Videokiller

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...

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.

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".

Aliens with knowledge of marketing and earthly hypes develop the brilliant plan of distributing an altered 50's Sci-Fi movie that holds the ability to brainwash its viewers through the television screen and turn them into mad-raving maniacs out to kill their own species. I tell you; only in the demented 80's decade some producer would actually consider pumping money into a goofy horror premise like this. "Remote Control" couldn't be more eighties if it tried to be (I'm actually surprised Duran Duran didn't sign for the soundtrack), but at the same time it's extremely amusing as long as you interpret the film like it should, namely as a light-headed spoof. The silliness of the plot, the over-the-top grotesque costumes, the cheesy sound and make-up effects and the tongue in cheek acting performances all clearly indicate that the film shouldn't be taken too seriously and that the whole thing is merely a big juicy wink at the so-called "video revolution" that boomed during the mid 80's. Any film that simultaneously parodies an entire cinematic sub genre (alien invasion flicks of the 50's) and an entire way of life (80's punks with crazy hairstyles and an awful taste in clothing) is at least worth a bit of praise, regardless of the overall tacky elaboration and the occasional dull moments in the screenplay. Kevin Dillon, Matt's less famous brother, looks and behaves exactly rebellious enough to accidentally stumble upon the aliens' fiendish conspiracy and to take on the battle. He works in a video store where the video, also called "Remote Control" is a tremendous success and together with his co-worker and a stereotypical 80's beauty they go after the distributors. The movie doesn't really offer quality material, but at least it's spirited and writer/director Jeff Lieberman surely always knows where to put the emphasis. Speaking of which, Lieberman undeniably was (is, in fact) one of the most peculiar contributors to the genre of horror during the 70's and 80's. I'm a big fan of his work, but he's still sadly under-appreciated and too often neglected. He didn't make that many films, but the premises were always strikingly original and refreshing. He served killer worms in "Squirm", bald and murderous LSD-trippers in "Blue Sunshine", backwoods rednecks in "Just Before Dawn" (admittedly not that innovating) and now – ladies and gentleman – the only horror movie ever to feature VCR-aliens! "Remote Control" flopped big-time during its initial release (I even read in an interview that the failure resulted in Lieberman's aversion to directing) and it's still incredibly obscure these days. Ironically enough, if "Remote Control" actually were an extraterrestrial project to take over our planet, it severely would have failed as hardly anyone bothered to rent it.

A cheesy yet very fun horror/sci-fi flick with a great deal of nostalgia permeating every frame. The movie itself is an 80's look back on a warped sci-fi version of the 50's, which sounds strange but works well. It must be remembered that around the time this movie was made, there was a fad for all things 50's and retro, and "Remote Control" makes nostalgic fun of that trend, while also being part of it. Video stores were still mostly independently owned in those days and were sweeping the country, so the writers here took the old "aliens invade earth" scenario and use the VCR growth as a means in which the aliens can infiltrate and infect the human population. How so? Well, whoever watches the video will become hypnotized/entranced/controlled by the secret message, and will turn into a crazed murderous freak! You all of the sudden have this sudden urge to kill anyone around you! Still, it's not as gruesome or bad as it sounds, and is instead a great deal of fun. Kevin Dillon (who starred later in the '88 version of "The Blob") isn't the best actor, and neither is anyone else in this flick, but that strangely adds to the charm. It's cheesy, it's meant to be cheesy, and all these years later it's even better - because now it's nostalgic 80's cheese. Love it!