Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988)

Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988) A spaceship filled with aliens who look like clowns terrorize a small California town.

This is a solid, if low budget, spoof of horror science fiction movies. At first blush, it just feels like a really bad movie. Further viewing reveals the intentional mocking of the genre. Little touches like changing the stock alien spiderweb-type wrapping for victims to pink cotton candy take the movie to creditable heights.

In other words, this has cult classic written all over it.  The movie makers manage to walk the knife’s edge on this one successfully.  Every time I thought they were going to collapse, the movie steps back from the edge.  It’s kind of amazing in itself.

The cast is made up of unknowns with two exceptions. Veteran character actor Royal Dano appears as a version of his usual rural man-of-the earth. Sadly, he’s not onscreen long as he is the first human victim.

The other notable is John Vernon, best known as Dean Wormer in “Animal House”. He’s given a two-dimensional “cop who hates college kids” character but has some fun with it.

In the end, that’s the takeaway for this movie. It’s fun. There is just the right touch of creepy/scary to balance the comedy. That’s an impressive bit of creativity.

Why You Will Like It: – Silly but nicely done spoof with lots of fun moments

Rating – ***Worth A Look