TerrorVision

Charles Band and Albert Band's Empire pictures have made some fun productions and "Terrorvision" happens to be one of those inclusions. Wacky sci-fi horror comedy with a terrifically animated cast featuring Mary Woronov, Gerrit Graham, Diana Franklin and John Gries with vividly chintzy special effects by John Carl Buechler. The cartoon-like premise is quite original and mock-serious in its approach, which sees the Puttermans a suburban family getting a new satellite TV which draws in a hungry outer space monster (which looks great). This monster then goes about eating the family, by transporting its self from one TV to another. Everything is done in a comical manner and purposely so, from the flamboyant performances to the colourfully cheap sets and then the creatively grotesque make-up effects. It's downright goofy and surreal, but still far from light-hearted with it streaming with numerous oddball sexual innuendo (especially since Woronov and Graham are playing swingers) and an Elvira like character known as Medusa. Director Ted Nicolaou does a capable job. Diana Franklin is cute and Chad Allen is likable as the young boy who goes up against the beast. While short-lived, it's a constantly amusing tongue-in-cheek outing that's fairly unpredictable, while at the same time haphazard. Despite the fair share of hate, I found it hard not to like this camped-out medium.

"What you looking at you creep".

This is a movie I've kind of been wanting to see. I am ready to add this to my list of personal favorites after watching it for the first time, so I know they did some stuff right. While it's still fresh in my mind, there are some things I definitely want to say. First off, I am extremely surprised that this doesn't seem to have a cult following to it. "TerrorVision" is a great film that should have definitely achieved cult status. From the start (after some credits set to music by Siouxsie and the Banshees imitators!), this has a definite John Waters look and feel. When the fast-paced story moves into grotesque monster territory, it gets even better. And, regardless of how goofy it is, I dig the commentaries the filmmakers are sprinkling all throughout this movie, the main one of all being the most obvious: television giving birth to monsters. This is definitely one of those wild movies that gets weirder and more bizarre as it moves along. As for people quoting favorite lines from Bert Remsen's "Gramps" character, I love it when he refers to MTV as a secret conspiracy to rot the brain. "TerrorVision" wasn't as gory as I've heard, relying more on gooey FX than gory ones, but there are no complaints here. I love this, it was a real upper of a flagrant horror satire. I am so glad I saw this, and I would give it no less than a definite 9 on a scale of one to ten. In fact, I'm tempted to give it a full 10.

Sherman Putterman is your standard alien monster film kid who has seen a monster but can't get anyone else to believe him. His grandpa (Bert Remsen in the film's best performance) is a survivalist promoting his lizard tail jerky product (the perfect food because lizards' tails grow back and you can eat it again) and hiding out in his well-stocked fallout shelter.

If it were possible for a complete parody to be called original, "Terrorvision" (1986) would be the first to qualify. This is another cheap Albert and Charles Band (Empire Studios) production, but is not as mindless as something like "Redneck Zombies" and even has a bit of lyrical (yet very silly) charm. Everyone involved is obviously having a good time and the creature is much like something Richard Carlson would have encountered in a 1950's sci-fi film, but with much more slime. Not until "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra" would there be a more self-aware genre parody. Although rated "R" because of some off-color humor, it would not be worth denying middle schoolers the pleasure of viewing this film because the overall style and effect is best appreciated by that age group.

Sherman's swinging parents are Gerrit Graham (who played superstitious car salesman Jeff in "Used Cars") and Mary Woronov ("Eating Raoul").

1980's teen queen Diane Franklin plays Sherman's sister Suzy and Jon Gries (of "Pretender" fame) is her boyfriend "O.D." who is really into heavy metal music. Franklin is almost unrecognizable in her mid-1980's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" look.

Although the parody is primarily directed at the excessive cuteness of "ET", "Terrorvision" also goes after Elvira and Vampira with a similar late night horror show hostess called Medusa who wears a wig of snakes, has two enormous talents, and manages a host(ess) of semi-explicit puns.

The real star is an alien house pet whose mutation into a hungry beast forced its owners to send its atoms out into space. The film begins on a distant planet where this mutated pet is being processed at the mutated creature facility. A stray planet causes the creatures atoms to deflect through space until it finally is sucked down to earth by Sherman's father's new satellite dish.

By the middle of the film the monster has chewed and sucked its way through most of the family and their friends when Sherman, Suzy, and OD have an "ET" moment with it. The monster can mimic anyone it has eaten so the other cast members have a couple of post- demise scenes.

We're introduced to a family brimming with all the worst trappings of the 1980's; the clichés have been elevated to the absurd and it's to the director, Ted Nicolaou's, credit that, in 1986, he was able to poke so much fun at the decade without the benefit of hindsight. The result is an off-the-wall comedy that feels like a 1950's monster movie, staring 'Leave it to Beaver', as filtered through 'Adult Swim'.

The daughter, Suzy, played by Diane Frankin ('Better Off Dead' / 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'), has the hair and make-up of an animated Cindy Lauper and an over-the-top valley-girl gab. A very young Chad Allen (you'll recognize him from nearly every family TV show of the late 80's and early 90's), is the war-game-obsessed son. The mother, played by the always fantastic Mary Woronov (Roger Corman's poster girl and star of 'Eating Raoul'), is a distant, self-involved socialite more interested in her exercise videos than her kids. Gerrit Graham ('Phantom of the Paradise' / 'Demon Seed'), hams it up as the swinging (literally) father always on the lookout for the next big thing. Rounding out the family is Grampa, the paranoid vet with a bomb shelter in the basement (Bert Remsen – 'Nashville' / 'Places in the Heart') and Suzy's boyfriend, 'O.D.', the tweaked metal-head dropout played buy 1980's staple, Jon Gries ('Real Genius' / 'Running Scared'). Together, this group inhabits a home that looks like a cross between a sex spa and a Patrick Nagel exhibition on ecstasy.

Wacky from minute one (the theme song being one of the film's high points), the family has just hooked up their new satellite dish while, simultaneously, far across the cosmos, a creature that can only be described as a booger with eyes, is being transported in exile by a humanoid-lizard alien that we don't learn much more about until the film's climax. The monster is mistakenly transmitted to the family's satellite dish and has the ability to escape at will from their TV sets. Nonsense ensues as the monster is able, by transforming its tongue, to impersonate the face and voice of anyone it kills.

The film never really crosses into any straight genre and manages to hover, quite proudly, over 'wonderfully weird'. If all of Hollywood had ostracized, instead of embraced, Tim Burton, this is the kind of live-action cartoon he'd be making.

8 (or more) out of 10 for those of us who like this particular genre. Otherwise it just may not be for you. If you like good comedy timing, some great lines and a well put together cast of characters then this one is for you. The story is pretty original. A stray transportation beam is accidentally caught by the Putterman family's el-cheapo satellite receiver and a large stray pet alien dog-like creature materialises inside the Putterman mansion. The Putterman's are swingers and leave to meet and later invite the 'Man's Man' Spiro, a muscular Greek gay to their residence. While their gone, we meet the kids, grandpa and the pet-thing. The kids try and train the alien pet who unfortunately isn't normal, even to alien standards and proceeds to eat friends, relatives and almost anyone who drops by.

Parts of the film remind me of Eating Raoul, The Big Bus and a little bit of Bucakroo Banzai as it plays like a cartoon. The main theme (Terrorvision) is really catchy. All in all, a movie that you are bound to watch again, just to re-experience some great lines and scenes.