MovieChat Forums > The Peanut Butter Solution (1985) Discussion > years of searching, finally recovered (...

years of searching, finally recovered (Spoilers within)

posted 20 years ago by Brokenlizard
60 replies | jump to latest

I went on vacation and On a whim, I happened to come across this film in an old public library. I rented it and watched it after years of wondering what the heck I'd been subjected to as a child of 5, I now put my nightmares to rest. A quick synopsis:
(SPOILERS)
The story follows a kid who gave some money to this whino the day before he was burned to death in a fire. The boy is curious and goes into the burnt house and is severely scared by a ghost and as a result of fright, his hair falls out. During the night the ghosts come and give him a recipe to grow more hair, it works...too well.
The hair doesn't stop growing...(funny side note that we probably didn't get because were too young was that his little freind asks to borrow the solution for "down there!" and spends half the movie walking around with hair growing out of his pants.) So for some odd plot twist the kids art teacher kidnaps him and all his freinds and uses the boys hair to make magic paintbrushes that turn whatever you paint into reality. The boys freind who is also kidnaped, cons the man into painting the old burned house and going inside. The art teacher does , becomes scared and all his hair falls out. Then the boy goes into the house, confronts the ghosts and his hair stops growing, the cops come and save the kids from the art teacher. Really weird movie.
Still trying to find other strange 80's Disney greats like Mr. Boogedy, Boogedy's bride, Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss, and others.

[–] donaldrack 20 years ago

Man, I saw this when I was 2 or 3. I tried describing this movie to someone and they thought it was a dream I had when I was a kid. So odd a movie like this can effect so many kids. Though when I was little, I thought the kid had turned into a girl...

"I don't like them shaved. I see pubic hair as a flag that says, 'It's OK! I'm not 12!'"-Anonymous

[–] sdraisin 20 years ago

Yeah, a couple weeks ago I remembered this movie which I hadn't seen in over a decade, and my friends were like "are you sure you weren't really stoned and made it up?" But now, I gotta find this movie (and get really stoned =P)

[–] LotsaGiggles333 20 years ago

I've seen this movie a few times when I was like 5 or 6, and I used to watch it with my cousins and my Grandma... I know it sounds weird but sometimes when I eat peanut butter, it reminds me of this movie, and I couldn't remember if somehow someway it really was a dream or something.. because I have asked my grandma, my cousins, my sisters, my parents, if they remembered the movie about the boy who put peanut butter on his head to make his hair grow, and everytime i've asked them, they look at me like i'm crazy and say "um, are you sure that wasn't just a dream" hahahha oh man, and now to find out that other people were kinda disturbed by this movie too.. i think thats hilarious! What a freakin weird movie!

[–] reviewer77 20 years ago

I watched this movie when I was like 5 or 6. I also thought I had imagined this film or something later on, but then a few months ago I found out about it when I saw it playing on TV again. The scene with the kid walking into the dark house scared the *beep* out of me when I was little!

[–] o07craft 20 years ago

OMFG.. Im the same way.. saw this one when i was like 2/3 and I had nightmares for months. then they showed it at school once and I was too scared to watch it. I saw it alt least 5 times yet i had nightmares for over a year. 10 years later I remember having nightmares as a kid about some movie but could not remember what the movie was about and thought that maybe i dreamt everything and the movie did not exist. then at work about 2 years ago (im 20 now) I told some girl about how i used to have these nightmares about some movie with some kid growing hair. Then she shouted out "the peanut butter solution" and apparently she had heard of it. So I got home, looked up the movie and sure enough.. this is the movie that tourmented me as a child and that i Thought had never exsisted.

Its so strange how its a kids movie and I got nightmares from it. At age 3 I also used to watch lots of rated R movies with my Dad which had lots of killing/violence (my parents didnt care heh :p) and not once did i have a nightmare.. but this movie really seemed to get to me.

its now been 17 or so years and I have yet to see the movie still. I dont want to buy a vhs and i dont think its on dvd? maybe if i see thi one again i can find out what all the fuss was about from when i was a kid.

[–] Hybrid_Philler 20 years ago

Yeah ok, I just saw it in french in my grade 11 french class. It's actually quite creepy, not in a "I get nightmares from it" but in a "what were these people on when they made this" kinda way. Like, seriously, who could invent such a nonsensical story?! Granted of course, it was non-intentionally funny in some aspects that made it entertaining (ie: the asian kid who apparently has no home of his own, and the hilarious soccer wig scene :-D!) I probably won't remember this movie in a couple years, but i have to say, it's probably the weirdest one i've seen so far, and never before has a classroom's silence said "what the *beep* as much as today.

