The Banana Splits Movie (2019) User Reviews

What insanity! What genius!

[getconedproductions09 · 6/10 · 30 August 2019]

The Banana Splits Directed by Danishka Esterhazy. Written by Scott Thomas and Jed Elinoff

Whose idea was this? I want to be a fly on the wall during this meeting. I want to hear what transpired during the green lighting process. It must have been magical. This show hasn't been on the air in over 50 years. We're going to take it and turn it into a horror movie. This is brilliant. Not a bunch of money brilliant but genius enough to throw out there.

It was way more cynical than that. They really wanted to make a Five Nights at Freddy's movie but lost the rights to Blumhouse. Warner Brothers said to hell with it. We're going to do something similar but we will use an obscure Hanna-Barbera show from the 60s in its place. What?! Usually when an idea like this comes down the turnpike, cocaine is to blame. Now I'm not so sure.

This is quite the oddity. It takes some time to get into the groove of it. It is also not trying to be scary in any way. It is goofy and over the top. But of course it's goofy and over the top. It's a killer kiddie show. It has to embrace it's wild roots. Silly cartoon voices for the robot characters. Glowing red eyes to indicate when they've switched to the dark side.

The gore set pieces are cartoonish in exaggeration. We've got them making use of a giant lollipop. We got the good old fashioned saw someone in half magic trick. They run the obstacle course. Death in the ball pit. They are supposed to be robots but they basically move like people in costumes. The weapons are flimsy. You laugh at it. You have to laugh at it at least a little bit.

The best part is the last twenty minutes or so. The movie takes the entire Banana Splits show and starts to make it grungy and dirty and nasty. They descend into the bowels of the studio into a hidden theater to uncover the robots have taken over everything and are unleashing gory hell. It is a magical moment. Those last twenty minutes really helped this movie get over the lack of atmosphere that permeates the beginning of the film. It is a flat looking movie until then but you can tell they made this movie quickly and for cheap. No problems here.

The acting is atrocious. The concept is goofy and laughable right from the get go. It bears all the tell tale hallmarks of a rip off. But once the Banana Splits start killing off members of the audience and the crew, it becomes a good time. The show at the end with the producer who is canceling them enacting their namesake is a treat to behold. I give this movie a C. It is worth checking out if you like your horror on the comedic side.

So-so

[preppy-3 · 6/10 · 29 September 2019]

Nine year old Harley is celebrating his birthday. He's going to a taping of the Banana Splits TV show with his mom, stepdad, older brother and friend Zoe. The Banana Splits are actually robots under their costumes. Then, during the course of the show, they find out they're going to be canceled. They malfunction, go crazy and start attacking and killing people. Can Harley and his family escape?

It's basically a one-joke film. The premise is great but they don't let totally loose with it. It was never funny or scary enough to totally succeed. There's plenty of graphic gore and they (thankfully) use practical effects. With one exception the acting is good even by the kids. Only Steve Lund disappoints as the stepdad. He has this I-don't-want-to-be-here look on his face throughout And yes--there's room for a sequel. So not a total washout but no great movie either.

Tra La La

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 20 August 2019]

I was a fan of the Banana Splits as a kid so disappointed that this instalment has no segments of The Arabian Nights or The Three Musketeers!

I doubt many people under the age of 45 years of age may even know about The Banana Splits so would not be too bothered that some kids show characters has been turned into stars of a horror film.

Set in an universe where the Banana Splits television show is still being made. This is in fact a gory version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

A group of people go to the taping of the show. Our hero Harley is a big Banana Splits fan and it is his birthday, so his family plan a special outing. Some others include a girl with a pushy parent who thinks his daughter can be the next big star. A vlogger with his girlfriend who plans to broadcast from his mobile phone.

However the new network head plans to cancel the show and the robotic puppets having heard the news go on a murderous rampage. The show must go on and on for the demented Banana Splits.

There is some grisley carnage and black humour. You kind of hope some people will get slaughtered such as Harley's stepfather, you just know he is not on that mobile phone to stay in touch with his office.

The film has a variety of ways of annihilating some of the characters. It is a shame that security is so lax at the studio where the show is taped.

