Review of Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) by Allan C — 27 May 2018

The Chiodo Brother's cult classic is mostly a cult classic because of it's clever title and goofy premiss, but what actually ends up on screen isn't all that funny, scary, or clever. The story is basically the same as "The Blob," with a folksy townsperson, Royal Dano, discovering aliens in the nearby woods.

Instead of discovering a blob in the woods, Dano discovers a spaceship in the form of a circus tent with the aliens the form of giant clowns. Both films primarily focus on group of teens who are the only one who know what's really going on.

A major difference between the two films is that "The Blob" had a young Steve McQueen as the lead teen saving the town (though he was playing a 28-year old teenager), but in "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" there's no one of McQueen's level of charisma (but honestly there's only a handful of actors who can even come close to McQueen levels of cool).

However, in the film's favor, there are a couple strong character actors in supporting roles, with John Vernon as a town sheriff and the above mentioned Royal Dano as an old coot. There's also a before-he-was-famous Chris Titus in a small role.

Overall, in the spirit of Roger Corman showmanship, "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" features a title and poster that grabs the audiences attention much more so than the actual film, but it's not that bad of a film and is moderately entertaining.