Happy 2020, everybody! We took some time off after The Lighthouse but we're back and what a better way to start off the year than with a review of one of my favorite cult classics. We've done a couple different movies about clowns. On our main show, we reviewed both It and It Chapter Two on here on 2Spooky we reviewed Terrifier, but this is the OG. Killer Klowns from Outer Space is one of those so-bad-it's-good movies that the rest of the MRC crew might hate, but I love wholeheartedly. Why do I love this movie so much? Well, let me explain.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space is the 1988 masterpiece (yes, masterpiece I'll fight anyone on that) written and directed by Stephen Chiodo. Starring Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, John Allen Nelson, and John Vernon, Killer Klowns from Outer Space is about...well...killer clowns from outer space. That's it. There's no rhyme or reason to what they or why they're here. They just show up and start killin', and really that's all it needs to be. Given that the monsters in this movie are a bunch of 7-foot-tall clowns, the kills are all pretty slapstick in nature. From cotton candy cocoons to flesh-melting pies to popcorn guns to shadow puppets that eat people, there is no end to the creativeness. Did I mention that this movie has a banger soundtrack? Because it does. Check this out:
Naturally, this movie has a decent audience approval on Rotten Tomatoes at 60%, but surprisingly the critic approval is even higher at 77%! Don't try to tell me that it's only because there are 22 critic reviews. The way I see it, there are two types of people in the world. Those that love Killer Klowns and those that haven't seen it yet.
What about the acting though? Well most of it is pretty garbage, but there is one performance that is so absolutely fantastic that it more than makes up for all the other performances in the movie, and that is John Vernon as police officer Curtis Mooney. Our introduction to this character is him bringing in a couple of college kids for drinking a bottle of wine in the park and his attitude of just hating these, and all other kids is just fantastic. He straight up threatens to murder people more than once just for being annoying and that is 100% my kind of character. He also doesn't believe anything about killer clowns so when the entire town tries to call the police about the attacks he completely blows them off and the way that Vernon delivers his lines makes it absolutely fantastic. He's easily the best character in the movie and if you don't believe me, here is a bit of a conversation that he has with another police officer to help prove my point:
The clowns themselves aren't anything to sneeze at either. The costumes are all pretty good and the clown effects look great for being as low budget as the movie is. There are a couple instances where the effects aren't practical and it looks like butt, but there are only one or two small moments where that happens and the moments are over so fast that it doesn't damper the movie. Also there is a scene where the clowns are chasing our main characters and they make a balloon animal dog to track down their scent, and that's amazing and you can't convince me otherwise. I also love the idea that in order to kill the clowns you have to shoot them in the nose. It's so stupid but the entire movie is on this level of absurdity so it's easy to buy in and accept it.
If you haven't seen Killer Klowns from Outer Space you're missing out. Don't let the haters on our show tell you otherwise. The movie is an amazing, dark, silly romp that you can keep going back to again and again and if you watch it and hate it, it won't take up too much of your time. If you have seen it I would love to know your thoughts on the film. Drop me a comment and we'll talk about it!