Not Bad But Not Really Good Either

[jonathancupp66 · 18 August 2019]

I don't know for sure that this movie was a repurposed script for a Five Nights at Freddy's movie, but it certainly seems like it. You've got to admire the tenacity of the producer's to make a gory indie horror film based on a 60s kid show, though.

All I knew of the series had been the song, memorably covered by The Dickies, and some spot they used to show on the Boomerang network. Every once in a while you hear about an idea to make an R-Rated movie based on a kids property (like the original idea for James Gunn's Scooby Doo) but these guys actually did it. Despite the novel idea, it's more-or-less your average made-for-cable slasher movie with few exceptions.

First, the sets and costumes have a certain novelty. The juxtaposition of cartoon imagery with gory death and dismemberment has a certain charm. It's not unlike a 90s Full Moon Pictures movie in a lot of way.

And second, the performances are surprisingly good almost across the board. The script is sort of lackluster and obvious but the actors do a credible job of bringing their characters to life. For me, Dani Kind as Beth, Richard White as Stevie and Naledi Majola as Paige were all exceptional and I'd like to see them in more genre work.

Otherwise it's just OK, watchable but gets a bit tiresome after a while. I probably enjoyed the first half before the robots went berserk more than the second and that's something.

One Banana, Two Banana, Three Banana, gore!

[robinsonaustin-07490 · 5/10 · 19 August 2019]

So, Five Nights at the Banana Splits. Putting the alleged rumor that the film was based on the original script Warner Brothers had for FNAF before the rights were transferred over to Bloomhouse Productions aside, the movie was a mixed bag. I liked the gore to it; there were probably two scenes in the film where it was uniquely done, but the effects were a little artificial as in blood and guts are spilled, but it was mostly obvious to tell it was fake. The designs of the Banana Splits themselves were also pretty decent considering that they are animatronics in this version.

The acting was mediocre. The main actor playing the young Harley does an okay job, but the character he plays lacks some considerable common sense. His mother, is also okay, but the generic "I'm trying to keep everything together" mom. His older brother Austin, I disliked because every line he said sounded like he was whining constantly.

This is kind of where the story falls flat on its face. When the animatronics go on their killing spree, there isn't any kind of emotional output from the characters. It's as if they're bored of the idea of getting gruesomely killed by robots. You can't really bring yourself to care about any of the characters which is one of the many traits that horror movies suffer from. The writing was also predictable, and did not try to do anything new.

I can't honestly say that I can recommend the film because while it isn't bad, it's nothing that's any different from your standard slasher films but this time, it includes Hana Barbara characters. But if you are intrigued by the idea of a movie subverting childhood shows, by all means give it a watch. It is bile fascination at its finest.

Not very good to me at all....

[bigchubbyjames · 2/10 · 11 January 2022]

I really didn't like this movie at all. I have mostly and almost only just negative things to say about this movie. Here's a numbered list of why I didn't like this movie at all:

1. I don't find this movie very creative or unique to me, as well as the plot is not that creative, unique, or even interesting either. The movie is adapted from a classic kids show that started in the 1960's, and they make a random horror movie of it where all they mainly do is murder people and kidnap kids to force them to watch a show? I mean, it's a little bit creative since it is a movie shows what if the Banana Splits gang were actually secretly robots, but that's all as far as creativity and uniqueness goes.

2. Almost all the special effects are bad. The Banana Splits gang in the movie are supposed to be robots disguised as people in costumes, but in the movie, they ACTUALLY look completely like people in costumes who, in my opinion, didn't even act or move like actual robots, but they tried but not realistically like a robot. At least they make some realistic robot sounds, but that's it. However, the special effects to everything else is bad, too, for example, in one scene you can kind of easily see they used greenscreen behind the scenes. Only some of the gory violence looks good.

3. The movie is supposed to be a horror movie, but isn't even scary. Just disturbing, messed up, and sadistic.

Just remember that everyone has different thoughts an opinions. Just because I think these things about the movie doesn't mean you will, too. I would tell someone about this movie but probably won't recommend.

Nice concept, average execution

[anthonyjlangford · 5/10 · 20 August 2019]

Like many I suppose, I was drawn to the novelty factor having the iconic Banana Splits made into a modern horror film. I was all for the concept and the basic premise is quite a good one. However the film takes itself far too seriously for it to actually work properly.

