The neon, jazzy, animated opening credits that were all the rage for a while. Kirstie alley and john larroquette are the bannisters, jess and mark. When old friends and some family members come for a visit, it turns into a nightmare. Some racial slurs used here and there. A small role for dennis miller. It's listed as a comedy, but for most of the film, everyone is just miserable. Similar to "christmas vacation"... which had just come out the year before. Houses burn down. Someone takes a fall, and now has to stay longer, a "man who came to dinner" reference. Even a "happy homemaker" reference from mary tyler moore. Some of the humor is just silly names. A running gag where horrible things keep happening to the cat. Sometimes it recovers. It's watchable, but not hilarious. Written and directed by tom ropelewski. Alley made this right in the middle of her run on cheers. Which also had alison laplaca (claudia, the sister) as a guest star. It starts slow, but picks up towards the end. When I saw the title, I was hoping it was the 1974 one with vincent price... it's even more fun!
