Jack the Bear(1993)

Jack (Robert Steinmiller Jr.) finds himself jolted by his father John (Danny DeVito) arriving home, at the same time that Norman (Gary Sinise) sneaks into their house and cuts the electricity. He takes a bat, runs to the bathroom to hide and, when he sees someone trying to come in through the door, he swings, but then discovers he has accidentally knocked his father out. Norman comes in immediately behind, creepily “demanding to talk to Jack”, which prompts the boy to run off and find himself on top of a tree, with the man dangerously following close.

John regains consciousness, catches up with them at a window and threatens to kill Norman if he harms Jack; the boy tearfully tries to climb as high as possible. Then, suddenly, Norman loses his grip, falls onto the backyard with the two vicious Dobermans and, unable to defend himself, gets killed by them, at Jack’s horrified sight.

Time passes. John’s younger son, Dylan (Miko Hughes), still mute from his abduction by Norman, returns home. Norman’s parents move away. John decides to soften his view of things around him and even in his nightly TV job, as he is seen hosting less disturbing/more comical content. Moreover, when he catches a glimpse of little Dexter (Justin Mosley Spink) smoking under a tree -as an indicator that the kid could be already harboring feelings and thoughts similar to Norman’s-, he refuses to further play “The Monster Game” with the neighborhood children, in favor of something else.

Later, Jack is bitterly playing their mother’s lullaby on the piano, trying to elicit a voiced reaction from Dylan. He, then, breaks down crying as he and John finally have a catharsis about coping with her death and moving on from it. Then, Dylan mutters: “Jack… the Bear?”, indicating he also overcame his trauma and the three embrace. The movie ends with John watching his two sons playing in the front yard, as a sign that everything would be better for the three of them.