Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) Review
THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Chaos really does come in all shapes and sizes and I definitely accepted that when watching Killer Klowns from Outer Space.
PLOT
The 1988 film takes place in the small town of Crescent Cove. Mike Tobacco goes out to a local lovers’ lane with his girlfriend Debbie Stone where they witness a glowing object appear from the sky. The farmer Gene Green (Royal Dano) perceives it to be Hailey’s Comet and when he investigates it himself, he and his pet dog by extraterrestrials disguised as clowns. By the time Mike & Debbie get there next, they roam around their tent and further explore it to be a spaceship full of complex interior & bizarre rooms. The most bizarre room they’d find would be cocoon made out of cotton candy that Gene dead encased. The couple retreats as soon as one of the Klowns spots them and shoots at them with a popcorn blaster. They go to the police to report what happened but Debbie’s ex, Officer Dave Hanson does not believe them one bit. He willingly checks out the site of the ship and almost considers arresting Mike for lying until finding cocoon substance at the lovers’ lane. As they find proof of the alien Klowns, said creatures would roam the city collecting many people with their ray guns if not killing them after a handful of pranks & mock circus acts. Their actions would go from vandalizing a pharmacy store to punching off the head of a gang member or going door to door encasing everyone on sight. By the time Mike & Dave return to town, they see one Klown use shadow play to trap people in a bag of popcorn that is their larval form. Back at the police station, Officer Curtis Mooney mistakes another Klown to be a delinquent and chooses to try putting him in a cell until it kills him and makes a ventriloquist dummy out of him. When Mike & Dave return to see this firsthand, they shoot at it’s nose, causing it to explode in confetti. Mike then meets up with his friends, Rich & Paul Terenzi, to use their ice cream truck’s PSA to warn everyone of the Klowns. When passing through town, they witness Debbie get captured by a pair of larvae turned juvenile Klowns that detain her in a giant balloon. Dave and the others follow them to an amusement park where the Klowns’ ship hides. The Terenzis split up from Mike & Dave when seeing one of the aliens drink blood from one of the cocooned victims before saving Debbie. As they all try escaping, the Terenzis then distract the legion of Klowns and nearly die facing the gargantuan Klown-Zilla Jojo that destroys their truck. As Dave follows up the distraction, Mike & Debbie escape the ship. Dave defeats Jojo by destroying its nose with his badge. In turn, it destroys the whole ship and he survives escaping with the Terenzis by hiding in one of the Klown cars after already hiding in the ice cream truck’s refrigerator. As the friend group watch the fireworks come from ship’s destruction, the film ends with them getting pied from the sky.
THOUGHTS
This is the sole theatric feature directed by Stephen Chiodo that he cowrote with his brothers Charles & Edward, who are more well known for their practical effects contribution for the likes of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Elf, and Ernest Scared Stupid. This is the kind of B movie where you got to embrace all the absurdity the title defines. It’s one that is colorful yet dark, which makes much sense given the titular species that wreak more havoc than a circus can contain. It’s the right tone with whacky lines that are delivered straight and of course, every design of the Klowns are intriguing from start to finish that you’ll likely a favorite and won’t have a wrong answer. Whether it is Shorty, Slim, Jumbo, Rudy, Spikey, Fatso, Chubby, or Bibbo that all are designed by the Chiodos themselves, you’re gonna be sure that the whole ordeal is nuts thanks to them. They may look funny, yet clearly a threat with the cartoonish violence they’re responsible for. As much as I scratch my head that the biker gang didn’t gang up on Shorty, I would probably run away too after seeing someone’s head get punched off. Hell, I’d definitely do the same if I saw someone get melted with pies. On top of that, John Mussari’s music really pulls you in as well, getting the right tone on how insane the whole ordeal really is. With such violence nearly coming off senseless, you’re gonna wonder what’s the point of all the insanity. If anything, I always thought it taught viewers of not just being creative as filmmakers with whatever ideas you want to go all in with, but storywise, I’d say it’s about finding trust with your peers otherwise that can backfire exponentially. With a solid cast for its time, the chemistry is believable for everybody involved. For example, John Vernon is his own standout from the main cast as he goes all in making Mooney the most short tempered cop you’re gonna see in a B Movie like this that it costs him big time and he foreshadows his fate jinxes becoming a clown’s own dummy. Michael Siegel & Peter Licassi were also hilarious as the Terenzis for ironically letting their obnoxiousness save them because I would’ve not guessed a fridge being their saving grace the way it would for Indiana Jones. Was Dave overthinking it when it came to trying to cuff Mike for assuming he was lying about the Klowns? Yes yet still valid because you can’t waste cops’ times like that and John Allen Nelson held it down making him most level headed and quite brave when it mattered most. Grant Cramer arguably chews up the scenery best as Mike because while it wasn’t the best idea to roam the tent originally, he definitely redeemed himself going to the Terenzis for help and had he not done that, they likely would’ve not found out what happened to Debbie. As our scream queen/final girl, Suzanne Snyder was able to portray the latter as a fast thinker and very expressive which is proven when she tries defending herself from the Klowns as they take her. I mean an aerosol can doesn’t sound that bad of a weapon when you don’t have a gun or a blade on you. Will the Klowns ever make a legacy sequel kind of comeback after that pied cliffhanger? We’ll never know, but a video game and a Halloween Horror Nights maze is enough proof their footprint ain’t going away any time soon. In short, Killer Klowns from Outer Space earns its cult status for embracing absurdity not much movies can pull off now. If those are the kind of movies you prefer, then this is going to be up your alley.
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