Can't help it, I love this dorky pile of schlock. While, yes, it is a bad homage to cheesy horror films, it has a "certain naive charm."
Plot: An alien pet which has been disintegrated and shot into space (the alien equivalent of "putting to sleep") is accidentally picked up by a haywire satellite receiver (remember back when they were the size of a hot tub, rather than a dinner plate?) and begins to appear - and come out of - the various TVs of the Putterman household.
The Puttermans aren't your average family, either - Mom and Dad like to swing (and the house is LOADED with the least tasteful erotic art I've ever seen), Grampa is some kind of vet who lives in the basement/bomb shelter and tries to sell people on the ultimate survival food - lizard tail jerky ("you break off its tail, and it grows another one, then you break that one off, and it grows another one!!"), sister Suzy is a Cyndi Lauper clone, and Sherman, the baby (well, he's probably about 12) seems normal, but comments are constantly being made as to his "meds" and the possibility of being sent back to the doctor... It's like the Addams family by way of the self-serving 80s.
(spoilers)
So the alien starts to eat people. That's because it's a Hungry Beast - its insatiable appetite is what got it vaporized in the first place. It can also extrude simulacrums of anyone whom it has eaten, and speak in their voices - meaning that even after dad and mom are appetizers, they can still tell the kids to butt out when questioned about what's going on in their bedroom. ("Gross!")
Oh, and there's a lot of goo.
However, the movie takes a sentimental turn when Sherman, who has only survived by breaking every TV in sight ("securing the perimeter") and set off grenades, is joined by his sister and her boyfriend O.D. (a metalhead, complete with black leather and spikes) - they manage to make friends with the beast and start training it to speak (O.D. - "you know, like in that movie with the ugly little alien that made you cry like a butt-head.").
Nothing nice lasts, and the ending leaves you wondering just how much of the world the Hungry Beast may be able to devour.
My favorite part (among many) of this movie is Medusa - she's a late-night horror hostess (very much an Elvira clone with a head of foam-rubber snakes) who Sherman calls and tells about the monster. I also love Grampa's attitude toward TV: "War flicks and monster movies - they're both survival oriented!"
The movie is never taken seriously (even by the actors, who ham up every moment), and just plain fun to boot. In a world of cheese, this is one of those movies I come back to over and over again.
One parting warning (courtesy of Grampa): "Brain shot - gets 'em every time!!!"
Plot: An alien pet which has been disintegrated and shot into space (the alien equivalent of "putting to sleep") is accidentally picked up by a haywire satellite receiver (remember back when they were the size of a hot tub, rather than a dinner plate?) and begins to appear - and come out of - the various TVs of the Putterman household.
The Puttermans aren't your average family, either - Mom and Dad like to swing (and the house is LOADED with the least tasteful erotic art I've ever seen), Grampa is some kind of vet who lives in the basement/bomb shelter and tries to sell people on the ultimate survival food - lizard tail jerky ("you break off its tail, and it grows another one, then you break that one off, and it grows another one!!"), sister Suzy is a Cyndi Lauper clone, and Sherman, the baby (well, he's probably about 12) seems normal, but comments are constantly being made as to his "meds" and the possibility of being sent back to the doctor... It's like the Addams family by way of the self-serving 80s.
(spoilers)
So the alien starts to eat people. That's because it's a Hungry Beast - its insatiable appetite is what got it vaporized in the first place. It can also extrude simulacrums of anyone whom it has eaten, and speak in their voices - meaning that even after dad and mom are appetizers, they can still tell the kids to butt out when questioned about what's going on in their bedroom. ("Gross!")
Oh, and there's a lot of goo.
However, the movie takes a sentimental turn when Sherman, who has only survived by breaking every TV in sight ("securing the perimeter") and set off grenades, is joined by his sister and her boyfriend O.D. (a metalhead, complete with black leather and spikes) - they manage to make friends with the beast and start training it to speak (O.D. - "you know, like in that movie with the ugly little alien that made you cry like a butt-head.").
Nothing nice lasts, and the ending leaves you wondering just how much of the world the Hungry Beast may be able to devour.
My favorite part (among many) of this movie is Medusa - she's a late-night horror hostess (very much an Elvira clone with a head of foam-rubber snakes) who Sherman calls and tells about the monster. I also love Grampa's attitude toward TV: "War flicks and monster movies - they're both survival oriented!"
The movie is never taken seriously (even by the actors, who ham up every moment), and just plain fun to boot. In a world of cheese, this is one of those movies I come back to over and over again.
One parting warning (courtesy of Grampa): "Brain shot - gets 'em every time!!!"