans of eccentric 1990s comedies.

Synopsis

Plot summary

In the Brazilian rainforest, a colony of giant called Cocoradas faces from human construction of an . Discovering a discarded Dick and Jane primer dropped by fleeing volunteers, the study it to impersonate an idealized American , adopting the identities of Dick Applegate (an engineer), his wife Jane (a homemaker), their daughter Sally (a teenager), son Johnny (another teen), and even a pet named Spot. Dick hacks into the U.S. Bureau records to fabricate their existence, enabling the family to relocate to the suburb of South Meridean, . Under orders from their queen, Aunt Bea, the Applegates aim to infiltrate human society and sabotage a local nuclear power plant to trigger a meltdown, thereby causing a global holocaust to eliminate humanity and reclaim for their species. Dick secures employment at the plant to execute the plan, while Jane integrates socially through shopping sprees with neighbor Withers. Sally clashes with classmate Vince , reverting to her insect form to sting and cocoon him after he attempts to assault her. , meanwhile, experiments with marijuana and local youth culture. As the family assimilates, they succumb to human vices—Dick pursues an affair with his secretary, Jane develops a via credit cards, Sally embraces militant , and Johnny descends into stoner indolence—derailing their mission through a series of farcical mishaps and internal conflicts. The ' disguises falter under scrutiny from suspicious locals and authorities, culminating in chaotic confrontations that expose their true nature and thwart the apocalyptic scheme.

Cast

Principal cast

The principal cast of Meet the Applegates features as the family Richard P. "Dick" Applegate, an entomologist whose home is destroyed by a nuclear , prompting the alien family's infiltration of American suburbia. portrays his wife Jane Applegate, who adapts to human consumerist excesses while concealing their insectoid origins. Their son Johnny Applegate is played by Bobby Jacoby (credited as in some listings), depicted as a rebellious teenager succumbing to suburban vices like and . Daughter Sally Applegate is portrayed by Camille Cooper, whose character embodies emerging in the satirical narrative. plays Aunt Bea Cocorada, the family's disguised grandmother, in a gender-bending role that underscores the film's mockery of familial norms.
ActorRole
Ed Begley Jr.Richard P. Applegate
Jane Applegate
Bobby JacobyJohnny Applegate
Camille CooperSally Applegate
Aunt Bea Cocorada

Production

Development

The screenplay for Meet the Applegates was co-written by director and Redbeard Simmons. The film's concept originated in 1986, when Lehmann and Simmons, recent USC film school graduates with prior success on short films, responded to a development challenge from to pitch an idea satirizing "normal American values" amid the Reagan era's . Their premise centered on a of Amazonian posing as humans to infiltrate and sabotage a U.S. , blending suburban tropes with invasion horror for comedic effect. acquired the pitch that year, greenlighting the project as Lehmann's follow-up to his debut feature Heathers (1988), which the studio had also financed. Pre-production faced delays as Lehmann prioritized post-production on Heathers, but independent financier Chris Webster ultimately provided funding to move forward. Early decisions emphasized low-budget practical effects for the insect transformations, with creature designer Kevin Yagher tasked to create the mantis disguises affordably. Producer Denise Di Novi oversaw assembly of the core team, including securing leads like Stockard Channing and Ed Begley Jr., who were attached based on the script's irreverent tone.

Filming

for Meet the Applegates took place in 1988 in the Fox Valley region of , with the production base established in Appleton. Shooting occurred at various local sites, including Neenah and Oshkosh, to capture the film's suburban American setting. Key locations featured the Applegates' family home at 217 Stevens Street in Neenah, exterior and interior shots at Frozen Custard on 121 West Murdock Avenue in Oshkosh, and additional scenes in Appleton such as at a wooded Boy Scout camp acquired by producer Chris Webster for use as a filming site and prospective horror production facility. The production leveraged much of the creative personnel from director Michael Lehmann's prior film (1988), including during the overlap with its phase. Special effects for the insect disguises and transformations were handled by designer , integrating practical makeup and prosthetics with the live-action suburban sequences filmed on location.

