Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a 1988 American science fiction comedy horror film written, directed and produced by the Chiodo Brothers and starring Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, John Allen Nelson and John Vernon, about the invasion of a small town by murderous alien creatures who strangely resemble circus clowns.
The film was released on May 27, 1988, and has gained moderately positive reviews from critics and has earned a 75% rating on the film review website Rotten Tomatoes. The special effects, visual design, and suspense of the film were praised while several critics have stated that the plot was simple, reminiscent of several monster movies between the 1950s to the present (often called B-movies) that on average receive mixed reviews.
Contents
- 1 Summary
- 2 Plot
- 3 Characters
- 4 Prop Objects
- 5 Weapons
- 6 Legacy
- 7 Media
Summary[]
Students Mike (Grant Cramer) and Debbie (Suzanne Snyder), on their first date at "The Top of The World", a local"Make-Out" Point, are quite intensely conducting their own anatomical studies when they're distracted by what appears to be a falling star plummeting to Earth. Curious, Mike and Debbie investigate, and after driving to a spot a few miles outside of town, they discover... a weird, glowing circus tent?! Unknowingly, Mike and Debbie have stumbled upon the site of an incredible phenomenon; the "circus tent" is in fact the home of a strange alien breed - Killer Klowns from outer space. But these clowns are no laughing matter.
Plot[]
An army of sadistic alien forms who resemble clowns land their circus tent ship in the sleepy American town of Crescent Cove (Watsonville, Santa Cruz, California). An old man, named Farmer Gene Green discovers the spaceship, but, while investigating,he and his dog, named Pooh Bear, are quickly executed byone ofthe alien Klowns named Jumbo. A young couple, Mike Tobacco and Debbie Stone, who areout for a romantic evening, encounter the Klowns' spaceship and goof around for a while until they enter a room with a few cotton candy cocoons and a few giant balloons. They find the old man's corpse in one of the cocoons just as a Klown named Rudy enters, carrying in a new cocoon. He then goes over to a Popcorn Incubator to watch over the Klown offspring. As he is doing this, Mike accidentally knocks over a bottle, alerting Rudy of their presence. The two barely escape as they are chased by Rudy and Spikey. Mike and Debbie rush into their car and knock down Rudy and Spike, but the Klowns were unharmed. As they drive away, Bibbo leaps onto the car, but falls off. Mike and Debbie go into town to warn Dave, a police officer, of the impending danger. Meanwhile, the Klowns follow them into town. The Klown army harvests the unsuspecting population, blasting random victims with a ray gun that cocoons them with a cotton candy-like substance, with lethal results. The Klown army uses a variety of seemingly innocent methods to ensnare their victims, such as killer shadow puppets, bloodhound-like balloon animals, and a ray gun that looks like a child's toy. Since the methods themselves appear whimsical, the townspeople don't realize they are in danger until it's too late.
Once he is in town, Rudy invades a drug store, knocking over everything in sight, and then kills the clerk. He and two Klowns then pretend to deliver a pizza to a girl's house, and a little klown named Shorty jumps out of the box and kills her with his cotton candy ray gun. In the park, Spikey puts on a puppet show that lures a guy to his death. Downtown, Shortydrives up on his tricycle into an alley full of biker thugs, and one of the bikers decides to pick on the little Klown by smashing his tricycle. Shorty gets mad and punches the thug's head clean off while the rest of the gang flees. Jumbo goes to the "Big Top Burger" hut and tries to lure a little girl into its trap, but fails, infuriating the Klown.A Klown named Slim (who has the ability to float on the highway) has a demolition derby with a guy on the road. The Klown rams right into him and plows him off the road and over a ledge to his death.
The police keep getting calls from everyone in town about the Klowns, but the abrasive Officer Mooneyjust thinks the whole town is in on the prank pulled by the Terenzi Brothers. At the same time,Jumbo plants popcorn, which can grow into clownish serpent-like creatures, that drag an employee to his doom. Officer Mooney finally discovers the truthwhen Jumbo appears at the police station, taunting him with his practical jokes until Mooney ordershim into the jail cell, hittinghim on the head with his club.Jumbo gets angry and ambushes him, but Mooney thinks it's all an elaborate hoax until it is too late. Meanwhile, Mike and Dave drive to the spot where the spaceship had been, (it had moved to another spot), and discover evidence of Joe Lombardo's death. Mike and Dave drive back to the town and witness Slim use a dinosaur shadow puppet to capture a group of townspeople waiting for a bus, and is finally convinced of the danger. Mike and Dave witness the Terenzi Brothers trying to catch their runaway ice cream truck, but it crashes into a wall. Mike decides to catch up with them and warn them about the Klowns while Dave goes back to the police station. Once Dave arrives at the police station, he discovers the dead bodies of the teenageprisoners, (that Mooney had arrested earlier), splattered to the wall with cotton candy. Dave sees a strange multi-colored footprint that leads to the room where he discovers Mooney, except he is being used as a puppet by the Klown that killed him, Jumbo. Horrified, Dave shoots the Klown several times with no effect until he shoots the Klown's nose. The Klown then dramatically spins around until it eventually explodes, becoming the first Klown to be killed by a human.
