''Remote Control'' is a 1988 American

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...

written and directed by

Jeff Lieberman Jeff Lieberman (born October 16, 1947) is an American film director and screenwriter, known for his cult film, cult horror film, horror and thriller films ''Squirm'' (1976), ''Blue Sunshine (film), Blue Sunshine'' (1977) and ''Just Before Dawn ...

, and starring

Kevin Dillon Kevin Brady Dillon (born August 19, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Johnny "Drama" Chase on the HBO comedy series '' Entourage'', Bunny in the war film ''Platoon'', and John Densmore in the musical biopic ''The Doo ...

as a

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

video rental A video rental shop/store is a physical retail business that rents home videos such as movies, prerecorded TV shows, video game cartridges/discs and other media content. Typically, a rental shop conducts business with customers under conditi ...

clerk who discovers that his store is circulating a

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

tape of a 1950s sci-fi film programmed by aliens to brainwash viewers, causing them to commit murders. Lieberman's screenplay combines elements of

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

s and science fiction with satirical humor. Lieberman did not direct another theatrical feature film for sixteen years, until ''

Satan's Little Helper ''Satan's Little Helper'' is a 2004 American horror film directed and written by Jeff Lieberman. The film stars Alexander Brickel as Dougie, a nine-year-old video gamer. On Halloween, Dougie meets a serial killer and unknowingly assists him in hi ...

'' in 2004.

Plot

Video store clerk Cosmo (Kevin Dillon) stumbles onto an alien plot to take over Earth by

brainwashing Brainwashing is the controversial idea that the human mind can be altered or controlled against a person's will by manipulative psychological techniques. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subject's ability to think critically or independently ...

people with a faux 1950s science fiction movie. The movie is being rented from the video shop where he works. He and his girlfriend track the production of the fake movie to a movie studio under the control of aliens. They must race to stop the aliens before the tapes can be distributed worldwide.Stanley, John (2000) Creature Feature: 3rd Edition

Release

In 1988, the film was passed uncut with a 15 rating by the

BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited at cinemas and video works (su ...

Reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' gave the film one out of five stars, saying: "It doesn't know whether it wants to be a spoof or a thriller; because of its indecision, it fails on both levels."

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...

reviewed the film favorably, writing, "This clever little

b-movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

is another example of why Jeff Lieberman is a cult favorite in certain genre-movie circles. His script puts a distinctly 1980's twist on the old alien-invasion premise, cleverly managing to make home video seem menacing as he builds up a solid combination of

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and

elements. Lieberman's direction is unflashy but effective, building tension throughout and frequently offsetting the dark elements of the script with satirical humor." In Creature Feature, John Stanley gave the movie two out of five stars, but noted its commentary on video and what it does to people's minds.

Home release

Sometime after its theatrical release,

International Video Entertainment Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until i ...

released the film on VHS. A second release occurred in 1990 under the Avid Home Entertainment label. In 2013, a 25th Anniversary edition was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and DVD by director Jeff Lieberman.

References

External links

* {{Jeff Lieberman 1988 science fiction films 1988 films Films shot in Los Angeles American science fiction films Films directed by Jeff Lieberman Films scored by Peter Bernstein (composer) 1980s English-language films 1980s American films English-language science fiction films