1986 film by Ted Nicolaou
TerrorVision
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by
| Ted Nicolaou
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Written by
| Charles Band
Ted Nicolaou
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Produced by
| Albert Band
Charles Band
Debra Dion
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Starring
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Cinematography
| Romano Albani
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Edited by
| Thomas Meshelski
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Music by
| Richard Band
The Fibonaccis
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Production
company
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Distributed by
| Empire Pictures
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Release date
|
- February 14, 1986
(
1986-02-14
)
(United States)
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Running time
| 83 min.
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Country
| United States
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Language
| English
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Box office
| $320,256
[1]
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TerrorVision
is a 1986 American
science fiction
horror comedy
film directed by
Ted Nicolaou
, produced and written by
Albert
and
Charles Band
and composed by
Richard Band
, all of whom would go on to found and work with
Full Moon Features
in 1989.
TerrorVision
was made by
Empire International Pictures
, the production company owned by Charles Band prior to Full Moon, and was released in February 1986.
The story follows an alien creature sent to Earth, which ends up inside a household where three kids must take care of it to prevent it from going into a hungry rampage. While not a critical or commercial success, it later developed as a
cult film
, particularly a "
so bad it's good
" film.
Plot
[
edit
]
On an alien planet named Pluton, an alien garbage disposal converts a monstrous mutant called a Hungry Beast into energy and beams it into space. Meanwhile, on Earth, the Putterman family is getting satellite television, courtesy of a temperamental
DIY
satellite antenna. The reception is poor at first, but suddenly strengthens when a bolt of the alien energy hits the dish.
Sherman Putterman and his ex-military, survivalist grandfather set out to enjoy a night of horror films
hosted
by the buxom Medusa. Meanwhile, Sherman's parents go out to meet some
swingers
and his sister Suzy goes out with her rocker boyfriend O.D. Sherman and his grandfather eventually fall asleep, but are awakened when the Hungry Beast materializes out of the TV and eats the grandfather. Sherman's parents later arrive along with swingers Cherry and Spiro. Despite Sherman's plea, his mother locks him in the fallout shelter so he will not ruin their evening.
Sherman tries calling the police, but they take him to be a prank caller. He also calls Medusa, but she dismisses him as a psychotic. Later, the Beast travels through the television into the house's sex-themed "Pleasure Dome", eats Cherry, and imitates her to lure Spiro. Sherman's parents also get eaten after they discover the remains of the swingers. Sherman uses some
plastic explosive
to break out of the bunker as O.D. and his sister arrive.
Sherman's sister doesn't believe his story about a monster, and when they check their parents' room, they find imitations of them, their grandfather and the swingers. Soon after though, they encounter the Beast in another room. It chases after them, but relents at the sight of O.D.'s
heavy metal
paraphernalia, which he finds appealing due to its resemblance of his caretaker's gloves. They then discover that they can subdue the Beast with food and television, and teach it a few words such as "TV", "music" and their names. They consider using the Beast for profit, and call Medusa in the hope of securing a TV appearance. She is initially dismissive, but shows interest when they promise to hold a party.
However, the Beast becomes enraged and eats O.D. when its alien captor appears on the TV to warn the earthlings that they must destroy their television equipment to prevent the Beast from spreading; The alien had overreacted to the announcement from Pluthar, the alien captor, and O.D. provoked the monster in an attempt to calm it down. A police officer arrives to arrest Sherman for the prank calls only to be eaten by the Beast. Sherman breaks all the TVs he can find, and eventually Pluthar appears through the television to exterminate the Beast. Medusa arrives at the house and kills Pluthar, mistakenly believing that he is in fact the Beast that Sherman and Suzy have described to her. When the real monster arrives, it sucks the group of three into its mouth with a powerful gust of air.
The next morning, Medusa's
chauffeur
is woken up by a crude imitation of his employer hiding in the back seat of his car, demanding to be taken to the TV station.
Cast
[
edit
]
Production
[
edit
]
The film was shot back-to-back with Empire Pictures'
Troll
in Italy, at the Stabilimenti Cinematografici Pontini studios near Rome. Many of the same crew worked on both productions, including creature effects designer
John Carl Buechler
(who also directed
Troll
), cinematographer Romano Albani, and composer Richard Band. The two films were released a month apart from each other in the United States.
