Universal, however, developed different ideas during a difficult production when it started to believe that Problem Child would never break even. Dialling down the scares somewhat, Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander pitched the idea as a dark comedy, satirising the slew of child-oriented films of the late 1980s ( Uncle Buck, Three Men And A Baby and Look Who’s Talking et al) where children inadvertently teach adults invaluable life lessons though unlikely encounters. With Tommy setting fires, praying to Satan and mutilating the family dog it’s no surprise that many writers were trying to pitch the same idea as a horror in a similar vein to The Omen. Tommy terrorised his adoptive parents and was still sending death threats to them, long after he’d been committed to an institution. Problem Child was inspired by the LA Times article and real-life story An Adopted Boy–and Terror Begins about the desperate parents who felt fooled into adopting a child called Tommy, a “dangerous sociopath”.

Also, it was much, much darker than Home Alone: see Junior’s potential pillow smothering, kitchen conjugal visits and a mass murderer who makes the Wet Bandits seem… wet.īut the film started out as something much, much different. The put-upon cat with plaster casts on his legs, nuns being fired out of rubbish chutes and the red devil suit that Junior wears, for instance. Turning 30 years old in May, it’s aged okay and still has some genuine good times to give us. Try three issues of Film Stories magazine – for just £4.99: right here!įirst of all, it needs to be said that despite the name, Problem Child is far from full of problems.

Michael oliver problem child