Killer
Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
Directed
by The Chiodo Brothers
Starring
Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, John Allen Nelson, & John Vernon
Crescent
Cove experiences a close encounter of the strange kind when aliens descend upon
the little town. But not just any aliens; clown aliens with cotton candy ray
guns and a big top mother ship. Couple Mike and Debbie are the first to discover
the threat. They enlist the help of ice cream truck drivers the Terenzi
Brothers and Officer Hanson to warn the town. If everyone wants to survive this
circus of terror, they’re going have work together and find a way to kill these
clowns.
Nobody
should take Killer Klowns from Outer
Space seriously. The title alone is a big clue as to how the movie is going
to play. It’s campy, goofy, and fun. Killer
Klowns is written, produced, and directed by the Chiodo Brothers. They’re
mainly known as special effects artists, who created puppets and effects for
movies like Team America: World Police
and Critters. Their specialty is what
drives the fun of Killer Klowns. The design,
look, and general playfulness of the antagonists are why you keep watching. The
Chiodo’s made a good movie around the successful implementation of a fun idea
with the practical and special effects to make it worthwhile.
The
whole point of the film is to watch some gnarly looking clowns from another
world murder people in hilarious ways. In this sense, the film is a complete success.
Otherwise, it’s not so great. The story is thin and merely strings together a
series of scenes involving alien clowns doing dastardly things. The characters
fit the horror movie archetypes we see over and over again. The attempts at
humor not using the villains are misguided at best and annoying at worst. But,
all of this is outweighed by the sheer schlocky fun of the movie itself.
There
really aren’t any good performances in Killer
Klowns with one exception: John
Vernon. He continues his career of playing Dean Wormer from Animal House, but as a police officer. Everyone
else knows they’re in a movie about evil clown aliens and doesn’t even try.
You
don’t watch Killer Klowns unless you
already understand that this is going to be ridiculous. Once you’ve accepted
cheese into your heart, the movie is such a good time. Unless you have Coulrophobia,
in which case this might be your equivalent of Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom. Either campy horror comedy appeals
to you or it doesn’t.
8 out of 10