It's a ridiculous setup so there should be some humour involved. It's all delivered with such a straight face that after a while it becomes an ordinary, if not bland, slasher film.

The first execution is quite fun but after that these bananas are slipping on their own dropped peels. A shame but ultimately it's pretty dull.

A Goofy, Gory Good Time!

[austinjrutherford · 7/10 · 13 August 2019]

It's by no means perfect, but I was pretty impressed with how well it was made in terms of the camera work and special effects. Yeah, it's cheesy in spots, but it seemed pretty well-written considering what they had to go off of. There's some pretty gory and inventive kills toward the end with a slight plot twist. If you're in any way a fan of campy B-horror movies, then open up your nostalgic heart and give this film a watch!

Fun idea, but poorly executed

[Milk_Tray_Guy · 2/10 · 20 December 2021]

A few fun/gory kills, but nowhere near enough of them. And it takes thirty minutes before anything happens. With a 90 minute runtime, that's a long wait. So-so cast (no-one I knew). Obvious very low budget. Not one I'll ever rewatch. 2/10.

A good blood,guts.gore and suspense movie.

[casayne · 6/10 · 14 August 2019]

I purchased and watched this movie today as soon as it came out. Blood and guts are not my usual kind of movie but I wanted to see how Steve Lund, my favorite actor, was in this type of movie. His acting was excellent,as I had expected.If you like blood,guts, gore and suspense you will surely like this movie. Steve Lund's acting was excellent, as I expected. If you like blood,guts,suspense and gore than you will surely like this movie.

Terrible

[day-10589 · 2/10 · 7 September 2019]

I wanted to like this movie because I used to love the Banana Splits as a kid. I understood the genre of the movie was to be a bit dark because it's a horror movie but my god this movie is terrible. The acting is horrendous and it makes you wonder if these people actually auditioned for the parts or if they were just given to the first people the producer seen.

I stuck with it for the hour and a half duration, why I don't know because this could easily be the worst movie I've ever seen.

They would have been better making a movie about how the Banana splits began, a bit like a biography but instead they tried to make a horror movie and it failed miserably.

I've given it a generous 2 star rating and that's being kind and it's only because the Banana split characters look exactly how I remembered them and the theme song was in there.

Do not waste your time on this movie.

One bana, two banana, three banana ... GORE!

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 27 May 2020]

A family attends a live taping of the popular long-running children's variety show "The Banana Splits." Things go nightmarishly awry when the animatronic robots who play the main characters on the show all blow a gasket and start killing folks in assorted brutal and gruesome ways.

Director Danishka Esterhazy relates the delightfully warped story at a brisk pace, ably crafts a sinister off-kilter atmosphere, delivers a handy helping of nasty gore, further spices things up with a wickedly funny sense of pitch-black humor, and pulls out the creepy stops for the spot-on macabre climax. Moreover, it's acted with zest by a game cast: Dani Kind as perky mom Beth, Steve Lund as jerky stepdad Mitch, Finlay Wojtak-Hissong as excitable little boy Haley, Celina Martin as the perky Poppy, Sara Canning as harried producer Rebecca, Romeo Carere as rebellious teen Austin, Maria Nash as the sweet Zoe, Naledi Majola as enthusiastic page Paige, Richard White as alcoholic series regular Stevie, and Kiroshan Naidoo as obnoxious fan Thadd. The filmmakers get extra points for using gnarly old school practical splatter f/x as well as for having the admirable audacity to put a deliciously dark horror spin on a beloved kiddie program with an avid cult following. A twisted treat.

Tra La La

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 5 September 2019]

In this film, the Banana Splits have been running since 1967 out of Taft 1 studio. The Splits are robots. Harley (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong ) is a kid obsessed with the show, even mentioning how idiotic and repetitive the whole thing is. For his birthday he goes to a live taping of the show with minor family issues. The audience is in part kids and adults who have grown up watching the show. Drooper gets a computer update which turns all the group into adult killers and child captors.

It was an interesting concept. I am still holding out for Johnny Quest meets Jason. I was disappointed that they didn't capitalize on the potential with clever dialogue and top "B" stars.

Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity.

The fact it's Banana Splits made me give it one more star...

[jonathancolley-885-704860 · 2/10 · 24 August 2019]

I only heard about this a couple of weeks ago and read nothing about it to avoid ruining my viewing pleasure as I love a good bad movie as much as I do a good one.

