Dining is usually a pleasant experience. Whether alone or in a group, it's a chance to eat, relax and/or catch up with amiable conversation. However, film has shown us that sometimes this is by no means the case. Here are seven such examples of movie meals that went horribly wrong.
Second Dinner - "Silence of the Lambs"
When storing one of the world's most brilliant, fearsome, cannibalistic serial killers alive in a temporary holding cell, you should really stick with maximum security. Lt. Boyle and Sgt. Pembry find that out the hard way while serving the cunning Dr. Hannibal Lecter a second dinner in the incomparable "The Silence of the Lambs." With the perfectly timed regurgitation of a piece of pen, Lecter is free from his cuffs and on the two hapless police officers like the true predator he is, even adding an unspeakable new course to the meal's menu, presumably Sgt. Pembry's tongue. Bottom line, no matter how much you might learn about Bach, Victor Hugo, or pairing wine with fava beans, dining with Dr. Lecter is just not worth it. (Photo credit: Orion Pictures Corporation/Photofest)
Important Dinner - "Beetlejuice"
Dick Cavett, on the other hand, would seem like a great dinner guest. Literally a professional conversationalist , this high brow talk hero of the 60's and 70's could keep you seated listening to his stories until the 2030's if sleep, work, mortality, and toileting were non-factors. As Delia Deetz's agent in 1988's fun-fest "Beetlejuice" he also participated in the calypsoey-est ghost possession to ever crash a movie meal.
Rookie ghosts Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis), in a desperate attempt to rid their home of unwanted living residents, decide to pull out all the stops to scare them off. The setting: the dinner table, where the Deetz's are entertaining some important guests including Cavett. Mid sentence Delia (a great Catherine O'Hara) breaks into a serious lip synch of Harry Belafonte's "Day-O." She and her guests are soon dancing, singing, and shaking their rears, all under the spirited control of the haunting former homeowners, culminating in a handsy assault from the diners' jumbo shrimp cocktail.
In theory, this meal goes wrong for everyone involved. The guests are initially frightened but then delighted by the experience, frustratingly quashing the Maitland's attempt to exorcise them from the premises. (Photo credit: Warner Bros. Pictures/Photofest )
Late Night Bite - "Swingers"
Actors are always craving attention. Drunken, struggling actors maybe even more so. What could have been a nice, quiet meal to end a night of bar-hopping, turns into a humiliating scene for Mikey (Jon Favreau) in "Swingers." Friend and table companion, Trent (Vince Vaughn) was already bringing disorder to the dining experience as they wait for their plates to arrive. But when Mikey asserts that he doesn't presently need Trent's dating advice and questions why he must always embarrass him, Trent kicks it up a notch. Stripping and shouting from atop their table, Trent's declaration that Mikey's "all growns up" becomes just one more remarkable quote to recite from this 1996 treasure. And a remarkable indicator that Vince Vaughn was someone we wanted to see on screen again in anything else he ever appeared in. (Photo credit: Miramax/Photofest)
In-Flight Meal - "Airplane!"
A pilot's gotta eat. But a wicked case of food poisoning can bring him down like a card-cheating girl scout. While airline meals are bad enough, "Airplane!" - the gold standard of movie comedies - features perhaps the worst one on record. Sweats, flatulence, and oral avian birthing are all in store for the unlucky passengers and crew who foolishly opted for fish. While we never actually know if or how quickly they recover from their dietary distress, "Airplane!" teaches us an invaluable lesson: when presented with similar choices of entree on a flight, surely you must order the lasagna. (Photo credit: Columbia Pictures/Photofest)
Kane is Starving - "Alien"
Speaking of strange, non-human film births, "Alien" might showcase the gutsiest. For that birth's unexpected orifice is right through Executive Officer Kane's chest. When a crablike, soft-skinned, parasitic entity shatters through your space helmet, grips onto your face and neck, and puts you in a coma; its own death might not be the end of the story. Neither is its Xenomorphic spawn's shocking delivery on the mess hall table, leaving Kane a gaping corpse and his fellow diners in a quantum heap of trouble. Unfortunately for them, this bloody birth is only the beginning. (Photo credit: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation)
Family Dinner - "You're Next"
Sitting down to a formal dinner with the entire family at your parents' estate seems like an appealing prospect. But in this home sweet home invasion comedic slasher flick, the dining room quickly becomes a crime scene with plenty of bodies to count. Sister's boyfriend gets up from the table after noticing something odd outside and quickly meets the business end of an arrow shot through the decorative window. More gruesomeness and weaponry follow, including piano wire, axes, lots of awls, machetes, and even a broken blender. Also a twist or two to keep us talking about "You're Next" at the family table for many, many dinners to come. (Photo credit: Lionsgate/Icon Productions)
A Murderous Scene From an Italian Restaurant - "The Godfather"
If you're a Corleone, this meal went right. For everyone else, not so much. War hero Michael had done all he could to avoid the family business. But when a rival mob boss tries to have his father killed, he's in it to win it. Lulling them into a false sense of security, Michael dines with, then guns down the rival and his corrupt cop accomplice. Back in 1972, this iconic Italian restaurant scene shocked audiences with its casual depiction of brutal violence and is just one heralded component that makes "The Godfather" a legendary example of filmmaking. (Photo credit: Paramount Pictures)
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