NOTE: 'TerrorVision' is currently only available as part of a bundle from Shout! Factory.
It's gonna be dynamite!
Rare are the movies that are both wonderful and repulsive, great for what they are in a focused sense but awful in the broader context.
TerrorVision is a bottom-feeding B-grade Horror/Comedy hybrid flick that's easy enough to enjoy but at the same time a truly godawful
movie
in nearly every way,
except for where it counts on B-grade moviemaking: sheer entertainment value. TerrorVision knows its boundaries and its audience. It
never
takes itself seriously -- this thing is openly cheesy, so cheesy
it's like a stuffed-crust pizza with extra, extra, extra, extra cheese and with sides of cheesy bites and fried mozzarella sticks for good
measure
-- and has a lot of fun at being really bad. But for all the movie does right within that tight little confine where it
finds success, it also does plenty wrong everywhere else. It's a real drag of a picture, one that's much, much longer than necessary. It's also
terribly
acted and sourced
from what seems like a hastily penned script of a good idea never fleshed out beyond the basics. Still, TerrorVision delivers B-cinema Horror
goodness, encapsulating the low-rent Horror genre, really, and making for a nearly lovable little flick that seems to achieve what it wants, warts and
all.
Wait until they discover reality TV.
The Putterman family is about to enjoy a brand new world of televised entertainment options, but only if father Stanley (Gerrit Graham) can get the
do-it-yourself dish to work right. Satellite salesman Norton (Sonny Carl Davis) refuses to help; this particular model forbids dealers from performing
any work on the install. In a move of pure frustration, Stanley gives it a few good whacks with a wrench; just then, a mysterious energy beam
shoots down from the heavens and right into the dish. Suddenly, it works. After getting a good look at what's on the new and improved boob tube
-- they see a samurai movie, "troop movements" in an old war film, MTV, and a little X-rated fun -- the set goes haywire, but seems to settle back in
on a Horror marathon. Stanley and wife Raquel (Mary Woronov) head on out to a swinger's club while daughter Suzie (Diane Franklin) and rocker
boyfriend O.D. (Jon Gries) go do their thing. That leaves the family's ex-military, survivalist patriarch (Bert Remsen) and his little
commando grandson Sherman (Chad Allen) behind to watch a Horror marathon hosted by "Medusa" (Jennifer Richards). Little do they know that
they'll soon come face-to-face with a terror from another world.
The movie is actually significantly more straightforward than it sounds, at least until it takes a turn for the truly bizarre in the final act. Mixing
together the weird family (swinging parents, warmongering grandson that takes after his survivalist grandpa who lives in a bunker, rocker chick
dating
rocker dude) with an ooey-gooey monster from another world seems a recipe for B-level fun, and it is. Add in the big-breasted bimbo from the late
night cable Horror marathon and a couple of extra victims for the creature to kill and the stage is set for one of the most ridiculous but also more
strangely endearing Horror-Comedies
of the 1980s. It's difficult to "judge" a movie such as this; little about it is particularly good, but much of the charm comes from the
bottom-budget
feel, including the phony soundstage house, the gross overacting, and the horrendous script. Indeed, TerrorVision might not have worked
so
well were it played in a more straightforward manner. The premise is ridiculous to begin with -- then again that's Horror movies -- but the
very
obvious tongue-in-cheek flow actually allows the audience to lower its guard and accept the film's massive flaws as part of the appeal rather than see
them as a fatal
flaw to the experience. TerrorVision knows exactly what it is, and it's hard to argue against a movie that achieves what it sets out to
accomplish.
