Continuing our weekly theme of all things trash movies that deserve closer scrutiny and the world of Full Moon Features, comes Bad Channels, which surely deserves its own accolade in the B-Movie genre for absurdity. 

The premise follows local dj prankster who is setting up an all-night broadcast with the launch of a new radio station when two alien life forms materialise to hijack the radio waves with the aim of stealing female humans, shrinking them and run tests on them. It’s up to Dan O’Dare to save them and humanity from these warped invaders.

The result is a mishmash of  B-Grade, low-budget sci-fi horror that the likes of Ed Wood Jr would have been proud to attach his name to. There really isn’t much going for this film that struggles to connect with its audience and if anything ironically alienates them from it completely. 

It tries hard to inject some life with a soundtrack led by Blue Oyster Cult who are renowned for their hit Don’t Fear The Reaper, but in this instance, it’s just a mess and never hits the mark.

Whilst the movie does try to tap into the paranoia that hit the airwaves in the US with Orson Welles notorious War of the Worlds rendition, but in this case the aliens really have landed but no one actually believes it, and there is essence in the formula that could have been better if it was executed in another way and played for smarts instead of stupidity. 

It’s one note of interest is that it tries to create a multiverse before multiverses were an ‘in-thing’ with the re-introduction of Dollman in the closing credits, who hears of a woman that has been shrunk to his size, so goes to investigate… and opens the door for a spin-off sequel.

The Diagnosis:

This movie tries to play for laughs and absurdity but ultimately girates the brains into a pulp where the DJ and his music pulsate and turns your mind inside out.
More D-Movie than B, and probably deserves to stay dormant, but if you’re keen to subject yourself to the pains of Bad Channels or maybe your just twisted and like that kind of thing, then head over to Tubi and cast your own thoughts and post back here 🙂

• Saul Muerte