This one is an odd mash-up of R-rated themes for a PG-13 movie, but too PG-13 plotwise for an R-rated movie. It’s just...kind of goofy. Full 80s. Total cheese. Gross gore. Questionable comedic writings. Horrendous parenting tips. A horror-movie hostess with huge...snakes in her hair. And one kick-ass grampa. So, pretty average overall.
The 80s music at the open really sets the tone here, Technics amplifier set to 11. Rich dude putting in a suspect satellite dish for the lavish family home. Grampa and grandson are the buddies. Sister is the Cindy Lauper fuzzhead with the punk boyfriend, parents are...swingers? And the new dish catches a weird signal from the outer spaces, apparently. Again, an odd mix here, more comedic in the atrocities than anything else. And, like, totally awesome in the culture references.
Okay, I had to confirm this was an R rating. I usually don’t pay attention to that but this one presents a lot of odd topics and house paintings to be less than that. I was going to say the premise has potential if it just didn’t play out in such a cheese-tarded manner, but I’d be lying. There’s creature effects and ‘gore’ if you can call it that. But damn. I will say it takes some unexpected turns though, so that barely gets this to average kind of fare. We’ve seen a lot of ‘Adults don’t believe the kid’s Monster claims’ kinda movies over the years. The Lost Boys, released a year later than this, is mostly yeah definitely the better example of that trope from this decade. This one? A lot of 80s stereotypes and gooey practical effects, plus it stars Gerrit Graham, the superstitious guy from Used Cars.
