TerrorVision (1986)

The Puttermans wanted better television reception. Instead, The Blind Rage Podcast finds them receiving a man-eating alien in TERRORVISION (1986), Ted Nicolaou's wonderfully tacky collision of monster horror with science fiction lunacy. A botched extraterrestrial disposal operation sends a mutated Hungry Beast hurtling through space until the Puttermans' new satellite system gives it an unexpected route into their home. Young Sherman discovers that something ravenous can crawl directly through the television, while the adults around him remain spectacularly unequipped to appreciate the problem. Before long, the creature is gobbling up unsuspecting victims and developing a particularly nasty talent for impersonating whatever it has eaten. Gerrit Graham and Mary Woronov preside over the Puttermans with magnificent commitment to the absurd, while Diane Franklin's Suzy seems to have raided an entire '80s shopping mall before arriving on camera. Jennifer Richards adds another layer of beautiful nonsense as horror hostess Medusa. Meanwhile, the Hungry Beast itself is a wonderfully disgusting creation that appears completely at home amid the Puttermans' aggressively questionable decor. TERRORVISION has little interest in restraint. Its comedy is broad, its creature effects are proudly revolting, and Ted Nicolaou pushes the movie's warped personality as far as he can without letting the whole thing escape the television set.