The ridiculous creature design suits the movie's offbeat stylings quite well. Truth be told, TerrorVision's alien bad guy looks like something
removed from a blender -- it's nothing but a random collection of slime, gore, and eyeballs tossed together in a seemingly random pattern -- and the
absence of a real cohesion makes it the perfect villain for a movie that's all about low-rent pieces that feel scattered and with little attention paid
to authenticity. The picture earns its heartiest laughs in a scene in which all of its victims -- now fused to the creature -- share a bed together in an
effort to "fool" the Putterman children into believing some of the characters are still alive. It's the film's best gag but one that's not used to its
fullest extent, probably because of budget constraints and low-end movie magic logistical limitations. The movie does get a lot of mileage out of
what little it has, though; it all comes back to that sense of perfect B-grade harmony at work, that notion that it's the little things done well, the
charmers
behind the clutter, are enough to mask the really, really lousy pieces that would be deal breakers in most any other movie.
TerrorVision's pursuit of oddball humor and low-rent charm should please open-minded audiences looking for something rather unique in a
world of mindless Horror cinema.
TerrorVision has never looked better on home video, but then again there's not an awful lot with which to compare it. Shout! Factory's high
definition presentation isn't exactly the poster child for stunning Blu-ray catalogue material, but viewers will find a watchable and stable image. It's
severely flat and rather pasty. There's no life or texture to the film, and even a light bit of grain can't seem to help improve on it. Flesh tones -- and the
color palette in general -- are quite warm. Those colors are rather bland, too; there's almost no pop, brilliance, or vibrancy to any shade in the film, even
the daughter's multicolored makeup, the nude art on the walls, or the flags and other assorted items in Grampa's bunker. The image does offer
adequate details; the monster looks quite good, and the Blu-ray brings out many of the nasty, slimy intricacies to be seen on its body. Small details like
wear on grampa's
guns, the definition of little objects around the house, or the massive remote control look good enough. This is certainly not a reference quality video
presentation, but at the very least it's a workable image that should please fans who have not seen the movie through other than very low grade tapes.
TerrorVision features a decent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Music delivery is generally robust and with a positive low end --
including a rather nice thumping in the "pleasure room" as heard in chapter five -- but it's also mostly front heavy with negligible surround support.
Still, the presentation is satisfying, particularly the film's theme song that plays over the opening titles. Various sound effects are delivered adequately,
whether beams of energy, monster growls, or gunfire. Dialogue remains front-center focused and clear; there is some slight echoing in the "outdoor"
soundstage scenes. Overall, this is a rather basic track, not particularly memorable but certainly adequate for the film's needs.
TerrorVision contains a short, but rather sweet, assortment of extras.
Audio Commentary: Writer/Director Ted Nicolaou and Stars Diane Franklin & Jon Gries offer an informative but at the same time
entertaining track. They share plenty of small anecdotes from the time of the shoot but also specific details, including music, creature design, the film's
"over the top" stylings, the film's audience, performances, shooting styles and locales, and much more. This is a good, enjoyable track that fans should
love.
Monster on Demand -- The Making of TerrorVision (HD, 34:22): From the menu: "An all-new retrospective with Writer/Director
Ted
Nicolaou, Stars Diane Franklin, Mary Woronov, Jon Gries, Ian Patrick Williams, Special Make-Up Effects Designer Jon Carl Buechler, Executive Producer
Charles Band, Composer Richard Band and others!" In other words, this is a satisfying, comprehensive piece that looks back at the film, its style, its long
term success, project origins, selling the project from its infancy, character design, casting, shooting in Italy, creature design, music, and more.
TerrorVision is sort of like the ridiculous precursor to the equally absurd Stay Tuned, the 1992 John Ritter Comedy that sees a couch
potato and his family
sucked into the world of television. TerrorVision is the opposite, a family forced to battle an incoming beastie from beyond that has
taken up residence inside the television.
TerrorVision gets by as a modest success strictly within the confines of its own little element, a film that's to be applauded for sticking to its guns
and doing what it can with a good premise and a
limited budget. It blends Horror and Comedy together quite well, resulting in a gloriously over-the-top escapist picture that's certainly very slow at times
and very poorly acted, but just charming enough to cover up its major flaws. It's a movie that knows its place and its audience and strives only to
deliver simple entertainment directed at a very specific crowd. Shout! Factor's Blu-ray release of TerrorVision features passable video and audio.
A few supplements are included. Recommended to genre fans.