Oh my god... So bad...

There is no tension at all, the characters are wooden and mostly unlikable. I'm glad that most people died, I only wish more had had the decency to die in it.

The Splits themselves are slow and cumbersome, even their car which is used to run a guy down (eventually) is so slow that the victim is able to out run it!?

I liked that it's the Banana Splits, I like that the footage is not great quality so it looks like it's from the late '70's to early '80's but then they ruin it by (I think) setting it in the modern day as everyone has smartphones...

Ok, there are a couple of 'ok' scenes but honestly; just don't waste your time or money on this as you'll regret it.

Tra-la-la, blah-blah-blah-blah.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 23 August 2019]

I've always felt that there was something deeply unsettling about The Banana Splits (especially that moose head); clearly I was not alone in thinking this, for The Banana Splits Movie uses the once-popular '70s kids TV show as the basis for a gory horror in which furries Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky run amok, killing those present at a recording of the programme (weirdly, the moose head is nowhere to be seen).

Trapped in a studio soundstage, young Banana Splits fan Harley (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) and his family are hunted by the furry TV stars, who are revealed to be robots that have gone haywire upon cancellation of the long-running show. This premise looks set to be a whole load of demented fun, especially for those familiar with the source material, but Danishka Esterhazy's stilted direction, a general air of cheapness (the Splits' studio set is poverty stricken), and the terrible script all add up to a big dose of mediocrity.

The gory death scenes are the best thing about the film, and include a bisection (with guts!), a severed head, a scalded face, a hammer to the head, and a guy having his arms and legs torn off. But as impressive as most of the bloody mayhem is, one can't help but feel disappointment at the lifelessness of the whole thing, the lack of scares, and the fact that Esterhazy didn't go even further with the lunacy and gruesomeness. The opportunity to go large with the craziness was definitely there and should have been seized with both hands.

Stupid, awful, and weird - and not in a good way!

[hellrayzor · 2/10 · 6 September 2019]

This movie apparently takes place in an alternate universe where:

1) The Banana Splits TV show from the late 1960's is still airing in 2019.

2) The Banana Splits themselves are killer robots.

Wow.

The "plot" is that when the network cancels the Banana Splits TV show, the Banana Splits (who are not actors in suits, but rather killer robots) begin killing the show's producers and fans on the set.

Why are the Banana Splits killer robots? No idea. Does it make any sense? Not in the slightest. Is it any good? No, not even in a "so bad it's good" kind of way. The whole thing is just weird, dumb, and poorly made. It's obviously not meant to be taken seriously, and yet it isn't really a parody or comedy either. It just falls flat on every level.

And just think. Someone actually said "Let's remake the Banana Splits TV show, but instead of being a light hearted slapstick comedy, it will be a gore movie! And instead of being actors in suits, they will be killer robots!" And then that person pitched this to someone else who said "That's a great idea, here's a ton of money to make it!" It boggles the mind.

And who exactly is this movie made for anyways? It's certainly not a tribute to the original TV show for kids - fans of the original show will have their childhood memories of their beloved comedic slapstick characters destroyed by seeing them transformed into killer robots in a gore movie.

Fans of the Five Nights At Freddy's game will find this to be a pale imitation / rip-off.

I guess fans of really stupid, poorly written, poorly acted, gory horror movies with bad CGI and gore effects, who have never seen, or feel no connection to, the original TV show MIGHT like this. But check your brain at the door. Or better yet, check out something like KILLER CLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE instead.

Weird, stupid, and terrible. If you absolutely must see it, don't waste your money on it. Download it or wait for it to pop up on cable.

Bad Filmmaking

[WatermelonJones · 5/10 · 21 October 2021]

Good idea. Bad execution. Characters are depicted together after they were established as being apart in the last shot/scene. A campy ugly mess that looked as though it was made by highschool students.

Grew Up Watching This TV Show in the UK

[steveatwal · 7/10 · 13 August 2019]

This was a crazy, fun, stupid TV show that we grew up watching. Some famous people cane on the show, including "The Monkeys" music band. This is a new remake into a movie. Worth a watch.

