Runaway Daughters

MOVIE #1,902 • 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 • 08.18.24 On this final day of my week of Joe Dante, we will be looking at his three feature-length made-for-TV movies. The first of which came out in 1994 was produced by Miramax and aired on Showtime. It features a young Paul Rudd and Julie Bowen in the leads, as well as perhaps the largest gathering of Dante regulars ever assembled. The whole gang's here, including five actors from The Howling alone: Christopher Stone, Dee Wallace, Robert Picardo, Belinda Balaski, and of course, Dick Miller. Also popping up are: Joe Flaherty (Innerspace), Wendy Schaal (Innerspace, The ‘Burbs), John Astin (Gremlins 2, Eerie, Indiana), Courtney Gaines (The ‘Burbs), Rance Howard (Innerspace, The ‘Burbs), another Roger Corman cameo and an uncredited performance by Cathy Moriarty (Matinee).

Flaherty, Miller and Picardo especially get to shine on here in their somewhat expanded roles, but it’s really Paul Rudd, who is doing what had to have been a (non-ironic) inspiration for his future Wet Hot American Summer character, that steals the show. This is a tight little period piece with a decent budget and definitely worth a watch.

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Runaway Daughters is a 1994 television film directed by Joe Dante that originally aired on the cable television network Showtime as part of the anthology series Rebel Highway. It is a loose remake of Runaway Daughters, an American International Pictures production from 1956, the year in which both the original and the remake are set. Much of the cast of Dante's The Howling is reunited on this film, including Christopher Stone, Dee Wallace, Robert Picardo, Dick Miller, and Belinda Balaski. It was released on August 12, 1994.