Themes and satire

Social and cultural commentary

Meet the Applegates employs to critique the veneer of American suburban domesticity, portraying the titular insect family—displaced Amazonian mantises posing as humans—as initially repulsed by yet gradually seduced by human excesses. The narrative illustrates how the family's disciplined, survival-oriented ethos erodes amid encounters with , promiscuity, and , such as the mother's indulgence in retail therapy and the children's dalliances with drugs and , underscoring the corrosive allure of middle-class complacency. Central to the film's commentary is an environmental polemic framed through the insects' vengeful mission: driven from their habitat by the construction of a nuclear power plant in the Amazon rainforest, they infiltrate a U.S. suburb to orchestrate a meltdown at a similar facility, aiming to trigger a nuclear winter that spares radiation-resistant arthropods while eradicating humanity. This plot device lampoons human environmental recklessness, particularly deforestation and nuclear proliferation, positioning the invaders not as mindless aliens but as aggrieved agents of ecological retribution. The juxtaposes science-fiction tropes of monstrous invasion with idealized Norman Rockwell-esque depictions of suburban bliss, exposing the hypocrisy underlying the American Dream's promises of security and prosperity. By having the mantises mimic a cookie-cutter —complete with barbecues, PTA meetings, and neighborhood gossip—the film highlights the artificiality of social norms and the latent savagery beneath civilized facades, though critics have noted its thematic execution as uneven and prone to rather than profound .

Release

Distribution and box office

Meet the Applegates was distributed theatrically in the United States by Triton Pictures, an independent distributor, following production delays stemming from financial difficulties at , the original . The film received a limited domestic release starting February 1, 1991. Internationally, it was released earlier under the alternate title The Applegates in markets such as the on June 6, 1990, on October 28, 1990, and on November 8, 1990. The film underperformed at the , earning a domestic gross of $485,772. Its opening weekend generated $274,815 across limited theaters. No significant international figures are reported, resulting in a worldwide total matching the domestic amount. The modest performance reflected the constrained release strategy amid the distributor's limited resources.

Reception

Critical response

Upon its theatrical release in February 1991, Meet the Applegates received predominantly negative reviews from critics, who often faulted its uneven execution and failure to sustain satirical bite despite an intriguing premise of insect impostors infiltrating suburbia. On the review aggregator , the film holds a 9% approval rating based on 11 critic reviews, reflecting broad consensus on its shortcomings in humor and coherence. Roger Ebert of the rated it two out of four stars, describing it as a repetitive "one-joke movie" that reveals a seemingly normal family as garbage-eating but lacks a clear point of view or meaningful , unlike more incisive works such as . He argued the film's dispiriting gags, centered on grotesque suburban secrets, grow tiresome quickly without offering insight into middle-class life. The Los Angeles Times review by Kevin Thomas acknowledged sporadic strengths, likening about one-third of the film to the "spoofy, throwaway derisiveness" of a strong Saturday Night Live sketch, with effective performances from leads Ed Begley Jr. and Stockard Channing in portraying an idyllic yet flawed family. However, Thomas criticized its thin substance, overreliance on easy targets like consumerism and infidelity, and inability to match the inspiration of director Michael Lehmann's prior film Heathers or contemporaries like Beetlejuice, rendering the comedy unsustainable beyond initial gags.

