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A Greet Low Budget Horror Movie
Review date: 2007-10-05 Rating: 8 out of 10
It plays like a typical late 50's sci-fi film. Teenage couple explores strange falling star. Old man gets to it first, and becomes the first victim of the alien terror. Teenagers try to make the authorities believe them. Eventually, the police come around, but of course, not until after much damage has already been done.
The alien spacecraft resembles a gigantic circus tent. Which is fitting since the aliens are Killer Klowns. These Klowns go on a hunt through a quiet little town, killing people as they find them and preserving their bodies in giant cotton candy cocoons. They use balloon animals, popcorn shooters, and even shadow puppets as weapons of death. The special effects and art design are actually quite good for such a low budget film. And the Klowns have to be one of cheesy science fiction's greatest creations: big, ugly, and grotesque, with wide grinning mouths, sharp teeth, and devilish eyes.
Now it is true that the acting is mediocre, but I felt it actually enhanced the enjoyment of the film. This film deserves the cult following over it has earned.
The theory that this may be the source of people being spooked by clowns is plausible after watching this movie.
Finally a movie where the popcorn sticks to your ribs, and what ever. The cotton candy has a 50's spin to it. And this movie will clown around with your mind. You won't be disappointed. See Suzanne Snyder (Debbie Stone) again in "Weird Science" (1985).
The DVD is loaded with the standard goodies. Thirteen year later the directors discus the original intent and some unique problems. There are out takes. And may other pieces of information to make viewing the movie fun.
Indeed, it has it all: A preposterous premise that somehow got approved by the studio suits. Less-than-stellar acting by a few of the principals, and the "hero" playing his part a little too straight-laced. The perversion of various implements of klownery into weapons of annihilation. Silly klown antics gone horribly wrong. It's ludicrously fun to watch on those days when some pretentious bit of "serious" avant-garde celluloid simply ain't gonna cut it.
The special features included with the movie are of the standard type you'd expect to see on a Collector's Edition DVD. There's behind-the-scenes featurettes, a theatrical trailer, deleted scenes, and a commentary track by the movie's creators. In the secondary track, the Chiodo brothers go over the usual stuff you'd expect to hear in a commentary track, including their childhood dreams of becoming to be movie-makers, discussions about how many of the characters were based on childhood friends, memories of the actors that played the various roles, and certain scenes that were particularly difficult to film. Throw in a few quasi-tangential anecdotes, and (voila) you have the Killer Klowns Kommentary Trakk in a nutshell.
Then there's the "Easter Egg" materials, which pop up when you let the main menu display run for a couple of minutes. Sadly, these "extra" extras aren't all that impressive. The only items here is a re-dub of a line from the movie, and a few video snippets of people auditioning for the roles of the Klowns in full costume. No offense to all you Klown-o-philes out there, but I think I'd get more excited watchin' paint dry than look at these not-so-special "treats"...
'Late