It’s not exactly common knowledge, but the Ben Stiller-Robert De Niro hit Meet the Parents, released in 2000, was actually a remake of an earlier film. The original 1992 movie of the same name received a limited release and played the film festival circuit before Erin Brockovich director Steven Soderbergh saw it and brought it to Universal Studios. From there, it was passed to Steven Spielberg, who planned to direct a new version starring Jim Carrey. It was Carrey who gave the main character the last name “Focker” before Stiller’s involvement. The Stiller version was a massive success upon release and spawned two sequels, leaving the original largely forgotten.
That 1992 version was pretty wild, though, and it manages to make Stiller’s character in the remake downright enviable in comparison. It starts with the same basic premise as the later adaptation, presented as a flashback: Greg (in this case played by Greg Glienna) is spending the weekend with his fiancée Pam’s parents, whom he’s never met. The first night alone turns out to be a complete disaster, with Greg accidentally breaking the handle off of Pam’s dad’s record player and overflowing the toilet in the upstairs bathroom. He also ruins the dinner that evening by flipping it onto the floor, just before sending his future mother-in-law to the hospital by poking her in the eye with a fishing pole.
Things don’t go too smoothly for Greg the next day either. That morning, he borrows Pam’s father’s car and subsequently gets himself into a hit-and-run accident. Later, he inadvertently drowns the family dog while trying to play catch near a lake. Before the end of the night, Greg has a run-in with Pam’s ex-boyfriend at a bar, who chases them home until Greg runs a red light to flee and gets pulled over by the cops.
The entire time he’s there, Greg is also pestered by Pam’s sister, Fay, who wants him to hear her sing after learning he once wrote a commercial for Ed McMahon (the host of Star Search at the time). He repeatedly dodges her attempts to audition for him, even after climbing into bed with her one night and mistaking her for Pam. At one point, Fay removes the starter from Greg’s car, preventing him from leaving the house. He finally gives in and listens to her sing, and as a suggestion, tells her that she should take more lessons.
Fay doesn’t respond well to the criticism and hangs herself shortly afterward, leaving a note behind that says “Greg killed me.” After discovering the body, Pam’s father chases after Greg with a shotgun as he tries to leave. We then cut back to the narrator of the story, who shares the even darker fate of the rest of Fay’s family: The father, in trying to shoot Greg, somehow ended up killing his wife and Pam, then dropped dead from a heart attack right after. On the bright side, though, Greg made it out of his nightmare of a weekend without a scratch on him.
You can check out the full movie below, courtesy of its star, Greg Glienna.
The post The Original ‘Meet the Parents’ Was Much Crazier Than the Ben Stiller Version appeared first on VICE.
