Credentials: 71%, Certified Fresh (Rottentomatoes.com) / 5.7
out of 10 (Imdb.com)
Plot: A night on lover’s lane takes a bizarre turn for two
teens when a spaceship crash lands nearby. The ship resembles a giant circus
tent and is full of aliens who look like clowns and are armed to the pointy
teeth with acidic pies and popcorn guns. Even worse: The aliens have no
interest in coming in peace and have a taste for humans. It’s up to the teens
and one half of the local police force (it’s a two-man precinct) to stop the
aliens from turning the town--- and maybe even the entire world--- into a huge intergalactic
smorgasbord.
Why it stinks: Well, honestly, it doesn’t. Not really
anyway.
“Killer
Klowns from Outer Space” is an extremely cheesy movie, but by god is it
entertaining! It’s a sometimes hilarious, sometimes just chuckle-inducing horror
comedy that has some fun with 50’s sci-fi classics like “The Blob” and “Invasion
of the Body Snatchers.”
Sure,
the acting is pretty bad across the board, the dialogue is clunky and the
effects have NOT aged well, especially the killer klown masks. But the movie
manages to get by on its zany charms, its surreal premise and the near-limitless
imaginations of its creators, the Chiodo Brothers.
How
could you honestly hate a movie where the villains encase their victims in
cocoons made of cotton candy in order to suck their blood through crazy straws?
Tell me how you could hate a movie like that? It’s just too much fun.
Granted,
the humor is uneven. Like I said earlier, the movie has its gut-busting
moments, but it also drags a bit and occasionally the humor is just a little
too dumb for its own good.
I’m
looking at you, Michael Siegel and Peter Licassi. These two play the Terenzi
Brothers, a pair of bumbling ice cream truck drivers who end up having way too
much to do near the film’s finale. The duo exists simply for comedic relief,
but I’d argue the movie doesn’t need them. The villains are freakin’ clowns for
god sakes! How much more comedic relief do you need!?
The
movie makes use of several classic B-movie clichés: the kids who feel the need
to investigate the “shooting star,” the needlessly angry cop who doesn’t
believe a word anyone says to him about anything, etc.
“Killer
Klowns from Outer Space” also sports one of the more confusing love triangles
this side of “Pearl Harbor.” It seems one of the teens has a romantic history with
the cop she’s not entirely over quite yet. This makes things very uncomfortable
near the finale when she gets all smootchy smootchy with the law man, right in
front of her current boyfriend. Awk-ward!
But
that’s mostly splitting hairs. “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” is a cheesy drive-in
style classic. It’s a fun way to burn an hour and a half on a rainy day.
Compared to some of the garbage I’ve watched for this site, movies with much,
much bigger budgets, “Klowns” seems downright good.
Worst
of the worst: Really anything with the Terenzi Bros. would qualify. If I had to
pick one, I’d say the ridiculous escape scene where they drive an ice cream
truck through the wall of a spaceship. The truck barely gets a scratch on it,
but the ship doesn’t look so good. Take that aliens! Our cars are tougher than
your rocket ships! Ummm… Booyah, I guess?
Video
evidence
Beware of Klowns bearing pies...
And pizza...
A best of... Beware here be spoilers!
So
there you go, “Killer Klowns from Outer Space." Bumblebee tuna.
