Found in the back of a stolen car, an infant is raised by a crime family to be a "lean, mean and hungry" killer in this unusual film from 'Dr. Giggles' screenwriter Graeme Whifler. Only a handful of scenes are spent on the title character's abusive childhood, but they are highly memorable, accompanied by poetic narration from Michael Boston, who plays the character as an adult. Never uttering a comprehensible word (his character's tongue was cut out for a "birthday present"), Boston is excellent, utterly sympathetic when staring into mirrors and wondering what he has become. There is also a great scene in which Boston finds solace in Christ with wounds similar to those that his adoptive parents have afflicted on him. Impressive as Boston is, 'Sonny Boy' is best known as the film in which David Carradine plays a female character. In all fairness, Carradine gives it his all, donning a dress and exuding maternal instincts. He is never convincing as a real woman though and always looks like a man in need of a good shave and therefore his performance is sadly distracting in a film with otherwise serious undertones. Indeed, 'Sonny Boy' has lots to offer as a personal identity study, a look at the effects of improper parenting and an examination of choice. There is also a lot of mindless violence near the end and a bland romance that likewise distract, but in general, this is a solid motion picture. Making his feature film directing debut, Robert Martin Carroll does a great job matching the desert locations to desertion themes at hand and Boston's performance is simply exquisite.

It's 1970 in a small New Mexico town. Dressed for the 1980s, a young couple checks into a motel room and squirrelly Brad Dourif (as Weasel) steals their reddish orange Lincoln Continental and some other stuff. He brings the booty to aggressive Paul L. Smith (as Slue) and his transvestite lover David Carradine (as Pearl). They don't like the black-and-white TV much, but discover a baby in the back seat of the car. After beating up the delivery man, Mr. Smith decides to feed the baby to his hogs. Threatening to leave him if he does, Ms. Carradine wants to keep the baby. They raise him as a son, but cut out his tongue as a precaution against too much crying, whining and backtalk. The kid grows up to be handsome Michael Griffin aka Michael Boston (as Sonny Boy)...Mainly, the story involves Mr. Griffin's problems adjusting. Given his upbringing, it's not surprising Griffin has issues. We get skylines, ceilings and lingering close-ups from director Robert Martin Carroll and his crew. One of Mr. Carroll's more interesting and effective segments has Griffin symbolically accepting Jesus Christ, "the blood of a good man," as his savior. Shortly after this, he starts acting like a doggie chimp. The dog-play is short-lived and the story proceeds as if no religious meaning was intended. Occasional narration and old TV movie-type soundtrack does not enlighten. The characters are memorable, but they don't tell us anything we don't already know. With time taking away this film's power to shock, there isn't much left.**** Sonny Boy (3/22/89) Robert Martin Carroll ~ Michael Boston, Paul L. Smith, David Carradine, Brad Dourif

Sonny Boy (1989) 1/2 (out of 4) Sick, twisted, disturb, morally insensitive, vile, strange and repulsive are a few of the words that others have said when reviewing this film. All of them might fit but I'd also add horrid. A crackhead thief (Brad Dourif) kill a couple and steal their car not realizing that their infant son is in the back. The thief gives the kid to his angry boss (Paul L. Smith) and his wife (David Carradine in drag) who raise the kid in all the wrong ways, which leads him, known as Sonny Boy, to become a raging killer. No matter how you look at it, this is a crazy little film that one really does need to see in order to get its full impact. Yes, seeing Carradine in drag is the main draw and to me it was pretty much the only draw as I found the film to be boring from start to finish. There's no pacing, no style and nothing here to really be interested in. It seems as if the filmmakers sat down and thought about making strange stuff but they didn't do anything with it. I'm sure a more polished film could have been made with this subject matter or perhaps a more depraved John Waters like film. Either one of them might have worked but what we got is something in the middle and not nearly as effective. I'm really not sure if this film was meant to be taken serious, seen as a joke or some type of spoof on the whole serial killer genre. It doesn't really matter in the end as it fails on all levels. Seeing Carradine in drag is just plain weird but it's the main reason to watch the film. I somewhat liked the fact that they didn't try to hide his "man ness" and let him talk in his normal voice and didn't have him shave all his hair off. Dourif isn't too bad and neither is Smith but they're lost in a worthless movie. It's was mildly entertaining to see Sydney Lassick and Dourif working together as the two previously worked in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST.

I have to agree with all those who sing this film's praises. If you really think about it, this was the last truly independent film to be released on American screens. (I'm not talking about today's so-called "indie" films that are pushed into theatres by giant corporations like Miramax and Lion's Gate and Fox Searchlight, but movies that were peddled by independent distributors the old fashioned way.) I'm proud to say I saw it twice on the big screen: the first time, I was the only person in the theatre; the second time I brought a friend I knew would appreciate it and it was only the two of us! I also proudly own the ultra-rare laser disc. It really needs a DVD release, which ideally would have commentaries revealing more about this wonderful work.