The Banana Splits (2019) – Review

If you need proof that the 60s were a trippy-weird time, you need only to take a look back at the fantasy shows created by the legendary Sid and Marty Kroft, with such bizarre programs as The Bugaloos, Lidville, Sigmund and the Sea Monster, and H.R. Pufnstuff to their credit — this was the live-action arm of the Hanna-Barbera children’s programming — and as nostalgia has been a key monetary element in many a movie, it’s not surprising to see some modern filmmakers delving into that acid pool of kids programming, which brings us to Canadian director Danishka Esterhazy’s horror film The Banana Splits.

If you’re going to drink the nostalgia Kool-aid, why not take things in a darker direction. This was clearly the thought process of the execs over at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment when it came to taking an old intellectual property, one that had been sitting on a shelf for decades, and giving it the old horror treatment. The basic premise of this particular update is that the Hanna-Barbera children’s show The Banana Splits has somehow remained on the air for five decades — unlike in reality where it only lasted 31 episodes running from 1968-1970 — and this movie follows the adventures of a group of people who visit the studio to watch a live taping. Needless to say, things go wrong.

Whatever you do, don’t make eye contact.

We are first introduced to the Williams Family, whose youngest member Harley (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong), is a huge fan of The Banana Splits, and for his birthday the whole family is going to a live taping of the show. Along for the ride is Harley’s older brother Austin (Romeo Carere), your typical teen slacker who doesn’t get along with his stepdad, Mitch (Steve Lund), who is cheating on their mother Beth (Dani Kind) with his assistant at work; and finally there is Zoe (Maria Nash), a plucky classmate of Harley’s who is forced by her parents to join the Williams Family on this birthday outing, despite her having no love for such a “kiddie” show as The Banana Splits. Unfortunately for our little group, things are not well in the world of The Banana Splits; just prior to taping, the new vice-president of programming (Daniel Fox) informs the show’s producer, Rebecca (Sara Canning) that he is canceling the show: “The Banana Splits doesn’t really represent my vision for the network.” But unbeknownst to Rebecca and Steve, one of the Banana Splits had overheard this bombshell and this is the catalyst for all the horror that follows. You see, in this world version of The Banana Splits, they are not a group of actors in costumes, but instead they are fairly advanced robots built and programmed by a weirdly obsessive man named Karl (Lionel Newton), whose latest computer update to their programming included the command “The show must go on,” which clearly runs counter to the whole “cancellation of the show.” Thus, it prompts the robots to go on a killing spree. See, totally logical premise. So what follows is basically Westworld but with more gore.

Note: At no point does the show bother to explain why the Banana Splits are robots and not just dudes in costumes. It certainly can’t be more economical than finding four idiots to work for minimum wage.

The fact that the original Sid- and Marty Kroft-designed creatures were creepy as hell — even as a kid back in the day I found them a bit off-putting — it almost seems natural for them to be turned into murderous beings bent on all types of carnage. Sadly, the movie doesn’t deliver much more beyond the simple premise. Turning the corner of a dark hallway and suddenly seeing one of the Banana Splits, just standing there in creepy silence, would give anyone the shivers, but on the third or fourth time this happens we reach the point when the viewer expresses the ample thought “I get it, they’re creepy, can we move on now?” Eventually, the film ramps things up as the show’s crew and guests are quickly dispatched in a variety of horrifying ways — killed by having a lollipop shoved down your throat being a particularly gruesome death — and director Danishka Esterhazy certainly doesn’t stint on the gore, as we see many a patron being literally torn asunder.

Wheel of Misfortune?

Without the pop culture-centric nature of the movie, The Banana Splits would be nothing but a footnote to the horror genre, the film coming across as a failed version of ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s‘ and not even getting a theatrical release, but there is something intrinsically fun about seeing something from your childhood become a walking nightmare — which is part of the charm of the whole Child’s Play series. Thus, the element that saves the film from obscurity is the whole aspect of “Hey, I remember the Banana Splits, weren’t they kind of fucked-up?” and the screenwriters do spend enough time setting up the cast of potential victims so that the audience can become a little invested in who lives and who dies. The script by Scott Thomas and Jed Elinoff is greatly aided by a fairly talented cast, especially from the younger actors who carry much of the movie on their tiny shoulders. On the effects side, the “animatronic” monsters look scary as hell, with their dead emotionless stares, and the bloody mayhem is well executed with practical effects.

Pure nightmare fuel.

Overall, The Banana Splits is a fairly thin entry in the horror genre, one that relies a little too heavily on the novelty of an old kid’s show as a setting for all the gore and carnage, and it would have probably worked better in a shortened format — possibly as a special episode of Supernatural — but as the film does move along at a brisk pace, with nary a wasted moment, and giving secondary characters  just the proper amount of set-up before being brutally killed (like cast-offs from a Willie Wonka tour), when the credits roll most fans will find themselves pleased with what Danishka Esterhazy and company were able to pull off.