Badmovies.org Forum

I remember as a kid in the late 1980s seeing a movie that took place at a movie theater and these aliens that looked like little pom-pom things with snouts.  I remember the entire movie was them brainwashing the people of this movie theater, or something like that, by playing old science fiction movie trailers like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Rodan, and War of the Worlds, among at least 20 others.  I remember there was a kid with a mohawk in the movie and I remember at one point, they played that "Let's All Go to the Lobby" song with the dancing soda and popcorn.  DOES ANYONE ELSE REMEMBER THIS MOVIE?! And if so, what was it called?

Maybe COMING SOON (1982)?
Or NATIONAL LAMPOON'S MOVIE MADNESS (1982)?

It's more spoof-y than "Coming Soon". It's almost like "Bad Channels" meets "Critters" meets "Mystery Science Theater 3000". But it's not parodies of the movies either. It's footage from the actual movies while the aliens kind of pick off the movie theater patrons one at a time. I do appreciate the suggestions though.

And not POPCORN (1991)?

That's the first one I thought of.

Or perhaps Joe Dante's MATINEE (1993), starring John Goodman as a William Castle style 1950's schlock film producer?

Nope. Not "Popcorn" and not "Remote Control (1988)" either. The movie definitely had aliens that almost looked like McDonald's Fry Kids, like Pom poms with elephant trunks. It was set in a movie theater, it definitely was almost entirely trailers from movies such as "Them" and "War of the Worlds" and all sorts of old sci-fi films (actual footage from the films, not reenactments or reinterpretations of these films), with less than 20% of the movie being any sort of plot line. It was very much like MST3K in that there was virtually no story and almost entirely consisted of preexisting movies, and it was spoof-y, but differed because it wasn't a parody and wasn't fully commentated. In the movie they definitely had the "Let's All Go to the Lobby" song, because that was the first time I had ever heard that song, and it definitely had a kid with a Mohawk in it, because I remember thinking that all teenagers must have Mohawks and were rebellious.

I really appreciate the help on this one guys, it's great to get all this brainstorming. I'll keep doing my own research, but it's nice to know there's some experts out there in Internet Land.

That's most likely INVASION EARTH: THE ALIENS ARE HERE (1988). Very obscure. And you can watch it again on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBxjVipB2u4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBxjVipB2u4)

And, yeah, it's got the "Let's all go to the lobby" deal in it. Totally your movie.

That's it! You are awesome. Thanks for the help everyone! This mystery has been solved. And yes, I agree. Very obscure. For whatever reason, the Blockbuster that used to be in my hometown had it. Thanks again guys.