Bad Channels Blu Ray Review (Full Moon Features)

Bad Channels is a 1992 direct to video sci-fi comedy directed by Ted Nicolaou (Subspecies franchise, Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys, Dragonworld, Remote, The Dungeonmaster, Savage Island, and TerrorVision). It was written by Jack Canson (Subspecies, Mandroid, Invisible: The Chronicles of Benjamin Knight, Seedpeople, Nowhere to Run, Trancers II, Body Chemistry franchise, and Robot Wars). It was produced by Charles Band (The Puppet Master franchise, Trancers franchise, Subspecies franchise, Evil Bong franchise, Demonic Toys franchise, Ghoulies franchise, Troll franchise, The Resonator, Pet Shop, Robot Wars, Tourist Trap, Laserblast, Beach Babes from Beyond, Castle Freak, Blood Dolls, Seedpeople, The Creeps, Hideous!, Head of the Family, Oblivion franchise, Dollman, Doctor Mordrid, Intruder, Prison, Sorority Babes in the Slimebowl-O-Rama, Creepozoids, From Beyond, ShadowZone, and TerrorVision). There’s a popular new disc jockey at KDUL, Superstation 66. He’s about to make rock and roll history with his unique experience. He’s known as Dangerous Dan O’Dare (played by: Paul Hipp from Face/Off, Bad Lieutenant, Lethal Weapon 3, The Funeral, China Girl, Another Day in Paradise, Waking the Dead, and Tales from the Crypt), the most controversial DJ to hit the radio and he starts changing the station’s format from only polka music for a wild contest that he puts together. When a mysterious alien named Cosmo (played by: special fx artist Michael Deak from Day of the Dead, Halloween II, Grindhouse, Abominable, Little Nicky, Cellar Dweller, Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, and Ghoulies II) that loves hard rock and beautiful young women lands nearby. He goes to the station and he takes over the airwaves to kidnap the sexiest ladies listening to the radio to bring these rockin maidens back to his home planet!!!! Bad Channels has comedy, rock n roll, and aliens. Cult director Ted Nicolaou was behind the camera for this wacky low budget feature. The script covers several different sub-genres. Yes, it has some horror elements to it but it’s more of a silly production from the legendary Charles Band. Paul Hipp as Dangerous Dan O’Dare is the new radio personality that’s grabbing the attention of all the locals. He’s never shy and he doesn’t hold back. He does some wild contests to bring in more listeners. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell if he’s being real or not so law enforcement doesn’t believe him at first when he claims an alien has taken the station hostage and trying to collect all the gorgeous women that’s tuning in. MTV VJ Martha Quinn (Problem Child 2, Dead Heat, Tapeheads, and Chopper Chicks in Zombietown) as Lisa Cummings is the reporter that’s nearby when all this happens so she gets her big break covering the bizarre situation. The supporting cast includes Michael Deak, Robert Factor (Ninja Academy), Aaron Lustig (Darkman), Michael Huddleston (Wyatt Earp), Sonny Carl Davis (Evil Bong franchise), Daryl Strauss (Days of Our Lives), Melissa Behr (Dollman vs. Demonic Toys), Ian Patrick Williams (Dolls), Tim Thomerson (Dollman), and Charlie Spradling (Wild at Heart). It has a real cool soundtrack and score from Blue Oyster Cult. The special fx are awesome for what they were back in the early 90’s. Full Moon knew what their budget was going to when they came up with this concept. I loved the Dollman cameo here, it’s one of my favorite parts. You can tell the visual style and cinematography were heavily inspired by MTV at the time. Bad Channels is very fun and highly entertaining for the most part. It’s like a time capsule to the 90’s and it takes you back to those moments. This one that you need to just turn off brain and enjoy, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Full Moon Features! This 1080p (1.78:1) transfer is from a brand new restoration from the original 35mm negative. This direct to video low budget science fiction comedy feature is a huge upgrade compared to all the older DVDs and VHS releases from back in the day. This new restoration is the highest quality that Bad Channels is ever going to look. I don’t ever see this one ever getting a 4K in the future. It has a few different audio options which includes English: Dolby Digital 5.1 and English: Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks on the disc. It’s a big improvement for this independent production especially with the bands and rock soundtrack. All of the dialogue is very clean, the invasion is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has a brand new exclusive “Audio Commentary” with director Ted Nicolaou. He chats about the music for it. He talks about the cast and crew for Bad Channels. He goes into great detail with plenty of information and stories from the low budget film. He didn’t want to do this project originally because it was too much like TerrorVision. He does a good amount of scene by scene talk for this. He has a blast revisiting his older feature after all these years. It has the almost 12 minute original “Videozone: The Making of Bad Channels”. It has a variety of video clips and behind the scenes footage here. It has interviews with the cast and crew. They share their experiences and what they enjoyed about Bad Channels. They chat about the cast, characters, and story. They talk about the soundtrack and score. It has the brand new exclusive almost 28 minute “Ted Talk: Bad Channels”. He brings up that he started out as an editor. He goes over working on TerrorVision. He says he resisted doing Bad Channels but he finally gave it a chance after Subspecies. He talks about development and overall process of making Bad Channels. He put together his own crew for it. It has a “Trailer” and a “Rare Trailer” for Bad Channels. It has a variety of Full Moon related “Trailers”. It’s available everywhere right now including FullMoonHorror.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!