Remote Control

great concept plus great imagery: takes every-day 80's concepts that slowly meld into futuristic looking situations. E.g. girl in work-out clothes later looks futuristic... The idea that watching a video makes you crazy enough to kill is great...plus the fact that the video story is recursive...the story on the video is about people who watch a video...

I watched this film because I love Jennifer Tilly but how could I have done such a mistake!It's even unthinkable that this movie is from '87.The script could have been set down better but it could be overseen if we aren't too pretentious.But what I can't forgive is the incredible bad acting performance what could have been a bit better(in my opinion)if the directing qualities were more professional.Anyway this was not the spot I suppose.They just wanted to give a popular sci-fi teen movie that fitted fine in that years.IF you want watch it if you're curious, eventually I did the same but if you avoid it it's better.

Cosmo DiClemente and Georgie are two video rental store employees.They discover that science-fiction film from early 50's called "Remote Control" contains subliminal mind-control messages that turn all viewers into mindless killers.Distribution of the film predates an upcoming alien invasion.I love Jeff Lieberman's "Squirm" and "Just Before Dawn",so it was the highest time to check out his "Remote Control".The film is a fun sci-fi/horror spoof with likable central performances by Kevin Dillon and Deborah Goodrich.The premise of killer videotapes is quite absurd,but the film works as a parody.It's not on par with fantastic "Just Before Dawn",though.7 aliens out of 10.

I'd never heard of Remote Control, weirdly enough it got added to my watchlist out of curiosity when it was mentioned during the independent horror film The Bible Belt Slasher (2010)

Starring Matt Dillon it tells the story of a video tape doing the rounds at all the video stores that is making people lose control and kill those around them. Basically The Ring (2002) but really terrible, cheesy and not even remotely scary.

Remote Control is also the most 80's film I've ever seen, like they were intentionally going overboard with the decades style but not exactly explaining why.

The movie starts competently enough and even had a small role for the excellent Jennifer Tilly, but by the half way mark it's lost it's way.

Remote Control wasn't a very good concept to begin with, so combine that with some poor writing and you've got a mediocre film at best.

The Good:

Jennifer Tilly

The Bad:

Trails off really quite badly

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Part of me really badly misses video stores

80's BDSM gear was awesome

Gunfire in the middle of a mall will get no reaction from shoppers

Guns are invisible to all those who aren't involved in the confrontation

Firemen will happily allow civilians to walk into a building they're currently working on

My review was written in August 1988 after watching the movie on International Video Entertainment video cassette.

"Remote Control" is an unsuccessful attempt to use the home video phenomenon as a plot peg for science fiction. Given the subject matter, pic appropriately has been released direct to video stores, bypassing the originally intended theatrical release step.

Kevin Dillon, Matt's bro (starring here before he topline "The Rescue" and "The Blob"), energetically portrays a clerk at a video store who unwittingly becomes the chief suspect, along with his boss Christopher Wynne, , in a murder case when a neighbor spots them at the crime scene.

Farfetched premise has aliens from Outer Space fabricating a film on video, a black & white feature purporting to be a sci-fi made in the '50s, which causes the viewer to see himself acting within the film and turns him into a homicidal maniac. Dillon's mission, on the lam with Wynne and his dream girl Deborah Goodrich, is to destroy all copies of the video and its manufacturing plant, run by Bert Remsen.

Helmer Jeff Lieberman, whose horror pic "Squirm" was an effective 1970s B title, does well with the b&w film-within-a-film footage (also titled "Remote Control"), but claustrophobic approach fails to elaborate on the basic storyline. Though opening title sets the action on "Earth 1987", Daniel Paredes' fanciful costumes create something of a parallel-world atmosphere. Various details ring false, particularly Dillon's memorizing the English-dubbed dialog from a video of Francois Truffaut's "Stolen Kisses" in order to impress (which he suceds in doing) Goodrich, a fan of that Antoine Doinel feature.

Cast, particularly Jennifer Tilly in a supporting role (with kookie hairdo and voice) as Dillon's new wave girlfriend, is peppy. Remsen previously was featured in a dissimilar sci-fi film about aliens invadiing via tv, "Terrorvision".