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The Purple People Eater (1988)
Released By: Media Home Entertainment   Rating: PG   In Theaters: N/A
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Studio: Media Home Entertainment
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Linda Shayne
Language: English
Official Website: N/A
Theatrical Release: N/A
Home Video Release: N/A
Cast: Chubby Checker, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Little Richard, Ned Beatty, Neil Patrick Harris, Shelley Winters
Published ID: 753
UPC: N/A
Plot: Linda Shayne wrote and directed this children's story based on the 1958 novelty song Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley. Billy Johnson (Neal Patrick Harris) is joined by a friendly alien from outer space who wants to play in a rock & roll band. Peggy Lipton plays Billy's mom, with James Houghton as the father and Ned Beatty as Grandpa. The band lends a hand to some senior citizens in their fight to keep their beloved retirement complex. Add Little Richard and Chubby Checker to the fun as the heroes try and stop the greedy landlord Mr. Noodle (John Brumfield) from kicking out the elderly residents. Only one word in the film gives the movie a PG rating instead of G. Watch for Sheb Wolley in a cameo role as the trapeze instructor in this low-budget family feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
Fun viewing at any age
Added 9/6/2009

The movie "Purple People Eater" is just a fun movie to watch over and over. It has a great soundtrack and a terrific cast including Neil Patrick Harris in the starring role. Also featured is a young Thora Birch ("American Beauty") as Harris' little sister Molly. Luckily I was able to find the movie on VHS, but I wish it would get released on DVD because it is a real classic. If you can find the movie, please watch it. You will be glad you did.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
What a great family movie
Added 4/9/2009

WOW...I've been looking everywhere for this movie. I'm glad I found it. Purple People Eater is a fun, exciting, and wonderful movie for kids and family to watch. I grew up watching this movie all the time on disney channel and now that I have a child I'm going to let her watch it with me. This movie is a classic...you will love it as well!!! If only it was on DVD.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
VHS Movie
Added 2/27/2008

This is a delightful movie for all ages. I just purchased this for my husband and the transaction went very smoothly and the video was in great shape
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Oh, no, Longfellow! You're not supposed to be on the balcony!
Added 10/12/2007

Purple People Eater (Linda Shayne, 1988)

There are bad movies, and then there are bad movies. There are those that transcend the usual badness and become gems of such pure awfulness that they must be seen to be believed. Night of the Lepus is the classic example, because who thought giant mutant killer bunnies were a good idea? Purple People Eater is another entry in that august company, a movie that goes so far down the scale of awful that it starts lookin' like up to me. It helps that, in the light of hindsight, so many of the kids in this movie went on to be the deeply dysfunctional child stars they promised to be here.

The plot: Billy Johnson (Doogie Howser M.D.'s Neil Patrick Harris)'s parents are going away for the summer, leaving him and his sister Molly (American Beauty's Thora Birch in her first screen appearance) in the care of their hard-of-hearing, slightly loopy grandfather (Ned Beatty). While they repaint grandpa's apartment, they pull out an old record player and play Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater," causing the title character to appear, looking, as purple people eaters do, for work in a rock and roll band. Meanwhile, Grandpa's landlord, Mr. Noodle, is continually raising the rents in the neighborhood so he can drive everyone out and turn the whole place into condos. Purple to the rescue!

This is a train wreck of a movie, but like a good train wreck, it's one you simply can't stop watching. The plot and structural holes are painfully funny, the acting is godawful, the script is a mess, and, wow, Dustin Diamond as the guitarist! (As a side note, one of the things that really bugs me in movies makes its presence very highly felt here: the director obviously didn't care enough to have the people playing the instruments even come close to synching with the music.) But before you get your hate on, this movie is chock full of the kinds of awful lines you'll be repeating as in-jokes amongst your hip friends for years to come. "No, Longfellow! Not the balcony!"

You need a copy of this, if only to say you own one. **

1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
VHS
Added 1/15/2007

This is very funny movie. I ordered it for my nephew.

Joan

0 out of 2 people found this helpful.
Fun viewing at any age
Added 9/6/2009

The movie "Purple People Eater" is just a fun movie to watch over and over. It has a great soundtrack and a terrific cast including Neil Patrick Harris in the starring role. Also featured is a young Thora Birch ("American Beauty") as Harris' little sister Molly. Luckily I was able to find the movie on VHS, but I wish it would get released on DVD because it is a real classic. If you can find the movie, please watch it. You will be glad you did.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
What a great family movie
Added 4/9/2009

WOW...I've been looking everywhere for this movie. I'm glad I found it. Purple People Eater is a fun, exciting, and wonderful movie for kids and family to watch. I grew up watching this movie all the time on disney channel and now that I have a child I'm going to let her watch it with me. This movie is a classic...you will love it as well!!! If only it was on DVD.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
VHS Movie
Added 2/27/2008

This is a delightful movie for all ages. I just purchased this for my husband and the transaction went very smoothly and the video was in great shape
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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VHS
$30.99 @ Amazon
VHS
@ Amazon