Editorials
‘Killer Klowns from Outer Space’ Turns 30!
Born from the single, frightening image of driving down a lonely road at night and the only other car on the road passes you with a clown behind the wheel eerily staring as it drives by evolved into one of the most quirky, memorable horror films of the ‘80s. That, combined with the unforgettable title for the film and their film creative experience meant that the Chiodo brothers’ first feature was destined for instant cult status. Released on May 27, 1988, audiences had just as much fun with Killer Klowns from Outer Space as the Chiodo brothers did making it, so it’s no surprise that 30 years later there’s still hope for more.
Fresh off special effects work on Critters 2 and Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, and with a title that literally sold itself, the Chiodos dove head first into creating their own first feature full of childhood inspirations and an iconic production design. Stephen directed, Charles handled production design, and Edward produced. All three wrote the screenplay together. The story is simple; alien klowns descend from space and use the small town in which they’ve landed as a feeding ground. Only Mike Tobacco, Debbie Stone, and Deputy Dave Hanson seem aware that the town is in trouble.
The Chiodos’ childhood influences on their film are overt; the opening sequence alone that begins on make-out point and follows the Klowns’ crash landing up until they claim their first victims emulates the original opening of 1958’s The Blob. There are nods to Forbidden Planet and Wizard of Oz. On a more personal level, though, many of the characters in the film are modeled after people they grew up with, including their character quirks. The Terenzi brothers and their attempts to lure women by way of ice cream truck were based on people they knew who did just that. The couple making out in the back of the car in an inflatable raft? Also a true story.
Childhood influences aside, the Chiodos crammed every possible clown trope and stereotype they could think of in their film. The clown car crammed full, popcorn, balloons, pies in the face, shadow puppetry, ventriloquism, cotton candy, and bold candy colors were all used to lure in victims before twisting into something far more nefarious and deadly. Cotton candy may never be the same for those watching for the first time, with the discovery of the very spider-like way the Klowns drink down their victims through crazy straws injected into cotton candy cocoons of dissolved flesh.
Of course, the protagonists Mike, Debbie, and Dave and their unresolved love triangle takes a back seat to the true stars; those killer klowns. The klowns didn’t really have names in the script, but decades later, thanks to the Chiodos coming up with them during production, hardcore fans fondly pick favorites among Fatso, Slim, Tiny, Shorty, Slam, Jumbo, and more. In the grand finale, there were about 40 klowns on screen circling the trapped humans. The largest of which was Klownzilla, a massive killer klown originally intended to be handled via stop-motion animation. Ultimately, it was another rubber suit with animatronic facial movements with Charles Chiodo as the performer.
The Chiodos’ background in special effects really worked in the film’s favor, making the klowns’ mayhem feel larger than its low budget. From puppetry, animatronics, to animation, the Chiodos utilized their experience and creativity to ensure every gag landed, or get inventive when they didn’t. Throw in an extremely catchy original theme song by the Dickies, and the film’s sense of fun became outright contagious.
The tongue-in-cheek humor and goofy premise of Killer Klowns from Outer Space seems very of its time, in the sense that it’s very difficult to imagine this would get greenlit today. Rumors have circulated on sequel potential for years, and the Chiodo brothers have continued to express desire to return to the universe they created. It’s rare to watch a movie where the filmmakers’ joy at making it feels palpable, and it would be fun to see where they would take this world after 30 more years of experience under their belt. It also is long past time to know if Debbie chose Mike or Dave (I predict Dave). Or if there are any Terenzi klown babies they owe child support for. But, really, it’s time to catch up with Tiny and Fatso. Happy 30th to one of the wackiest ‘80s horror films, Killer Klowns from Outer Space.
It’s been 75 years since The Thing From Another World first warned us to “watch the skies”, and filmgoers have done just that by showing up to multiple instances of extraterrestrial contact on the big screen. This makes sense, as a recent CBS news poll estimated that 63% of Americans believe in intelligent life on other planets, and the ongoing disclosure movement aims to raise that number with each passing day.
With Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day leaving many genre fans hungry for more alien footage (preferably of the spooky variety), today I’d like to share a list recommending six underrated alien invasion thrillers for your viewing pleasure. After all, regardless of whether or not you believe that we’re alone in the universe, it can be fun to dream about the worst-case scenario if our cosmic neighbors ever decide to visit.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be focusing on lesser-known invasion stories rather than the popular extraterrestrials of franchises like Alien and Close Encounters of the Third (or even Fourth) Kind. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own alien favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling movie.
While it won’t be featured in this article, I’d highly recommend checking out Dean Alioto’s UFO Abduction/The McPherson Tape if you’re up for some ufology-inspired found footage thrills.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. The Arrival (1996)
Not to be confused with Denis Villeneuve’s Academy Award-winning Amy Adams vehicle about learning to communicate peacefully with extraterrestrial life, David Twohy’s The Arrival is a much more straightforward (but no less entertaining) genre romp where Charlie Sheen faces a global conspiracy involving hostile alien invaders.
It’s not exactly up there with Close Encounters or even Independence Day, but Twohy’s conspiratorial thriller plays out like an exceptionally fun episode of The X-Files that I’d recommend to sci-fi/horror fans who don’t mind a little bit of wonky CGI and 90s excess alongside their alien thrills.
5. Extraterrestrial (2014)
The Vicious Brothers made a name for themselves with the success of 2011’s Grave Encounters, but that was far from the Canadian duo’s only collaboration. And while it’s not exactly a fan favorite, I always point out 2014’s Extraterrestrial as one of their most underrated projects simply because I agree with the filmmakers’ opinion that there aren’t enough ‘cool alien abduction movies’ out there.
Admittedly, the majority of the picture functions like a run-of-the-mill creature feature with paper-thin characters and familiar horror tropes, but I’d argue that the cosmically-terrifying final act elevates the experience to new and memorable heights. The movie also boasts great performances by both Michael Ironside and Emily Perkins – a combination that more than makes up for the occasionally janky CGI.
4. Alien Raiders (2008)
Director Ben Rock has gone on record lamenting how his John-Carpenter-inspired creature feature was forcefully renamed from Supermarket to the painfully obvious Alien Raiders (a change which likely resulted in many potential viewers skipping out on the experience), but the new title doesn’t change the fact that this single-location thriller is something of a hidden gem.
Taking place entirely within a supermarket, Alien Raiders tells the story of an ensemble of customers and employees who are taken hostage by a group of armed men looking for something far more dangerous than an easy payout. I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoiling the experience, but I’d highly recommend this criminally underseen flick to fans of John Carpenter and the Resident Evil games.
3. Phoenix Forgotten (2017)
You’d think that a Ridley-Scott-produced retelling of one of the most infamous real-life UFO sightings of all time would have a bigger following, but I rarely see Justin Barber’s Found Footage period piece brought up during discussions about extraterrestrial-focused horror movies.
This is a huge shame, as Phoenix Forgotten is just as spooky as it is convincing, with this well-researched dive into the Phoenix Lights incident benefiting from surprisingly believable special effects as well as an appropriately horrific finale.
2. Communion (1989)
I wouldn’t blame you for disregarding Whitley Strieber’s controversial book about his alleged close encounter as sensationalist slop, but I’d argue that Phillipe Mora’s 1989 adaptation of these events is much better than the source material. After all, the movie works as a standalone piece of speculative fiction while also benefiting from an incredible performance by the one and only Christopher Walken!
Mora’s take on Communion may not be particularly scary, but the film is still an unforgettable character study regardless of whether or not the abduction really happened. Not only that, but the flick also paved the way for plenty of future sci-fi stories where the extraterrestrial invaders aren’t as evil as they initially appear.
1. Altered (2006)
Originally envisioned as a Sam Raimi-style horror-comedy titled Probed, Eduardo Sánchez (of The Blair Witch Project fame) eventually realized that it would be much more interesting to turn the film into a serious exploration of the emotional aftermath of a traumatic abduction incident.
That’s how we got Altered, a clever inversion of the standard abduction narrative that follows a group of troubled friends as they capture and experiment on an alien in order to enact revenge for their own abduction years prior.
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