BAD CHANNELS (1992)
Label: Full Moon Features
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 80 Minutes 17 Seconds
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Ted Nicolaou
Cast: Martha Quinn and Aaron Lustig, Robert Factor, Aaron Lustig, Michael Huddelston, Sonny Carl Davis, Charlie Spradling, Ron Keel., Michael Deak, Tim Thomerson
Bad Channels (1992), directed by Ted Nicolaou (Terrorvision), is a rock n' roll sci-fi comedy that takes place at Pahoota's AM radio station KDUL, Superstation 66, where a new disc jockey Dan O'Dare (Paul Hipp, Lethal Weapon 3) is ringing in the new rock 'n roll format following a publicity stunt involving the DJ locked in chains playing the same polka song until a caller calls into the radio station with the right combination for the lock. Local newscaster Lisa Cummings (MTV VJ Martha Quinn, Tapeheads) is covering the publicity stunt, but when her station's star new anchor Flip Humble (Roumel Reaux) is the one who guesses the combo and wins the grand prize she suspect fowl play, but that whole conspiracy is short-lived because while confronting O'Dare about the fraud she notices some strange red rings swirling through the skies nearby, leading her to believe aliens activity is happening in the area. Right she is, because just a short time later a fungus-headed alien named Cosmo (Michael Deak, Ghoulies 2) and his MST3K reject-looking robot have arrives, and takes over the radio station, unleashing a fungus-bomb, and it starts using the airwaves to somehow miniaturize young ladies from around the area, then transporting and trapping them in specimen jars, apparently with the intention of taking them back to it's home planet for whatever reason. Meanwhile, for some reason O'Dare is allowed to stay on the air, trying to warn listeners not to listen to the alien broadcast, but they think it's all some sort of shock-jock war of the Worlds-esque prank.
A couple of young ladies listening to the broadcast and rcoking out begin to hallucinate that they are appearing in rock music videos, with the bands Sykotik Sinfoney, Joker, Fair Game making appearances, and then while in that rock-radio induced trance are beamed into the alien specimen jars at the station in miniature version.
This would make a great double-feature with Nicolaou's earlier Terrorvision, instead of an alien beamed in via satellite TV we have an alien using the radio waves to snag Earth women, and both have this super-silly, overwrought vibes, everybody is just going for it with heightened performances that I sort of loved, especially Paul Hipp with his exaggerated line deliveries and bugged-out facial expressions. The whole film sort of seems to be an excuse to cram in three music video into a film, and it boggles my mind that they not only got Blue Oyster Cult to recorded two new songs for the soundtrack, but they also provided the score!
The fungus-headed alien, which you might mistake for a turd-headed alien, does have a pretty cool transformation, losing it's fungus-head to reveal what I would describe as a three-headed Audrey 2 from The Little Shop of Horrors, with out earthbound DJ and his pals having to fend it off with... Lysol.
It's a very zany sci-fi comedy, chock full of retro '50s sci-fi vibes, silly attempts at humor which mostly fail, and a mixed bag soundtrack, highlighted by the Blue Oyster Cult contributions. This was a first time watch for me, for some reason it had eluded me for years, and I am glad I finally caught up with it, I had a fun time with it, I enjoyed the retro-vibe, the low-budget Full Moon charm of it, and the corny humor, and I always find that Nicolaou's Full Moon flicks are among my favorite from the label. .
Audio/Video: Bad Channels (1992) gets a region-free Blu-ray from Full Moon Features, advertised as being "remastered in HD from the original negative", presented on disc in 1080p HD framed in 1.78:1 widescreen. This was a first time watch for me so I have no comparison to the VHS or DVD, bit I thought it look pretty fantastic. The source looks flawless, there's modest depth and clarity, grain is intact and colors look accurate and are well-saturated.
Audio comes by way of lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo or 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles. As usual FM go the lossy audio route, but it sounds fine. The tunes and score by Blue Oyster Cult, and the lesser songs by Sykotik Sinfoney, Joker, Fair Game, and DMT fare well in the mix, dialogue is nicely prioritized, as are the sound effects.
Onto the extras we get a new Audio Commentary with Director Ted Nicolaou and Producer Charles Band, with Niclaou offering a detailed convo about the flick, the making of it, the cast and crew, and the special effects. We also get a new 28-min Ted Talk Bad Channels: An Interview with Director Ted Niclaou - he talks about Terror Vision being his first film, how it was savaged by critics but found a life on home video, then getting a bad Channels, but initially resisting it because of the similarity to TV, doing Subspecies in the interim. The casting, score, music, and the special effects.
Other disc extras include the 2-min Original Trailer, a 2-min Rare Trailer (2:15), a 12-min archival The Making of Bad Channels featurette with actors Martha Quin, Charlie Spraddling, Aaron Lustig, Melissa Behr, Paul Hipp, Michael Deak, director Ted Nicolaou, special effects guys Dennis dale and Greg Aronowitz. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided wrap featuring a version the original VHS illustrated artwork for the film.
Special Features:
- Original Trailer(1:40)
- Rare Trailer (2:15)
- The Making of Bad Channels (11:31)
- Director's Audio Commentary with Ted Nicolaou and Producer Charles Band
- Ted Talk Bad Channels (27:45)
Screenshots from the Full Moon Blu-ray:
Extras:
Buy it!
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