Release
[
edit
]
The film was given a
limited release
theatrically in the
United States
by
Empire Pictures
in February 1986. It grossed $320,256 at the box office.
[1]
In 2007,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released a widescreen version of the film on
Showtime
.
In 2012,
Shout! Factory
announced that they would be releasing the film on
DVD
and
Blu-ray
as part of their
Scream Factory
lineup. A DVD/Blu-ray double feature of
TerrorVision/
The Video Dead
was released in February 2013.
Soundtrack
[
edit
]
The soundtrack to the film was originally released on vinyl by
Restless Records
in 1986. It was reissued in 2017 on CD by
Intrada Records
.
In addition to
Richard Band's
original score, several songs (including the movie's theme) were contributed by
Los Angeles
art rock
band
The Fibonaccis
.
TerrorVision
was hoped to bring more attention to the group, but the movie (and ultimately the soundtrack) failed.
Tracklist:
- "TerrorVision" -
The Fibonaccis
- "The Friends of Crime" - The Fibonaccis
- "Sack of Suit Suite" - The Fibonaccis
- "Advice to a Mutant" - The Fibonaccis
- "He Can't Stop Laughing" - The Fibonaccis
- Space Garbage
- Norton's Theme
- The Monster Materializes
- Gramps Bites the Big One
- Pluthar and the Kids
- Monster Attacks Sherman
- Spiro Gets Giacuzzed
- Bomb Shelter
- Officer Nupky's Bad Timing
- Susie and Sherman
- Good Morning All
Reception
[
edit
]
Janet Maslin
of
The New York Times
wrote: "The film's style is so smugly stupid that it's hard to tell whether the creatures, dripping with primordial ooze, are any less attractive than the Puttermans" and also called the film "noisly [
sic
] campy without being the least bit clever."
[2]
Variety
dismissed it as "an uninvolving sci-fi thriller comedy that relies heavily for its shock value on gooey monster effects rather than cinematic finesse ... With the apparent intent of making some comments about our unnatural reliance on television, and technology in general, filmmakers have perhaps bit off too much."
[3]
Writing in the
Chicago Tribune
,
Rick Kogan
gave the film one star out of four and called it "a certifiably bad movie" with "a good deal that is distasteful," but also found it "strangely likable" because Nicolaou "has done a better job than most who have tackled this particular beat. He has a nice feel for pacing if not for tension, a good eye for detail if often excessive and an occasional burst of humor."
[4]
Patrick Goldstein
of the
Los Angeles Times
wrote, "There are a few wonderful moments scattered throughout the picture, clearly the kind of goofy monster mash that should be seen long after midnight when your brain is operating at half-speed ... But to mix up the gross-outs with gags you need a good curve ball ? the jokes should have a real spin to them. That weird comic rhythm is missing here. In fact, Nicolaou has such a terrible sense of timing that the scenes drag on long after every laugh has been squeezed dry."
[5]
David Maine of
Pop Matters
called "
TerrorVision
"a truly wretched movie."
[6]
On
review aggregator
website
Rotten Tomatoes
,
TerrorVision
holds an approval rating of 10% based on ten reviews.
[7]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"TerrorVision"
. boxofficemojo.com.
Archived
from the original on 2012-10-24
. Retrieved
2011-04-09
.
- ^
Maslin, Janet
(February 14, 1986).
"Screen: TerrorVision"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on July 31, 2012
. Retrieved
October 16,
2017
.
- ^
"Film Reviews: TerrorVision".
Variety
. February 12, 1986. 22.
- ^
Kogan, Rick (February 14, 1986). "'Terrorvision' has its charms despite being a real horror".
Chicago Tribune
. Section 7J.
- ^
Goldstein, Patrick (April 15, 1986). "'Terrorvision: Mutant, Family See Eye to Eye".
Los Angeles Times
. Part VI, p. 5.
- ^
Maine, David (February 25, 2013).
"
'TerrorVision' and 'The Video Dead'
"
.
Pop Matters
.
Archived
from the original on October 17, 2017
. Retrieved
October 16,
2017
.
- ^
"TerrorVision (1986)"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
.
Archived
from the original on April 15, 2024
. Retrieved
October 21,
2020
.
External links
[
edit
]