Today, when people think of clowns, they usually picture scary clowns like the clown doll from Poltergeist, the sadistic Captain Spaulding from House of 1,000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects, or the villainous Pennywise from Stephen King’s IT, either played by Tim Curry or Bill Skarsgård. But back in the 80s, with the exception of the doll as mentioned before, clowns weren’t really seen as the stuff of nightmares in popular culture. They were just seen as they were traditionally were, as buffoons who often get hit with a pie in the face or trip over themselves for our amusement. That is, until 1988, when the Chiodo Brothers, special effects artists known for their work on films like Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Critters, and later Team America: World Police, gave us a new terrifying vision of clowns with their magnum opus, Killer Klowns from Outer Space.
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The film begins like many sci-fi B-movies of the 50s, with young people camped out in their cars for a good time, when suddenly an apparent shooting star falls near them. As per tradition, a bumbling old man and his mangy dog follow where the star fell, only to find a giant circus tent. Too bad for them that this is no ordinary tent, for it’s actually a spacecraft that the titular killer klowns use as transportation from wherever far-off planet they come from. Soon, Mike Tobacco, played by Grant Cramer, and his girlfriend Debbie Stone, played by Suzanne Snyder, decide to check out the tent, only to find that the aliens have been harvesting people in giant cotton candy cocoons. They try reporting it to the authorities, including Dave Hansen, played by John Allen Nelson, and the curmudgeonly bitter Curtis Mooney, played by the scene-stealing late great John Vernon, but of course, they don’t believe them. It isn’t too long before the klowns strike and cause havoc throughout the town, using a variety of weapons including popcorn guns, pies filled with acid, and ray guns that encase people in cotton candy cocoons.
I’m just going to come right out and say that this movie is an absolute blast! This movie is so much fun to watch and I feel that this is the kind of movie that you simply can’t watch without a smile on your face, unless you’re deathly afraid of clowns that is. While not exactly a straight-up parody or spoof, the movie definitely feels like the Chiodo Brothers are paying homage to the old sci-fi creature features of the 50s and 60s, movies like The Blob, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Invaders from Mars, and Forbidden Planet. The movie hits a lot of the same beats as those movies, from the authorities not believing the youngsters and thinking they’re just a bunch of delinquents, to the klowns’ ship crashing to Earth like a meteorite. It’s also interesting to note that the movie was originally just called Killer Klowns before the Chiodos decided to add from Outer Space to clue the audience in on the humor. While the klowns obviously steal the show, I would be remiss to not talk about the main human characters. Grant Cramer, while mostly playing it straight, intentionally overemphasizes his lines to make them sound more dramatic, but not too much to where it feels like they’re beating you over the head with it. Suzanne Snyder does ham it up a bit, but not to the extent that Cramer does, though she is still very likable and fun. John Allen Nelson is more of the straight man in this, but he does have his moments where he shines. Aside from the klowns, John Vernon dominates the few scenes he has in the movie, and you can tell that he’s having a blast in the movie. Then there’s the Terenzi brothers, played by Michael Siegel and Peter Licassi, who are the main comic reliefs in the film, and at times they can be kind of annoying, but it is still fun seeing them bicker with one another and trying to pick up chicks.
To go into the more technical aspects, the special effects, even thirty years later, still hold up. This is a classic example of why practical effects will always be better than modern CGI. You’ve got guys in costumes, fully-articulated heads, puppets, some stop-motion animation, and some great make-up effects as well. It is just brimming with style and creativity, and you can really see the Chiodo Brothers’ talent on display. Also worth mentioning is the instantly catchy theme song by the punk rock group, The Dickies. It is the perfect song to get you in the mood for some killer klowns shenanigans, and it will stick with you even after the movie is over. All in all, this is a really fun and inventive horror-comedy that takes something harmless and fun, and completely turns it on its head. Now, here’s hoping the Chiodos make that sequel that we’ve been asking for. After all, if we could be subjected to three Big Momma’s House movies, then I think we’re due for a Killer Klowns from Outer Space 2.
