Stephen Romano’s RETRO 13 – Wavelength
Stephen Romano
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So, what happens when the lead singer of The Runaways develops psychic powers, teams up with Louis from Revenge of the Nerds and investigates Area 51, which turns out to be smack-dab in the middle of Hollywood?
Well obviously, they end up running for their lives with a pack of renegade American Indians and three bald humanoid aliens who look like naked children and carry a plague of living death. And guess what? I didn’t make any of that up, kids. It’s this week’s Retro 13 poster, based on the classic film Wavelength, which you can see by scrolling down to the end of this article.
Wavelength is a special film.
Released in 1983 by New World Pictures, it had been independently produced on a low budget over a period of several years, directed and written by Mike Gray, who’d made a splash previously as a screenwriter on The China Syndrome with Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas. The film, involving government conspiracies and extraterrestrial visitors with a psychic connection to the human protagonist of the story, was scuttled briefly when E.T. was released in 1982—but those elements that made Wavelength “similar” to Spielberg’s film eventually became the “selling points” of the project, as it refused to die and finally broke the mainstream surface.
The film contains newbie work from Robert Carradine, veteran work from Keenan Wynn (also of Laserblast from two weeks ago), a fine, fine score by 1980s synth impresarios Tangerine Dream, and the first and only leading performance from Cherie Currie, in a complex role that requires a great deal of depth, as she becomes tethered to a force she cannot understand at first, drawn into the center of an alien collective intelligence which is crying out for rescue. Ultimately, the film becomes a little bit more than a suspense thriller or even a science fiction film—it becomes a story about us, and how we might be perceived by a civilization so advanced that they no longer use their mouths to communicate. (“They just use their mouths for sex,” Currie reveals to Carradine, prompting him to flash the aliens a rather Louis-like shiteating grin.) The film’s original theatrical release poster, pictured at right, made it out to be a horror picture, but that’s not exactly the truth. This week, I right that mistake somewhat by presenting a more representative key art image for this remarkable “lost” genre classic.
Did I say “lost?” Yes I did. Wavelength has not been available on any sort of official home entertainment format for almost 30 years. It was released to cable and VHS home video—but is now a casualty of the digital age. I’m not sure why this was, considering the pedigree of the actors and filmmakers involved—but it sure is a shame.
So get on the Wavelength, kids. Buy one of those vintage VHS copies. Watch the crap-vision tape rip at YouTube. Spread the word and write your favorite fringe-video labels. (Shout! Factory, take notice!) Now that Mike Gray is no longer with us, his legacy is more important than ever to preserve.
This week’s Retro 13 is dedicated to Mike, for this very special film.
Click here for the full-size image.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This poster is intended as FAN ART only and is designed to be shared, for free, for anyone who wants to own it for themselves. Download it, share it, spread the horror! And come see me at my website for more fun.
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