THE GOOD SON is one of many psycho-thrillers that were made in the early 1990s in the wake of the success of the likes of FATAL ATTACTION, BASIC INSTINCT and THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE. Most of these could be easily categorised by the type of person who was the villain, i.e. 'bad cop' (UNLAWFUL ENTRY),'bad neighbour' (PACIFIC HEIGHTS),'bad husband' (SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY). THE GOOD SON is, as you'd guess from the title, about a bad kid.

Said kid is Macauley Culkin, a wonderful piece of casting against type by the producers. So long we've had to put up with Culkin in his sickly-sweet roles but here he portrays somebody very different indeed and, inevitably, this turns out to be the best performance of his career. Culkin is excellent, truly portraying a character beyond his years, and he helps to make the movie.

It helps that everything else is right, too. The script focuses on realism throughout, and there's plenty of characterisation to make the viewer feel truly grounded in the experience. Aside from the ending, things don't get over the top with the style or direction. There are a handful of set-pieces which really work (like the bit with the bridge),and some incredible stunt work that left me breathless, like the whole bit with the tree house. As somebody with a fear of heights, such moments turned my legs to jelly.

Elijah Wood made a point of appearing in plenty of twee kid's films during the 1990s (FREE WILLY anyone?) but this is one of his most interesting movies from that decade. David Morse is typically good as Wood's father. The script stays grounded throughout, the psychological insight is as interesting as the thriller aspects of the story, and it all finishes in a satisfying way that goes against Hollywood convention. Good stuff.

Following his mother's death, Mark Evans (Elijah Wood) is sent to Maine to stay with his uncle (Daniel Hugh Kelly) and aunt (Wendy Crewson) by his father (David Morse). He becomes fast friends with cousin Henry (Macaulay Culkin). However, Henry shows signs of manipulative violence and all the classic bad boy behavior. He is obsessed with death and may have killed his little brother.

This was big news to see young Macaulay Culkin play a bad guy. He shows that he has great range as a child actor. I just think that the movie works better as a straight up horror. Director Joseph Ruben who just filmed 'Sleeping with the Enemy' is using a similar style. This has a little too much of that movie-of-the-week feel. There is a good creepiness about this but that's all Ruben achieves. Every adult is an idiot and the movie strains under that construction. Why doesn't Mark call his father again? Why doesn't the father call the psychiatrist? The movie bends over backwards to come up with that ending. I don't have a problem with evil kids in horror. It's a try and true subject, but this is not a good example.

Culkin allegedly was forced upon this movie, as I read after watching the movie. This had quite the repercussions (director and other-wise). That aside, this is the movie of Elijah Wood. He really is good (no pun intended),which once again cannot be said about Culkins character. Not sure what you think of his Home Alone movies (he was in the first two),but this really is very obvious ... just not to the adults.

And when I say obvious, you can see where this is heading, so quite predictable. Still the performances overall (even that of Culkin, whatever you may think of his pale delivery) really elevate the whole movie to another level. And that ending ... I have to admit, that took quite the ... well I didn't expect it to go down like that, let me put it that way - pun intended. Evil can lurk anywhere, this certainly isn't made for the easily offended amongst us ...