The Puttermans, a middle class family (which includes yuppie swinger parents, and a lizard-tail loving grandpa), install a new satellite dish outside their house, only to discover over time that it harbors an alien that can materialize from their TV and has a seemingly never-ending appetite.
You know how some folks say "too much TV will kill ya?" Well, they certainly weren't kidding here. TerrorVision is probably the best thing I've seen that has the name Charles Band attached to it (he produced and co-wrote this). I admit, I'm not a humongous fan of the Puppet Master films outside of the first 2-3, and Full Moon Entertainment isn't really my thing, but this film is just a flat out silly, fun horror comedy. At first glance, one could play a game of "hey, it's THAT guy!" with the cast. Everyone seems to know that this won't be up for any awards any time soon, and they decide to roll with the punches. I wished I had seen more of the Grandfather character, played by Bert Remsen, but that's a small complaint. The supporting characters are a bit hit or miss. There's a horror movie hostess named Medusa, a decent parody of the busty character Elvira. The daughter's boyfriend (played by Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite!), a wannabe rockstar named O.D., annoyed me quite a bit, but that might have been due to the fact that I still don't like seeing metalheads stereotyped as buffoons and bullies. They're still quite funny when they need to be though.
I did sense a bit of an undertone here with how badly television can change one's personality and morals, such as a scene where two of the Puttermans and O.D. debate over putting the alien ON T.V. as opposed to hiding in it. But make no mistake, the film is still really stupid. Thankfully, it's also quite funny, and it is a pretty unique idea for a horror movie, so it somewhat balances itself out. The monster itself looks pretty ludicrous, but you grow to like it over time. He himself even sort of develops as a character over time, and by the end, I kind of wanted to see more of him. Hell, I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel to this truth be told, even if it is over 20 years old now.
Sadly, this one isn't officially out on DVD, but it is available on Netflix Instant Stream, and most likely you can find a bootleg at assorted conventions. It's definitely worth a watch (despite an ending that just seemed kind of rushed), and you can even see how it most likely influenced other modern horror-comedies like Slither.
Tomorrow, I'm gonna attempt to rid myself of some giant, pesky mutated insects with THEM!
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