Killer Klowns from Outer Space
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| Killer Klowns from Outer Space | |
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| Directed by | Stephen Chiodo |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Charles Chiodo Edward Chiodo Stephen Chiodo |
| Written by | Charles Chiodo Edward Chiodo Stephen Chiodo |
| Starring | Grant Cramer Suzanne Snyder John Allen Nelson John Vernon Michael Siegel Peter Licassi Royal Dano |
| Music by | John Massari |
| Cinematography | Alfred Taylor |
| Editing by | Christopher Roth |
| Distributed by | Trans World Entertainment (TWE) |
| Release date(s) | May 27, 1988 (USA) |
| Running time | 88 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,000,000 (estimated) |
Killer Klowns From Outer Space is a 1988 American comedy horror movie, made by The Chiodo Brothers and starring Grant Cramer. It is the only Chiodo Brothers directed and written film - they have worked in many other projects in other roles, such as producing and visual effects.
The film is about aliens (who look like clowns) that arrive on Earth to capture and harvest people in order to use them as sustenance.
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[edit] Plot
An army of sadistic alien life forms, who resemble clowns, land their circus tent ship in the sleepy American town of Crescent Cove (filmed in Santa Cruz, California). Mike Tobacco (Cramer) and Debbie Stone (Snyder), out for a romantic evening, spot the newcomers and decide to investigate. They soon encounter the Klowns and barely escape capture, having been shot at by a "popcorn gun." Mike and Debbie rush into town to warn others of the impending danger.
Naturally, they first try to warn the police. Their warnings are met with scorn by Sgt. Mooney, convinced that the couple are nothing more than kids trying to pull a prank. They are viewed with equal skepticism by another police officer, Dave Hanson (John Allen Nelson). Hanson also happens to be Debbie's ex-boyfriend, and his dislike of Mike is evident.
Meanwhile, the Klown Army advances into Crescent Cove, inflicting a genocide during their occupation. They harvest the unsuspecting population, blasting random victims with a ray gun that cocoons them with cotton candy, with lethal results. The Klown Army uses a variety of seemingly innocent methods to ensnare their victims such as killer shadow puppets, bloodhound-like balloon animals and a ray gun that looks like a child's toy. Since the methods themselves appear whimsical, the townspeople don't know they are in danger until it's too late.
One of the Klown Soldiers appears inside Mooney's police station. Mooney, thinking the Klown is a kid playing a prank on him, arrests it, throws it in a jail cell, and pledges to make the "pranker's" life a living Hell. After striking the Klown with his flashlight from behind, the Klown eerily turns his head around and strangles the police captain with a blow out, killing him.
When Officer Hanson sees a Klown use a Tyrannosaurus rex shadow puppet to capture a group of townspeople waiting for a bus, he is finally convinced of the danger and offers to help Mike and Debbie (who have also recruited the Terenzi brothers, a pair of local goof-offs who drive an ice cream truck). Hanson later arrives at the police station and discovers Mooney dead and being used as a puppet by the Klown that slew him. A horrified Hanson shoots the Klown several times until he discovers that the klown's nose is a weak spot. After shooting the Klown's nose, the Klown dramatically spins around at almost speed of sound , until it eventually explodes, becoming the first Klown to be killed by a human.
While the town is being slaughtered, Debbie is attacked twice and taken away by the Klowns in a balloon.
Debbie is taken back to the Klowns' "Big Top" circus tent-spaceship. Mike, Officer Hanson and the Terenzi brothers pursue them. It is there that they discover why the Klown Army has been capturing people. By cocooning them inside their cotton candy, the Klowns gelatinize the humans' bodies into a liquid that is digestible. Vast numbers of victims (a majority of the town's population) are being stored aboard Big Top. The Klowns insert a crazy straw into the cotton candy, sucking the deceased victims' gelatinized bodies.
Debbie is eventually freed, and a hole is crashed into Big Top by the Terenzi Brothers' ice cream truck. Rich and Paul Terenzi, using their PA system, pretend to be the Klowns' leader (there's a giant clown's head with a sugar cone-hat on top of the truck). They tell the Klowns to let Mike, Debbie, and Officer Hanson go. The leader of the Klown Army (standing at approx. thirty feet tall) emerges and seemingly kills the Terenzis. A showdown between Hanson and "Klownzilla" ensues, with Hanson being easily caught by the Klown's clutches. The Klown brings Hanson to his face (perhaps to study or eat him) and in turn is destroyed by Hanson who uses his police badge to penetrate the Klown's nose. It and the alien's spaceship explode. Despite everything, the heroes and the Terenzis survive unscathed.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Grant Cramer | Mike Tobacco |
| Suzanne Snyder | Debbie Stone |
| John Allen Nelson | Dave Hanson |
| John Vernon | Curtis Mooney |
| Michael Siegel | Rich Terenzi |
| Peter Licassi | Paul Terenzi |
| Royal Dano | Farmer Gene Green |
| Chris Titus | Bob McReed |
| Irene Michaels | Stacy |
| Karla Sue Krull | Tracy |
[edit] Action figure
In 2006 SOTA Toys produced a Killer Klown figurine as part of their Now Playing movie action figures line.
There are two such figures. The first is the most common Klown in the movie, a Klown warrior armed with a deadly popcorn blaster, cotton candy coccoon victim, and a colourful base with a pole to hang the deceased. A Tower Records exclusive figure of the same Klown mold has a radical blue paint scheme with vibrant red and purple highlights. This warrior comes with all the same accessories as the regular Klown, with the exception of the blaster; instead he is equipped with a sinister bat (similar to those the aliens use at end of the movie to pummel the heroes). Though the latter Klown model is considered a one-off variant, it can clearly be seen near the end of the film as one of the first Klowns to reveal itself. It can also be seen earlier in the film during the Klown parade, where it is one of the two Klowns pushing the vacuum that collects the cotton candy cocoons. The only discrepancy is that the figurine comes with a white bat, rather than one of the red ones wielded in the film.There's a Shadow Puppet Bozo action figure also.
SOTA's Jerry Macaluso has stated that he would like to create a mega-size "Klownzilla" figure (approx.size up to 20 inches high or more).
[edit] Reception
Killer Klowns has become a cult favorite. According to the commentary, Chiodos Brothers are planning to make a sequel to the movie with the only thing holding them is the plot of the sequel.
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[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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