While the town is being ransacked, Debbie is attacked by the popcorn serpents in her bathroom, then the Klowns themselves arrive and she istaken away in a yellow balloon to their "Big Top" circus tent-spaceship. At the funhouse, a police officer is met by Bibbo, Chubby, Rudy, Shorty, and Slim when they arrive in their Klown Kar. The officer is killed by acid pies that melt his body. Mike, Dave, and the Terenzi Brothers pursue the Klowns, andgo into the spaceship. After a while of exploring the funhouse, the Terenzi Brothersfall through a trapdoor and into a ball pit, where they are captured by two female Klowns. Mike and Dave go to the same room they were in before, butit is now filled with farmore cotton candy cocoons and giant balloons than before. Suddenly, they see a Klown Chubbycoming in to eat. Dave and Mike hide behind the cocoons without the Klown seeing them, and they finally discover why the Klown army has been capturing people. By cocooning them inside their cotton candy, the Klowns gelatinize the humans' bodies into a liquid that is digestible. Vast numbers of victims (a majority of the town's population) are being stored aboard The Big Top. Chubby inserts a crazy straw into the cocoon holding theMayor of the Crescent Cove, sucking outthe deceased Mayor's gelatinized body.
Debbie is eventually freed from the balloon. She, Mike, and Dave are chased through the spaceship until they find a large room where the Klown army stalk and slowly begin surround them. Suddenly, the Terenzi brothers crash through the wall in their ice cream truck and use it's mascot, the clown head Jojo, to fool the Klowns into backing off. Then Jojo, a 30 ft. tall leader of the Klown army appears from the ceiling, cranking down like a stringed puppet, and the Klown army flees. Jojo destroys the ice cream truck, tosses it away, and it explodes. Mike and Debbie escape to get help, and a showdown between Dave and Jojo ensues. While Mike and Debbie run for help, the spaceship starts to get ready for takeoff. Dave repeatedly shoots atJojo's nose, but keeps. Suddenly, he runs out of bullets. He was about to refill the gun when Jojo grabbed him, brought Hanson to his face and stared at him. The spaceship starts taking off when the police arrive, andMike and Debbie run to them. They all watch as the spaceship begins leaving Earth.Just asJojo is about to eat Dave, he killed him by using his police badge to stab the Klown's nose, causingJojo to drop him and dramatically spin around untilhe eventually explodes,blowing the entire spaceship to smithereens and spreading his fireworks in the sky. However, it has been confirmed that the Klowns survived the explosion. Mike and Debbie are upset, thinking Dave ans the Terenzi Brothers had been killed. A Klown Kar then fell from the ship and crashed to the ground in front of the cops. The Kar door begins to open, and, fearing Klowns may be inside,the cops get ready to shoot. They then see Dave coming out of the car. Mike and Debbie arehappy to see him alive. Despite everything, the Terenzi Brothers survive with only minor injuries by hiding in the freezer. Just when they think it’s all over, pies fall down onto their faces to the sound of the Klowns' laughter.
Characters[]
Main Article See: List of Killer Klowns From Outer Space Characters
Prop Objects[]
- Big Top
- Giant Refrigeratore Room
- Klown Kathedral
- Klown Kar
- Cotton Candy Cocoon, Balloon-Holding Vacuum Cleaner
Weapons[]
- Acid Pies (special)
- Balloon Ray-Guns (long range)
- The Bubble Gum-Pistol (long range)
- Golf Klub (short range)
- Klown Package (special)
- The Kotton Kandy Bazooka (long range)
- Kotton Kandy Ray-Guns (long range)
- Mallet (short range)
- Popkorn Bazooka (long range)
- Popkorn-Squigglies (special)
- Two-fisted Party Favor (mid-range)
Legacy[]
Despite rarely getting any credit, Killer Klowns from Outer Space is believed to have inspired a new generation of horror movies featuring evil clowns, such as All Hallows' Eve, Stitches, Zombieland, Clown (2014), 31 and Wrinkles the Clown. The 2019 reboot of Child's Play featured a poster for Killer Klowns from Outer Space in Andy's bedroom.
Media[]
For Media, see Killer Klowns from Outer Space/Media.
