MUNCHIE (1992) *

A little boy named Gage (Jamie McEnnan) finds an imp named Munchie (voiced by Dom DeLuise) who grants him wishes and helps him fight bullies.  Since Gage’s single mom (Loni Anderson) is being wooed by a complete asshole (Andrew Stevens), Munchie also lends a hand to ruin their big dinner date.  Eventually, Gage learns to handle his problems on his own without the help of a wisecracking (scratch that, the cracks he makes are anything but wise) imp.

Munchie purports to be a sequel to Munchies, Roger Corman’s not-bad Gremlins rip-off.  However, it has nothing to do with that flick.  It’s actually a dumb kids movie, and a lousy one at that.  As far as unrelated sequels to Gremlins rip-offs go, this ain’t Troll 2 by a long shot.

The big problem is Munchie himself.  He looks like an animatronic skinned Chihuahua and is more creepy than cute.  Even if you can get past the fact that he is nothing like the cool critters in the original, he’s pretty annoying and wears out his welcome fast.  It doesn’t help that his tired jokes, which wouldn’t have even gone over in the Catskills, land with a thud.

The most confounding thing about the movie is its weird rules, or lack thereof.  Munchie grants wishes, but his powers are inconsistent.  Even when the kid doesn’t want something, Munchie gives it to him anyway.  Like when Munchie throws him a party full of adults drinking alcohol.  What kid wants that?  I guess when you’re looking for things like “consistency” in a kids film directed by Jim Wynorski you’re bound to be asking for trouble.  

If you’re a fan of Wynorski like I am, you will at least get some amusement from the fact that all the top-heavy actresses have plunging necklines.  Even in a kids movie, Wynorski is gonna Wynorski.  It’s also fun to see the usual Wynorski ensemble (like Toni Naples, Monique Gabrielle, Ace Mask, Lenny Juliano, and Jay Richardson) cavorting around.  Heck, even Fred Olen Ray and Wynorski himself appear as extras in the party scene.  Although the Wynorski touches aren’t nearly enough to save the film, they at least help it go down smoother than it might’ve.