Audience and retrospective views

The film underperformed commercially upon release, grossing approximately $1 million against a budget estimated at $3-5 million, indicating limited initial interest. ratings reflect middling but more favorable responses compared to critics, with an user average of 5.5 out of 10 based on 2,819 ratings as of 2025, where reviewers often praise its absurd humor and suburban satire despite acknowledging its uneven pacing. On , the audience score stands at 49%, contrasting sharply with the 9% critics' score from 11 reviews, suggesting viewers appreciated elements like the eco-militant insect premise and over professional detractors who found it derivative or overly grotesque. Retrospective views position Meet the Applegates as a favorite among fans of offbeat comedies, valued for its unapologetic takedown of American consumerism and environmental hypocrisy through gags and family dysfunction. Screenings have revived interest, including events in 2018 that highlighted its scarcity on home media and a sold-out 2024 showing described by producer Larry Karaszewski as eliciting "laugh filled" reactions, underscoring its rediscovery as a "wicked ." Online communities, such as Reddit's r/badMovies and r/CultCinema, frequently cite it as a "" for its campy eco-satire, though some note its alienating premise limits broader appeal. This enduring niche admiration stems from its alignment with director Michael Lehmann's style in films like , rewarding repeat viewings for those tolerant of its crude, subversive tone over mainstream sensibilities.

Legacy

Cult status and influence

Despite modest box office earnings of approximately $1.4 million against a budget exceeding $3 million upon its February 1991 release, Meet the Applegates has cultivated a dedicated among enthusiasts of and satirical . Reviewers at the time anticipated its potential for posthumous appreciation due to its irreverent humor and subversive elements, a prediction borne out by subsequent niche popularity. The film's offbeat premise—giant Brazilian mantises posing as an all-American family to sabotage a nuclear plant—resonates with audiences valuing its unsparing mockery of suburban , , and environmental hypocrisy, fostering repeat viewings and discussions in online forums and genre retrospectives. This status has been amplified by limited availability, initially confined to and later accessible via streaming platforms like , which has sustained its underground appeal without mainstream rediscovery. Director Michael Lehmann's track record, following the cult hit (1988), further endears it to fans of his style, evidenced by sold-out retrospective screenings as recently as October 2024. While not a commercial influence on subsequent blockbusters, the film's blend of creature-feature tropes with pointed social critique echoes in later indie satires like (1993), though direct citations from filmmakers remain scarce, underscoring its role as an overlooked precursor in the subgenre of invasions.

References

  1. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100129/
  2. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/applegates
  3. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/meet-the-applegates-1991
  4. https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58941
  5. https://www.moriareviews.com/sciencefiction/meet-the-applegates-1991.htm
  6. https://www.tvguide.com/movies/meet-the-applegates/cast/2000029228/
  7. https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/76516-meet-the-applegates/cast?language=en-US
  8. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/applegates/cast-and-crew
  9. https://www.talkhouse.com/the-improbable-genesis-and-unlikely-return-of-meet-the-applegates/
  10. https://www.visitoshkosh.com/blog/stories/post/oshkosh-easter-eggs-from-your-favorite-tv-shows-and-movies/
  11. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100129/locations/
  12. https://reviewallmonsters.wordpress.com/2020/10/04/meet-the-applegates-1991/
  13. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100129/reviews/
  14. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/02/02/movies/603e2410-72d7-4d78-bc20-bb4afca3ee61/
  15. https://postmodernpelican.com/2025/05/24/meet-the-applegates-1991/
  16. https://www.facebook.com/OnThisDayInHorror/posts/on-february-1-1991-the-applegates-was-released-in-the-united-states-directed-and/951846237039705/
  17. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0100129/
  18. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100129/releaseinfo/
  19. https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Meet-the-Applegates
  20. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-01-ca-190-story.html
  21. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100129/ratings/
  22. https://www.facebook.com/larry.karaszewski/posts/meet-the-applegates-is-a-wicked-black-comedy-just-waiting-to-be-rediscovered-a-s/10234130640632061/
  23. https://www.reddit.com/r/badMovies/comments/14birbx/meet_the_applegates_another_guilty_pleasure_9_on/
  24. https://moviesandmania.com/2024/09/20/meet-the-applegates-1990-sci-fi-dark-comedy-horror-film-movie-review-free-on-youtube/
  25. https://www.reddit.com/r/badMovies/comments/1768p11/meet_the_applegates_1990_a_movie_still_only/
  26. https://vocal.media/horror/horror-in-the-90s-meet-the-applegates
  27. https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/228-movies-older-releases-and-classics/72581125
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