Deep Cuts: The Peanut Butter Solution (1985)

The year was 1985. The internet established the ‘domain name’ system. Madonna begins her very first tour. Wrestlemania debuts at Madison Square Garden. And George Orwell assumed we’d all be dead. Yet, there was something still lurking in the shadows. Something so horrific that we would’ve been thankful if Mr. Orwell was correct. And that, dear readers, is The Peanut Butter Solution.

I am writing this article under the assumption that it is a horror movie. Is it really one? I don’t freakin’ know. I am not even sure that what I saw can be called a movie. Yet I was hopelessly intrigued.

The Peanut Butter Solution is about an 11-year old boy named Michael Baskin. He is left in the care of his father (a struggling artist) and his sister (annoying) while his mom goes to Australia. Michael wakes up one day to discover that all of his hair has fallen out.

The doctor tells Michael he has a case of ‘the fright’ or ‘hair em scare em’, which is when a large scare can make your hair fall out. Besides probably paying a ridiculous co-pay to hear nonsense, Michael is left with no answers. Yet hope came to him that night when he is visited by the ghosts of two homeless people. These ghost hobos (ghobos?) give him a magical recipe that will grow his hair back. The main ingredient is peanut butter. They warn him to never, under any circumstances, use more than a teaspoon of peanut butter. The next day, that’s exactly what he did. And he now has hair that will not stop growing.

You would think that’s enough insanity to last one movie. But you would be wrong. Long story short, his hair is magic. His art teacher decides to kidnap all the school children and force them to work in a sweatshop. And, did I mention, that the sweat shop makes his hair into paint-brushes that can make pictures you can walk into?

Ghosts. Kidnapping. General feeling of dread for one reason or another. I count this gem as horror and you really should check it out.

About James Amthor 14 Articles
James is the writer, director and producer behind PunGent Studios. Some of his favorite films include The Blob, Slither and Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer along with books like Geek Love, Diary and Bend Sinister.

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