Am I Missing Something?

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Scott Jacoby gives a memorably creepy performance in this popular TV-movie about a young fugitive from the law who lives in the walled-up guest bathroom of his house after his divorced mother dies and a new family moves in. Interesting, if far-fetched premise, adapted by Andrew Peter Marin from a novel by John Holbrook Vance, contains some startling scenes handled well by veteran director Buzz Kulik. Although brief at 72 minutes, the movie utilizes its time well; Kulik was obviously working against the restraints of a low budget and content requirements for television, but he admirably doesn't treat this scenario lightly. Jeered teenager Ronald, who lives in a fantasy world of doomed medieval lovers, isn't simply a misfit--he's seriously touched in the head--and Jacoby doesn't attempt to make him likable. The supporting performances are uneven, ranging from stilted to overly-broad (the nosy neighbor), yet the dark, edgy mood of the piece is conveyed very well.

You'll probably read descriptions of "Bad Ronald" that make it sound like a horror movie. A more accurate description would be a thriller. One of the many TV movies that became vogue in the 1970s, it focuses on a socially inept teenager who accidentally kills a girl and hides in a crawlspace in his house. Things turn ugly after his mother dies and a new family moves in.It's easy to feel sympathy for Ronald until he lets his imagination take over. Seriously, this boy turns psychotic. It reminded me of the imaginary world that the girls create in "Heavenly Creatures". I wouldn't call "Bad Ronald" a great movie but it's worth seeing. I guess that one could view it as a look at the underbelly of the middle-class lifestyle.The cast includes Kim Hunter (Stella in "A Streetcar Named Desire"), John Larch (the police chief in "Dirty Harry") and Dabney Coleman (the boss in "9 to 5").

After accidentally killing a girl, teenager Ronald Wilby (Scott Jacoby) is hidden away from cops in a secret room in the house by his domineering mother (Kim Hunter). Poor Ronald is left all alone when she passes away. Sad Ronald finds the situation gets better and worse when Mr. Wood (Dabney Coleman) moves into the house with his wife and three daughters. Bad Ronald, whose mindset is becoming increasingly delusional, becomes fixated on the youngest daughter (Cindy Fisher) and begins to imagine she is the princess for the imaginary kingdom in his head. Highly effective TV-movie from director Buzz Kulik that is based on the novel by John Holbrook Vance. You do actually feel sorry for the boy and Jacoby gives a great performance, especially for a teen. The end is very rushed, but it is after all a TV movie. Expanded and it could be a top-notch thriller that still would work today. When I see something like this I wonder why Hollywood never tackles this kind of material for a remake (the French did a version in the early 1990s).

"Bad Ronald" enjoys quite an impressive cult reputation, despite "only" being a low-budgeted and made-for-TV film from the early 70's, so I simply had to check it out to see what all the fuzz is about. I can't deny "Bad Ronald" has something irresistibly special! The atmosphere is thoroughly unsettling and Scott Jacoby portrays a strangely menacing Ronald. There are no special effects or bloody massacres in this film, yet it's an engaging little thriller with a fairly original premise. Ronald is a geeky and slightly peculiar teenager who lives with his dominant and overly protective mother. He's obsessed with his personally created comic book universe, yet his mother insists on becoming a prominent doctor. When Ronald accidentally murders a young girl after she mocked him one too many times, his mother sees no other solution than to construct an extra lair in their house and hide him from the cops. Then when mommy doesn't return from the hospital one day after a routine operation, Ronald remains hidden in the house and new tenants move in. Slowly going insane from loneliness and paranoia, Ronald mistakes the new tenants' daughter for his comic book heroine. The script is a little too far-fetched to be plausible and it definitely contains too many improbabilities, like the bizarrely noisy neighbor Mrs. Shumacher, for example, and the fatal gal blather operation. But at least it's never boring or exaggeratedly ridiculous, so I'm certainly not complaining. Ronald's parental house provides the film with a uniquely sinister setting, complete with hideous wallpaper & furniture, peepholes and secret cupboard passageways. Especially considering it's a TV-production, "Bad Ronald" is well photographed, suspenseful and it approaches several themes that are appealing to fans of grim 70's exploitation. Recommended!