"What are you gonna do with those pies boys?"
Aliens from outer space land in the woods near the small town of Crescent Cove. Two teenagers Mike (Grant Cramer) and Debbie (Suzanne Snyder) see what they think is a shooting star. They go and investigate. What they find is a spaceship. Inside are people wrapped in cocoons hanging from the ceiling. They manage to escape and tell the police. At first the police don’t believe them. Then people in town start disappearing. Scary right?
It would be if that was the extent of it. You would expect people to not believe you if you said aliens from outer space landed. But when you say killer klowns from outer space, well, maybe you shouldn’t even bother reporting it. It’s not like you need another reason to be afraid of clowns. Between “It” and John Wayne Gacy things are pretty much covered. One thing “Killer Klowns” illustrates is that anything can be terrifying if it comes from outer space. The Chiodo brothers have taken the most innocuous items and turned them into the stuff of nightmares. Cotton candy cocoons, balloon animals that hunt, popcorn bazookas, monster shadow puppets, pies that melt people.
"Killer Klowns From Outer Space" was released in 1988 and was directed by Stephen Chiodo. With just the name of the movie alone you would expect it to be lame, campy, and stupid. And it is. But there is something else here too. What they do to Deputy Curtis Mooney (John Vernon) is absolutely terrifying. He may be good at playing an ass, but he didn’t deserve that.
It’s a horror and a comedy. The clown make-up is great. They look both comical and frightening at the same time. The death scenes are inventive and the weapons are creative. Even the spaceship is both alien and 80’s fun house. A lot of imagination went into it.
If you laugh and think it’s stupid. Great that’s what they wanted you to do. If you cringe and think it’s creepy. Great that’s what they wanted you to do. If it gives you a few nightmares. Great that’s what they wanted you to have.