A painful embarrassment

[ddschneider72 · 2/10 · 4 October 2021]

Wow. What could have been a good fun campy cult classic horror movie was instead a stinking pile of elephant poo. I can't decide what is the most incompetent thing about the movie: the terrible writing, horrible direction or the wooden acting.

There are a couple good gore scenes, the mom and the little girl Zoe were good, but the rest of the actors were as robotic as the robots.

The story was so contrived and just unenjoyable. There was no scary scenes or tense moments. It was just... extremely dull. Them I saw the writers were writing SYFYs Day of the Dead series which I was looking forward to until I saw they had the same writers.

These writers & directors should stick to writing and directing used car advertisements on local late night television. Although they would probably ruin those too.

One star for decent gore and one star for getting the theme song stuck in my head.

Gleeful and gory return for the Banana Splits

[A_Llama_Drama · 6/10 · 23 December 2021]

Who remembers the Banana Splits? Tra-la-la la-lalala-la...That song was childhood for a great deal of us. Kudos, then, to the producers turning an admittedly lame parody of The Monkees (and probably an early progenitor for The Furries) into something kind of fresh, kind of lame, kind of fun and very gory, forty years after the show ended.

In this alternate reality where the show never ended, Harley and his family are attending a taping of The Banana Splits for his birthday. His older brother is a surly burnout, his father a neglectful adulterer and his mum a timid flake. With him is a school friend, not a real friend, Zoe, who's there because her mum forced her. A happy family this is not. Thankfully, along with a variety of victims, harley and his family are going to get the chance to bond and repair their relationships, if only they don't get murdered by the psychotic animatronics.

Overall, the cast is not capable of blending the comedy with the surreal horror of Drooper, Snorky, Bingo and Fleegel going on a murder rampage. Maria Nash, playing Zoe, fares the best as the sardonic and confident co-pilot through a world she left behind years ago. Sara Canning, as the long-suffering show producer manages to elicit some sympathy when she's dragged into the mayhem. Naledi Majoli as an audience manager doing her best is easy to like and cheer for. Dana Kind, as the fretful mum turned bad ass does enough to be believable, but the rest of the cast all seem to be in different productions.

Shout out to the special effects crew who appear to do most of it without resorting to CGI. The Banana Splits enjoy a spot of violent murder and the gleeful squirms as they treat spines like a lock to a key, or heads like giant buttons to be mashed will elicit cheers and groans of disgust from the audience. The set details, as well, as we move from each of the Splits' iconic sets adds a great bit of variety to the warehouse lot. It all climaxes wonderfully in a private showing of the Splits' final show ever, complete with violent murder and goofy gags.

This is a brave attempt at bringing something long forgotten and now completely unknown to a new generation. While it's not entirely successful (the sound design doesn't sync with either the camp lameness or the brutal horror and the editing struggles to be smooth, owing in part to using animatronics), it does a decent job of reimagining a childhood favourite for a new audience. That in itself is comendable. One for gore hounds and those on nostalgia trips!

Such a bad idea and an even worse result

[jmolta · 1/10 · 25 August 2019]

This is a horrible film not a Horror film, and that's being polite about it.

Really fun

[qbarkdude · 8/10 · 13 August 2019]

This is a special type of movie that is stupid but knows it's kind of stupid. I really enjoyed the deaths and Splits themselves. I never knew what was gonna happen next. There are some good scenes which are well passed and eerie. There are of course the clichés that are in every low budget horror movie. But they work because of the solid writing and good characters. I was always excited to see what happened next. I would have liked more dialogue from the Splits themselves. Hell, I would have loved if they were in the movie more period. But as it is, it's not amazing, but it's pretty good. Give it a watch before you give it 1 star.

I grow up watching this movie

[bella-10103 · 6/10 · 14 August 2019]

This movie was funny and scary in places, but definitely worth a watch,brought back loads of good memories from my childhood.

Awfully written

[adeleysim · 2/10 · 5 September 2019]

This could have been good. I thought it was an amusing concept and it developed okay. However, it quickly went from a 5 to a 2 right around the middle of the movie. There is no semblance of logic in the creatures' behavior and the victims' reactions.

Soooo Bad

[graf-97905 · 1/10 · 25 August 2019]

The only thing scary about this film is trying to figure out why it was made in the first place. Better yet who thought this film was a good idea. So incredibly bad.