Review of Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) by Ryan M — 09 Oct 2010

6.0/10.

?Killer Klowns from Outer Space? is designed to be so bad that it?s good. Well, the filmmakers succeeded in doing just that. ?Killer Klowns? is such a horribly stupid movie that it?s actually entertaining and quite funny. Luckily, that was all intended. There aren?t many films that are THIS campy, let alone good films such as this. Those films should look at ?Killer Klowns? for guidance, since what it offers is certainly satisfactory. It accomplishes everything that it wants to accomplish. But you may be asking, ?So why isn?t it all that great?? It?s kind of obvious, actually. As I said, this film is one that happens to suck at heart, but it?s made to be so bat-shite horrible that it?s good. It can never be ?that great? no matter how down-right funny it is. It?s a bad movie underneath the sense of humor and ridiculous clichés, and it is aware of our awareness. ?Killer Klowns? isn?t exactly trying to be anything ridiculously awesome, as it is a mostly forgettable horror-comedy. If it were to be memorable for anything at all, it would be remembered for being uncommonly stupid fun. It?s not as fun as other horror comedies such as ?The Evil Dead?, although it?s still better than a whole lot of horror-comedies, horror films, and comedy flicks in general. And that?s good enough for me. So if you?re in to stuff like this and you can get by whatever this film is failing at doing, ?Killer Klowns from Outer Space? is funny, funny stuff. As far as I know, fans of campy horror will be rather happy campers. Otherwise, it will probably strike the general audience as cheesy enough to get either their consent or their disgust. Either way, this could have been one of the worst films ever made, yet humor makes it far from that. It?s decent, it?s funny, and it?s speedy. And it?s all of these things without surrendering its lack of intelligence to the filmic devil. For once, that?s an exception, not a complaint. For once, this is a film that doesn?t need a brain when it has a heart. I seriously couldn?t have wanted it any different, better, or possibly worse.

There is not plot when it comes to ?Killer Klowns? aside from the weird-ass attempt at a plot. It goes like this: Our world is threatened by murderous clowns from space who wrap us up in cotton candy cocoons and kill us through demonic popcorn. They also like to zap us out of existence with their little ?special evaporation rays? and the like. There?s panic on the streets and much frenzy due to these intergalactic attackers, although there seems to be a way to live through the invasion. So what do you do? You run. You run for about an hour and a half. Then you?re done. You?re out. You?re safe. Until they make a sequel. I?ve got this strange feeling in my gut telling me that the alien clowns? carnival-tent-spacecraft will come back to end us all. And so will the clowns. There?s not much to the story aside from a bunch of people running from the clowns. Not a whole lot of development character-wise is needed. For what it is, ?Killer Klowns? is a pretty entertaining film. It doesn?t have much of a point, but who really cares, especially when you?ve got some of the most ridiculously dumb death scenes ever made being thrown at you every second. It makes for something funny rather than something remotely compelling. Shall I call it interesting? No, I shall not call it that. Because there?s really not much to this film aside from it being funny enough to be decently made. It?s not compelling, it?s just dumb fun. It is what it is, and it works so well because it knows just what it is. Take it seriously and you will hate it. Watch it with no care whatsoever and get ready to laugh your ass off at some of the dumbest things in existence.

The acting in this film is predictable and cheesy. The dialogue FEELS awful, although I see no evidence of it being wrist-slittingly bad. Grant Cramer is as cheesy as everyone else, and nearly unforgivable. But he?s meant to be as bad as he is. Too bad nobody should be asked to be bad. In this case, however, I can make an exception. The hero has a love interest, who is played by Suzanne Snyder. These two individuals give off the impression that every single actor is there for either laughs or nothing at all. I mean, it?s not like either Snyder or Cramer are of importance. It?s not as if they have a damn good purpose (or any purpose for the matter). Essentially, it?s all about the laughs. There are people underneath those clown costumes, you know. None of them are famous enough to remember the names of, although?kudos to them for putting up with it.

Visually, ?Killer Klowns? is as dumb as you?d imagine it to be. The ?Klowns? look to awful that they?re funny, and the cinematography is so average that?well, there?s just not a whole lot to say about it. The CG work is laughably and effortlessly bad, as is the ideas behind the film. ?Killer Klowns? is either an imaginatively dumb piece of work or a less imaginatively dumb one. Either way, you?ve got to give the makers of the film a little credit for taking everyone?s favorite phobia and making it the funniest looking thing in recent memory. The music consists of a couple mediocre tunes as well as a theme courtesy of The Dickies. Joy? Sort of. Fun? It could be. It all depends on two things, and those things would be who you are and what mood you are in. Sure, the cult status of this film may not appeal to everyone?s liking, although it?s a fun little movie. It?s fun to watch with a couple more people, considering how so-bad-it?s-good the film is. But beware, there?s not much to it aside from offering a dumb horror/comedy experience. It is, none the less, one of the semi-good ones. I would recommend it to those who are in to the ?dumb? movies as well as anyone looking for a decent clown associated film. To its credit, it may as well be the best movie to involve killer popcorn as well as cotton candy cocoons. At least it has something going for it, unlike some horror-comedies.

I?d love to bash the hell out of ?Killer Klowns from Outer Space?, although that?s simply impossible. Just because this is a bad film doesn?t mean it?s a ?bad film?. By definition, it?s definitely not horrible. A bad film shouldn?t be enjoyable. This movie IS enjoyable, due to how bad it is. It accomplishes more than most clown horror films, and it can?t get much better than this. It?s funny, short, forgettable, but entertaining. Take it as you will, but don?t take it seriously. That will just plain ruin the whole darn thing. And if you do that?well, then you?re screwed and so is this movie. I?m up for watching a sequel, if the thing is ever made. However, I?m prepared to approach the sequel with mixed expectations as I expect it to be no better nor worse than this little creature feature. ?Killer Klowns? is like something Ed Wood would make, although he wouldn?t make it to get a few laughs out of people. He would have probably expected the audience to be scared and riveted by the experience. Therefore, ?Killer Klowns? feels like nothing of another particular director but rather something of its own kind. A movie like this doesn?t come along often, and for good reason. So?dig in while it lasts. Because if you do, you may enjoy yourself. Just don?t go in expecting anything more than laughs and?killer clowns, from outer space of course. And killer popcorn. That one?s ingenious. So basically, this is a decently executed film, for what it is at least. Take the thing as you will.