[–] shawncphillips 20 years ago

I love this film. I watch it all the time. I love the music. If im in a bad mood I listen to magic man.

**Watch the Don and Murph review show**
www.donandmurph.com

[–] december_roses 20 years ago

I actually had someone tape it off of the tv twice back in the day. I watched one so much it broke, but I still have the second copy. I still watch it. Believe it or not, I also have The Bride of Boogedy (another one I watched a LOT when I was little). A college buddy of mine had the first one, so we would get together and have a marathon.

[–] 1060westaddison 20 years ago

It's weird how so many people vaguely remember this certain movie and are now finally finding out what the name of it was, I always remembered this movies name, but I have had almost the same exact feelings about it as the people on here, maybe its because we saw it when we were very young, theres something strange about a movie that can have that effect on you. It was also on the boards for the Peanut butter solution that I found out the name of another weird obscure movie I saw as a kid. The Snowball War or Le Guerra de toques?, which turns out is by the same guy, WEIRDNESS! SCARY BAD VIBES!! THIS MOVIE IS EVIL, ITS ERASING OUR MEMORIES! HOARD ALL THE PEANUT BUTTER YOU CAN MUSTER! AGHHHHHHHHH!!!!

[–] dvecc4io 20 years ago

So weird!!. I saw it when i was 7 and it totally freaks me out to this day! Funny the synopsis says it's a comedy, but omg..it was the scariest movie I had ever seen and now as an adult, i don't think i could watch it. It was just so bizarre.

[–] shawncphillips 20 years ago

I loved the music in the film. I hope this flick get a dvd release.

**Watch the Don and Murph review show**
www.donandmurph.com

[–] opalrain 20 years ago

Wow. I can't believe this.

I, too, started with a vague memory of this film-- really all that was left was the shadowing of terror surrounding something about peanut butter, hair, and a poorly lit visual in my head that resembled Munch's "Scream." I, too, asked my friends if they'd seen a terrifying movie about peanut butter and hair, and I began to actually believe their claims that I had dreamed this movie's existence.

Now that I have found this board, I hope the healing might begin-- and that is a statement that is only barely kidding.

I get chills to think about the movie-- maybe renting or buying the flick is around step 5 or so?

Incredible.

[–] shawncphillips 20 years ago

Good luck find it, It took me a long time but Im glade you found what you were looking for!!!

**Watch the Don and Murph review show**
www.donandmurph.com

[–] 1060westaddison 20 years ago

After everyone finally tracks down a copy and watches it one last time, we should all burn them in a big bonfire of peanut butter to forever rid the earth of this evil movie!

[–] shawncphillips 20 years ago

I wont be doing that. Im hoping for a dvd of this film.

**Watch the Don and Murph review show**
www.donandmurph.com

[–] Lavender_etc 19 years ago

Wow! A whole community of people who share vague recolections of a scary childhood experience. This could actually be the start of a new, spooky movie that we should all write and star in. My friend become depressed for a week as a child after watching this movie. Crazy! I'm currently in a bidding war on Ebay to win a DVD copy of the film. With music by Celine Dion apparently. The montreal connection becomes clearer.

[–] thevapors36 19 years ago

this is really amazing that all of you share the same experience as me. I could never remember the name of this movie. I could only remember a few things vaguely. 1. I was extremely young when I saw it. 2. He put peanut butter on his head. 3. The movie made me feel uneasy. And that was it. Not until today did I run a longshot search on yahoo with keywords "80's", "movie", "peanut butter to grow hair" and amazingly found out the name. Even weirder, we all feel the same way about it. I want to see it again though. Most definitley a very tweaked film.

[–] Brokenlizard 19 years ago

Thank God You all feel the same way!

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] davidpalay 19 years ago

Saw this at the YMCA in ND when I was about 6. Over the years I think back on that night when the kids were all subjected to the surreal torture that is The Peanut Butter Solution. It was like we were in some kind of cult. And as with many of you, I only remembered that the movie was real when I found out that it was. I always had vague memories of a kid lying on some bed, paintbrushes, and a toaster. Too weird to be real right? Must have been a dream.

I'm 22 now and MUST see this movie again so I can go on with my life.

[–] WWTD 19 years ago

Guys, check this out... the strange enigma about this movie, I swear it's so f--ked up! I had totally forgotten about this film. I'd seen it, and I really don't remember that much about it, I don't think it scared me that much I just remember having this "What the hell?" kind of reaction to it.

