The Putterman family have gotten themselves a new satellite dish, the Do It Yourself 100, that picks up signals from everywhere. They ain't kidding when they say everywhere. It just so happens to pick up a garbage disposal mutant monster that's been ejected electromagnetically from the Planet Pluton. Hijinks unfolds as said monster goes on a food eating rampage through the household, driving poor Sherman Putterman to enlist the help of anybody he can to rid his home of the new alien menace. Including his Grandpa.
TerrorVision is a b-movie among b-movies. I can't really think of a movie quite like it. It's a 1980's tongue in cheek horror with a strong streak of 1950's schlock thrown in for good measure. It's also damned funny.
Sadly this is another 80's gem that hasn't had a decent release yet on DVD or bluray. It has aired on TV and there's old VHS releases still flying around but that's as good as we're getting it would seem, which is tragic.
The movie's charm and enjoyment comes not from the gruesomeness of some of it's imagery and TerrorVision can be gruesome, it stems from it's characters that're cut out cardboard stereotypes. You have the military 'nuke em first' types, the playboys, the fitness fanatics and metal heads the list goes on but each of the characters brings there own thing to the movie to make it more than the sum of it's parts, it's a very refreshing and original watch still is to this day 25 years later.
The production standard is b-movie and there's a real 80's quality to the SFX, which is something you'll either dig or you wont but it was no problem here.
The movie never feels slow or plodding and right from the opening screen we know we're going to be watching something... Different. The ending is a divisive one; again this is something you'll either love or hate, i fall into the former.
I simply can't recommend TerrorVision enough to those who want to see a quality horror comedy that can not only make you go 'ewww' but can make you laugh hard. I couldn't decide what i loved more the monster or Medusa's hooters.
Here's hoping MGM or whoever has the rights to the movie now can get a decent release out soon!