I recently watched Bad Manners (1984) on Tubi. The storyline follows a group of kids at an orphanage who run things their way and have fun doing it. When one of the kids is adopted and begs to stay with them, the friends escape the orphanage and set out on an adventure to find and rescue their adopted friend so they can stay together forever.

This film is directed by Bobby Houston (Shogun Assassin) and stars Karen Black (Five Easy Pieces), Martin Mull (Clue), Anne DeSalvo (Arthur), Pamela Adlon (Grease 2), Edy Williams (Beyond the Valley of the Dolls), and Kimmy Robertson (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids).

I enjoyed this movie much more than I anticipated. Yes, the scenarios were unrealistic, but the kids are wild, vulgar, and unpredictable, which I loved. Karen Black was phenomenal and added a different brand of comedy compared to the juveniles. There's a football helmet sequence that cracked me up. The use of spray paint in the settings and the blood brothers scene, reminiscent of most boys' childhoods, added to the fun. There was also some unexpected nudity, including a random nude nun sequence. The open ending was magic.

In conclusion, Bad Manners is a delightful coming-of-age film with fun characters and circumstances. I would score this a 7/10 and recommend it if you're looking for something different.

I didn't expect much from this comedy, one of those that I referred to on VHS as "dust collectors" on the video store shelf, if the store actually carried it. For the kids at this Catholic orphanage, senile or cruel nuns run the show (led by the stern, cold looking Anne De Salvo), and the kids hate them and the adoptive parents they try to set them up with. When his real parents (Martin Mull and Karen Black), they decide to adopt young Michael Hentz, and the other kids decide to rescue him ultimately destroying the wealthy couple's home.

Fans of "Airplane!" will be delighted to see the hysterical Stephen Stucker playing the worst child psychologist ever, and he manages to steal the scenes from the kids just like he did with Lloyd Bridges. The kids includes Pamela Segall long before her fame, and among the other adults are cult favorites Edy Williams and Hye Pike who gets a wet welcoming from Hentz and Murphy Dunne as De Salvo's luzty partner in crime. I'm not usually big on kid's comedies, but this one's much more clever than I expected and deliciously dark.

The trouble with 'quirky' comedies is that it is so easy to go too far and quirkiness becomes just plain stupidity. Unfortunately, this movie is one of those that goes too far. There are a couple of genuinely funny characters and a number of plot ideas here that in more skilful hands could have been truly funny. As it is, this is the sort of dumb, over the top, trashy comedy that stereo-typically appeals to adolescent boys. The best thing about this is that it is gloriously, outrageously politically incorrect and no one seems to care. Makes a change from today's movies that are painfully timid about offending anyone. Other than that, it is very easy to see why this movie is not well known.