But here's where the stuff gets really weird. Like I said, I had totally forgotten that this film even existed. I never remember watching until tonight. I'm 25. And I don't remember a thing.

So I'm on this other post. It's in the "games" board. Here's the link.

http://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000003/flat/23708358

The point of the post is to use a movie title as a question and then answer it with another movie title. As you can see in the post, the guy before me questioned The Ox-Bow Incident. I was stumped. So I cheated and just typed "solution" into the search engine and "The Peanut Butter Solution" sounded like a good title, thought I'd get some credibility. After the post, I felt guilty. I was like, I just posted a movie that I don't know anything about. So I clicked on it just to pay the respects.

And all this s--t started coming back! This is one f--ked up film. I really hope they don't print it again. It's just going to mess up our kids just like it did us.

[–] silver_benz85 19 years ago

most of these movies were made in or around montreal and quebec check out this site there are tonnes of them... most of them were made in french first. http://www.lafete.com/nouveausite/production_en.html

[–] silver_benz85 19 years ago

I have to say I agree with that.. i don't know how old everyone is the wrote on the message boards about this movie but i have a feeling we are all about the same age and its like we are controlled by this movie like a bizzar science experiment or something LOL

[–] silver_benz85 19 years ago

I have the same sentiments exactly!!

[–] december_roses 19 years ago

My kids at daycare watched it this summer and they loved it! I'll admit it scared the hell out of me when I was little, but not as much as the Boogedy movies. I still watch it every once in awhile when I want to reminisce. That reminds me...I have to get the tape back from someone who borrowed it from me.

[–] krissyk77 19 years ago

This really is creepy. I too thought this movie was just some weirdo dream I had has a child. I think I was probably about 7 when I saw this. All I could remember was peanut butter and hair growing. Even as I came to IMDB and typed in "peanut butter" I was telling myself, "I know this wasn't a dream." I'm glad I looked it up and finally know the name of it.

[–] lonecoyote79 19 years ago

Thank you, thank you, THANK you one and all. I don't know how many years and dollars I wasted on psycologists and therapists. All because of this movie! Now I can print this out and show it to my counselor, then tell bid him adieu for good!

[–] Bri_of_Briesca 19 years ago

oh my. ill be once again one of the many's who were haunted. my mom used to rent this *beep* for me all the time, and ive asked her if she remembered it, and of course...she doesn't. BUT this whole time i thought the movie was about like cancer. so bizarre

[–] cha0scypher 19 years ago

This is the strangest movie I've ever seen, it makes almost no sense. My whole family tells me that I watched it when they first rented it when I was 6 or 7, but I have absolutely no memory of it, they tell me that I was very scared of it, perhaps my subconscious chose to forget it because I was freaked out. Anyways, we rented it again a few years later, and I still could not understand it, and it really does seem like something out of a dream or something.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] giovanniramone 19 years ago

I'm glad you got closure!

[–] sean-579 19 years ago

This is craziness!

I'm 24, and just like everyone else here, have very vague memories of this movie. Mostly, of the Ghosts slamming cabinet doors, and it having no sound if your eyes are closed. And of course, of the paintbrush assembly line, and the Paintings. I actually didn't recall too much about peanut butter.

And just like everyone else here, anyone I mention this movie to looks at me like I'm a complete moron, and I just remember some crazy random thing from a dream or something.

Maybe there was a conspiracy! Maybe we've been secretly programmed and are unknowing members of a sect of Peanut Butter powered, psionic government assasins!

Or not. Still, weird.

[–] jhammer112 19 years ago

Its so strange that so many people about the same age (born late 70's-early 80's) have the same feelings about this movie. I was subjected to it when I was about 8 years old. A friend of mine had a birthday party and we watched it. All I remember really is that the kid goes bald, he has this dream where he is told to make this solution. Then I think he doubles the recipe or something and thats why his hair wont stop growing. But I remember the kid goes bald and never leaves the house and finally he puts on a wig and plays in a soccer game and gets his wig pulled off. Another crazy issue I have with this movie, aside from it being the single weirdest experience of my childhood is that I dated this girl when I was around 16 (im 22 now) and she once told me she had nightmares about having her hair cut off. And I remember mentioning the title of this movie and she freaked out because she couldnt believe that I knew of the movie and also because it probably led to these nightmares. All in all this movie is weird as hell. Now to go look for a copy on ebay.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] tarnishedearth23 19 years ago

well let me jump on the badwagon of people who saw this movie as a child, had an eery feeling towards this movie, and when trying to explain it to people, being told i was on drugs(lol). I am 28 now, and i was recently trying to explain it to my husband, and he ( who usually remembers all the other crazy movies i ask about), looked at me funny. i have tried to search for this movie before, but finally remembered the name out of nowhere, and googled it.

