Terrorvision (1986) Directed by Ted Nicolaou
The 80s was a wonderful time, where almost every movie had a chance to be made and any random thing could become a plot. Terrorvision is very much a product of the decade, excess in every way. This movie might be one of the most bizarre horror/comedies I’ve ever seen, it is apeshit bananas and entertaining as hell.
A planet disposes of a monster, causing it to scramble in to a bunch of signals off into space. A family with a superpowered satellite accidentally intercepts the signals, causing the monster to appear in their house through the television. The monster is able to move about the house through each TV, killing everything in its wake. The monster looks like a reject from Sesame Street. With one googley eye and a melted face the monster is pretty funny looking but well constructed. The effects of the monster are well done, he’s basically a giant puppet with a claw, a tentacle with an eye, and a mouth full of teeth. Meanwhile there is an alien that pops up on the TV warning Earth of a monster that came down from their planet. Everyone thinks the alien is just a movie until the monster shows itself.
The characters are all 80s stereotypes the yuppie parents, the metal dude, the valley girl, and the military crazed grandpa. Everyone is so bizarre and it fits the world their in. My favorite character is probably O.D. the metal loving doofus in a W.A.S.P. shirt. Its no secret, I love corny 80s hairbands and W.A.S.P. rocks, just sayin. The acting is pretty bad, but with a movie like this you kind of expect it to be that way. The monster kind of groans and sounds like James Avery aka Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince, but the only thing he really says is “feed me” which reminds me of Little Shop of Horrors haha. Sherman is the main character, the young boy that loves monster movies and his military loving grandpa. The kid is kind of a terrible actor, his lines are so awkward and his delivery is even worse.
During the course of the movie you see different monster movies on TV hosted by Medusa, an enormous boobed Elvira ripoff saying the corniest sex puns. The movies you see clips of are Robot Monster, The Giant Claw, and Two Lost Worlds among others. You also see a clip of Blackie Lawless from W.A.S.P., did they have money in this movie or something? Like stated earlier, the effects are pretty damn awesome. I love old school practical effects. The monster is a big puppet, theres lots of blood and guts everywhere when the monster feeds. Some of the backdrops are hilariously bad, most of the outside scenes you can obviously tell are just inside a studio with painted skies on the wall and ceiling. When the monster feeds he leaves behind a pile of gunk with ooze all over it, its pretty disgusting and funny.
If you like crazy off the wall shit then watch this movie, it is currently on Amazon Prime so you’re not out much if you have it. The movie is rather short so if you are looking for something to take up just over an hour of your time this movie will entertain you. I give Terrorvision a B, its pretty dumb and over the top but fun and entertaining while doing it. The movie is the 80s in a nutshell, if you don’t like the 80s then you aren’t alive!
