Home Movies is certainly an unusual film to put it mildly. As has been noted De Palma was teaching a film class at his Alma Matter, Sarah Lawrence college and got it into his head that he would give his students actual hands on filming making experience by producing a low budget film. De Palma managed to get Kirk Douglas to do an extended cameo playing a film character called "The Mastro," apparently George Lucas invested in the project and De Palma cast his then wife Nancy Allen as what else, a prostitute who is the object of his protagonist's affection in a part played by Keith Gordon one of The Mastro's students. De Palma regular Gerrit Graham also shows up as Gordon's brother and Allen's fiance.
The film is apparently somewhat autobiographical, Gordon follows his father around as he tries to expose his philandering and De Palma's mother was apparently known for emotional outbursts. Throughout the film Kirk Douglas keeps harping on Gordon to "not be an extra in your own life." Nancy Allen for some reason has a hand puppet of a bunny which she talks to in a plot device which seems reminiscent of Michael Redgrave's story line in Dead Of Night.
Then there's Gerrit Graham who really hams it up as some kind of health food nut who is teaching a course in "Spartanetics" a course on macho manhood. The title of the course is a not so subtle joke about Kirk Douglas's film Spartacus. Graham also appears to be playing some kind of repressed homosexual character which probably would not be looked on very kindly today.
If all this sounds sort of funny it's really not. It's more weird than funny. The film is probably a must for De Palma's biggest fans. Not to say the film doesn't have it's moments but they are rather scattered throughout the running time. This is after all a student film made by a bunch of college kids.
The film was written by Kim Ambler, Dana Edelman, Robert Harders, Stephen Le May, Charlie Loventhal and Gloria Norris. The running time is 90 minutes
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