With a government hearing this week where there was testimony that there are actually aliens and UFOs, it’s no better time to look at Killer Klowns From Outer Space, the cult classic horror-comedy that was released 35 years ago. It was made by the Chiodo Brothers who had been working in the movie industry since 1982 doing make-up and special effects on movies like Critters and RoboCop. It’s as of this posting their only movie in which they are credited as writers, producers and/or director. This is a shame because they’re actually pretty darn good at delivering a creative movie that is fun and exciting.
The movie is set in the coastal town of Crescent Cove which also has a major college nearby. It’s the weekend and most of the youngsters are out enjoying the night. Mike Tobacco (Grant Cramer) and his girlfriend, Debbie Stone (Suzanne Snyder), are at a lover’s lane location with the rest of the lovebirds making out in their cars. Then, suddenly, there’s a huge glowing object that shoots across the sky thinking it’s a comet. They drive over to see where it lands.
Nearby, an elderly farmer, Gene Green (Royal Dano), is sitting on his porch when he notices it too. So, he decides to go out in search of the comet with his bloodhound, Pooh Bear, but finds a circus tent that looks futuristic. A klown snatches Pooh Bear and then Gene is approached by another klown who shoots him with a ray gun. Later Mike and Debbie arrive and make there way into the tent where things looks out of place and literally out of this world. Debbie realizes its the object they saw in the sky and they find themselves in a room where huge room where these cotton-candy like cocoons are hanging. One of them contains the gelantized body of Gene. In another, Mike recognizes someone he knows.
Realizing that they’re in danger, they make it out of the tent, being chased by the klowns who shoot them with popcorn guns and use a dog balloon to chase them down. But Mike and Debbie make it back to their car and go toward the police station where Debbie’s former boyfriend, Dave Hanson (John Allen Nelson) is a police officer. But Dave is having to share the night shift with the crotchety veteran cop Curtis Mooney (John Vernon) who hates the college students and just about everyone who doesn’t obey the law.
Neither Dave nor Mooney believe Mike and Debbie, but Dave agrees to drive out to the location, dropping Debbie off at her house for her safety after saying he still feels for her. But when Dave and Mike head toward the location in the woods, the tent is gone but a huge crater remains. But when they drive pass the lover’s lane spot, they notice the cars are empty with the sticky cotton candy substance left behind.
The klowns are going around Crescent Cove picking off the residents, but also surprising them with a puppet show at the local park or appearing to deliver a pizza. One klown decides to go shopping at a local drug store looking through all the items before it turns patrons and the pharmacist into cocoons. A small klown literally punches the head off a biker when he trashes the klown’s motorcycle. But as they’re driving through town, Dave finally sees Mike is telling the truth when they observe a klown making shadow puppets that turn into a huge dinosaur that gobbles people at bus stop shrinking them so it can put them in a bag of popcorn.
The popcorn itself is larvae which immediately grows into man-eating klowns. And Debbie has some on her clothing when she goes home to take a shower. At the police station, Mooney isn’t buying all what is going from the calls as people say the klowns are terrorizing the town. He believes it to be a prank, even when Dave radioes in and says that Mike and Debbie were telling the truth. With the help of his friends, the Terenzi Brothers (Rich and Paul played by Michael S. Siegel and Peter Licassi), who are driving an ice-cream truck with a clown model attached to the top, they try to alert people to stay indoors as they go to check on Debbie.
But back at the police station, Mooney realizes the hard way that the klowns are real when one comes into the station. And Dave learns the only way to kill them is to shoot them in the nose. It’s eventually revealed that the klowns are harvesting humans for food. As Mike and Dave observe a klown drinking through a crazy straw nonetheless, from a cocoon.
What I like about Killer Klowns is how the Chiodo Brothers use so many things associated with clowns, the circus and carnivals to the best advantage. I won’t even mention what they do with cream pies, but it’s very creative if not deadly. There’s always been something off about carnivals and fairs. The Chiodos weren’t the first to showcase the oddities. Tod Browning did it with Freaks in 1932 and Ray Bradbury also did it with Something Wicked This Way Comes which was published in 1962. Circuses, carnivals and county/state fairs always seem to bring out a certain element that is never normal. I’m not saying there are people there who are degenerates but maybe the harsh traveling of the road mixed with people who are pulling carnival games that seem like cash grabs makes everything seem creepy.
The Chiodos may have felt the same way. Clowns in particular have also have this creepy vibe. It didn’t help that one of the world’s most vicious serial killers, John Wayne Gacy, would dress up as a clown as he was entertaining children. Stephen King had published IT in 1986 introducing the world to Pennywise the Clown. But what the Chiodos do is give the klowns a perfect mixture of terror and comedy. I’ve noticed the actors performing as the klowns have a certain gait to their movements that make them both unsuspecting but also unnatural. It’s easy to see how someone might initally overlook the oversized heads as anything but some good masks and make-up.
While the acting leaves a lot to be desired, as Cramer, Nelson and Snyder have always acted in less than stellar roles. No, the true stars of the movie are the titular characters. Stephen Chiodo is listed as the director along with Charles as the producer and they’re the writers with their brother, Edward. Most of the special effects were done by other people so the Chiodos could focus on the production. The budget was small at $1.8 million for 1988 and initial reviews weren’t the best. On his first review, Leonard Maltin didn’t like it but later gave a more positive review years later. Many critics have said it’s absurd and rough around the edges but still has some appeal and fun to it.
At one point, the Chiodos had considered doing a requel (remake/sequel) in 3-D but plans have shifted over the years. After 35 years, making a sequel may not work out as well. You can’t make a midnight movie/cult classic on purpose. This was really just some silly B-movie that was being released in the 1980s, quite possibly the last decade of the B-movie. Many independent and regional theaters closed down as the spread of the home video market made them obsolete. Now B-movies have been replaced with the moniker “direct-to-video.” Still the movie has enjoyed success at many theater showings despite being released on video and DVD.
The Chiodo Brothers went back to working on special effects using some of the same klowns repainted as trolls in Ernest Scared Stupid. They would go on to work in critically acclaimed movies like Elf, Team America: World Police and the Oscar-nominated Marcel the Shell With Shoes On. Whether or not we’ll ever see a sequel remains to be seen. Maybe the Chiodos know they shouldn’t ruin a good thing. Killer Klowns may not be perfectly made but it works for mindless fun.
To be honest, not everything needs a sequel. Before Tim Curry and Bill Skarsgard were scaring us as Pennywise and there was the violent Art the Clown in the Terrifier movies, Killer Klowns was making us scare ourselves silly. Like Gremlins, it has the perfect mixture of horror and comedy that when it all ends, you know it’s good fun.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 