[–] SurfaceSkin 19 years ago

I guess I may as well add my name to the Peanut Butter Solution support group. I saw this about 3/4 times and I don't even remember when exactly. However, I vaguely remember at age 13/14, going to a friend's house and watching it on Showcase (channel 39 in Toronto). I don't even remember why we decided to watch it but I guess it may have something to do with how hypnotically alluring this odd film is. Funny thing is, I don't remember the ghosts but I do remember the scene where the boy recounts how he gave the homeless guy 5 or 10 dollars. The look on that homeless guy's face was so strange. As well, I remember the scene where the boy is lying down while getting his hair cut to make the brushes. I also remember the asian kid's pubic hair coming out of his pants. That's all I've got, a bunch of fragmented images from this movie. I don't remember if I had nightmares but now that the story has been recounted to me, I can't imagine why I wasn't so affected as some of you.

[–] h_annalisa 19 years ago

I talk about this movie every now and then, and it always elicits that same "what the hell are you talking about" response. It's nice to know I'm not alone! I was looking for the movie on DVD and found a few copies on Ebay. So tempted.......

[–] fadeinthesummer 19 years ago

Yeah this movie is definately strange i also saw it when i was six or seven, and long thought it was a dream and no one knows about it, except for here. The only part of this movie I really remember -ghosts? say what? is where the guy is bald and his friend tries to comfort him by showing him his pet ant who he kept in a matchbox, and is now dead... and they laugh about it.
Thats it. I feel like ive stepped into a twilight zone, with all these other encounters with the peanut butter solution. Maybe i'll wake up in a alternate universe.

[–] alex_the_cinderblock 19 years ago

Wow! Me and my sister are the only people I know who remember this insane movie. I first saw it when I was about 6 or 7, and I'm pretty sure I've seen it about 4 or 5 times, but the last time I saw it I was probably about 8. I liked the movie as a child, though it definitely freaked me out a lot. It's weird because I can still remember almost the entire plot (and I'm 19 now). I'd love to have a copy, though I realize it's unlikely that I'll find one. Oh well, I'll just have to keep looking.

[–] matchstickmemory 19 years ago

I am so glad I made a copy of this when i rented it...it scared me so bad when i was little...but thankfully i still have it and watch it...truly a bizarre film. I have it on a tape with Making Contact...another odd film...

[–] pandyonetwo 19 years ago

I think I'm one of the few people that loved this movie as a kid! There were a few months back in the mid 80s when it was playing on the movie channel several times a month, and I remember trying to watch it every time it was on. It was definitely freaky, but funny enough that I didn't seem to notice.

Also, it wasn't until years later that I realized the Asian kid from the movie is the same kid that played Yick on Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High.

[–] saltrapty 19 years ago

This board is amazing. Its like we all have something in common. Like the teens in nightmare on elm street 3, eccept, we are in our early/mid 20's now and instead of being tormented by freddy, we are haunted by the peanut butter soloution. I am 24 and will always remember this movie. Scenes that stick out in my head all involved the butch sister. Like, the scene when shes looking at the boys scalp through the magnifying glass, or my favorite, when shes following the sugar trail behind the truck. The other scene that used to disturb me as a kid, was when the boys long hair gets tangled up in the bushes. Anyway, I started work at a video store 2 weeks ago here in santa barbara, and I got to make a shelf of my own personal picks! I put all sorts of crazy *beep* on there, but i think my favorite of my picks, and the one i am most proud of is peanutbutter soloution! i pray to god, that someone will rent it, and come up to me and say...."were you one....of us?" we need to stick together people! I got an idea. I am going to make a peanut butter soloution myspace group! that way we can all talk about our disturbimg memories of this truly haunting film! I cant believe you have all been though this too.

[–] saltrapty 19 years ago

looks like somebody already beat me to it. are any of you people members of the group. if not u should join! http://groups.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=groups.groupProfile&groupID=100270747&Mytoken=5B797B5E-FCA2-C584-F7F45C8CD4E1553D16739112

[–] december_roses 16 years ago

I'm with you. It scared me, but I loved it. I watched it so much my mom had to hide the tape from me.

There are potholes on the road less traveled....