Bad Channels — Bad Channels( Blu Ray)
Bad Channels is a wayward blend of 1950s sci-fi and 1990s wacky comedy, with a side order of 80s metal-focused musical. The film regards a small-town radio station under attack by an alien who snatches, shrinks, and puts a selection of women in glass jars. It’s a picture that manages to both try your patience and entertain, making it a film that is easy to be in two minds about. Here from Full Moon Entertainment is a recent Blu-Ray release of the film, featuring a new commentary track and a few other extras.
Bad Channels is from 1992- it was directed by Ted Nicolaou, co-written/produced by Charles Band. Nicolaou has thirty-four feature credits to his name- these include sci-fi/ dark comedy/ satire TerrorVision (1986), vampiric fantasy Subspecies (1991), found footage haunted house film The St. Francisville Experiment (2000), and supernatural horror Don’t Let Her In (2021).
The film is largely set around the studios of KDUL, a small-town radio station, which has recently become syndicated/ nationwide due to having the frequency of 666, which no one else wants. The main/only(?) DJ in the station is Dan O' Dare(Paul Hipp) a permed haired, cocky, and likes publicity stunts disc Jocky.
One night, a red light dotted sphere lands near the station, with the two aliens appearing & breaking into the studio. There’s a tall one with a black crumpled headgear/ black viewing hatch, and a smaller robot, that chatters ‘n’ chirps, and has its brain floating in a bowl.
Dan asks for the listeners' help, as first the pair spray the studio in green fungus, then take over the controls, and lastly start teleporting in a selection of female listeners, which they shrink down & put in glass jars. Of course, the listeners take no notice of the DJ’s plight, thinking it’s just another one of his publicity stunts/ pranks.
There is a decidedly Sci-fi pulp-bound feel to the film, and this is mixed with 1990’s wacky comedy/ small town America satire. Also added into the mix, we have seemingly from nowhere musical numbers from unknown metal bands like Joker, Fair Game (with Ron Keel), Sykotik Sinfoney, and DMT, who run the gauntlet between typical 80’s hair metal and more wacky fare. The film is scored by none other than cult New York rockers Blue Öyster Cult.
Hipp and all of the cast very much ham/ camp it up. You, of course, have a selection of clichéd small American town characters- a sheriff who is doubtful of everything/ everyone, a dumb cheerleader, a short-order cook, a glasses-wearing geek, and a local TV journalist.
Throughout Bad Channels, just under one and a half hours running time, I was constantly shifting between being entertained and (lightly) annoyed. I’d say you’ll have a love of pulp, quirkiness, and camp to even start getting into the film, but even then, I think you may find this trying in places.
Moving onto this recent multi-region Blu-Ray, and I’m not sure whether we get a new scan or not for this release- but it looks very crisp/ even, so I’m guessing at some point it did get a remastered/re-scanned print.
On the extras side, we get a few things, though, as far as I can gather, the commentary track from director Ted Nicolaou is the only all-new thing. This is a decent enough director's track, with Mr Nicolaou still having a great memory. He starts by commenting on the film's rather bland green writing on black background credits, pondering why they went for such boring credits- he also briefly comments on the film's score, and notable members of the crew. We find out that initially he wasn’t keen on doing the film when Band first approached him as he felt it was in the same ballpark of TerrorVision, though, of course, a few years later, he accepted, as it featured three of his fav things-Aliens, UFO, and rock ‘n’ roll. He talks about the casting for the film, pointing out/ discussing actors as they appear. He touches on how much he likes large-than-life characters. We find out how they created the UFO effect, and he talks about how the sheriff was played by one of the film's backers. Later on, he talks about the use of the spinning camera rig, comments on each video/ musical number, and more.
On the archive side, we get the following: Behind the scenes(11.31), interview with Ted Nicolaou (27.56), and a few trailers.
Bad Channels is another one of the more wacky/ curious films released under the Full Moon banner, and it’s certainly good to see its first ever Blu-ray release here. I’d say you’ll most certainly have to enjoy wackiness & comedy with your Sci-fi, to get/ enjoy it!.