The Pit (1988) directed by Lew Lehman

Jamie is a horny, but disturbed, pre-teen who can’t make friends thanks to his general oddball behavior. The neighbors, local kids, sexy librarians, and sweet teachers all know he’s a freaking weirdo, but his dimwit parents leave him in the care of the cute college girl (with the football player boyfriend) while they go on a trip. Did I mention that Jamie’s only “friend” is a stuffed bear named “Teddy” that speaks back to Jamie in his own voice? And that former babysitters haven’t lasted more than one round with this kook?

It doesn’t take long before Jamie fixates on new babysitter/psychology student Sandy, and is soon leering at her panties, watching her while she sleeps (complete with nip slip), and gets angry when she talks about her football player “friend.” If only Jamie had access to a woodlands pit filled with troglodytes that feasted on raw meat he could purchase from the local butcher. What’s that you say? How long can Jamie possibly afford to purchase meat from the butcher under the guise of shopping for his mother? Won’t he eventually have to resort to more nefarious means?

Why, yes! He will! And that’s what makes the first hour of this weirdo slice of sinema so effectively bonkers. Jamie is a total psycho that we’d all hate if we encountered him in real life. But watching him run out of options and lure his enemies to the pit makes the flick wonderfully outrageous—for about an hour. Unfortunately, screenwriter Ian A. Stuart and director Lew Lehman run up against a wall. Jamie’s troglodytes escape from the pit and roam the countryside for a bit, only to be hunted down by a lame posse.

The film finally ends—in wonderfully NIGHT GALLERY-esque fashion—but along the way I suffered a bad case of what my friend Joe described as “movie whiplash.” In other words, it’s great, but then it’s not, but then it’s great again. — Dan Taylor