Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988) Dir: Stephen Chiodo
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'What in tarnation is going on here?' This Stephen Chiodo directed sci-fi horror from the late 80's has been on my watchlist for a good while now, mostly because it made me curious, as much as anything else. It looked, quite frankly, bizarre. I knew that it wasn't gonna be a film for the cinema purists, but I hoped for some decent entertainment regardless.
I think the main word that came to mind while watching this was 'surreal'. It's such an odd film. I spent most of my time watching it being immensely bemused by what I was witnessing. It felt like watching someone's drug-induced fever dreams come to life. I do appreciate the effort that went into making the 'klowns' look genuinely quite terrifying.
It's a nonsensical and outlandish film, that much is for sure. It was full of terrible, corny dialogue that felt half-coiked at best, aside from the occasional joke that did, in fairness, make me chuckle a bit. There was, however, one joke that I really didn't like, in which characters make fun of eating disorders, but it came and went very quickly.
Grant Cramer and Suzanne Snyder actually weren't too bad in their leading roles, for what it's worth. They weren't incredible, by any means, but their commitment to the ridiculous nature of the film makes their performances fairly enjoyable. This isn't a serious film, and these aren't serious performers, which is okay.
John Allen Nelson gave the best acting performance of the supporting cast, although, admittedly, that's not saying a whole lot. He feels awfully mechanical at times, but he does produce some laughs here and there. As far as everyone else, the only ones worth mentioning are John Vernon, Christopher Titus, Michael S. Siegel, Peter Licassi, and Royal Dano.
Overall, this was a truly odd film, which was trippy and silly and definitely not everyone's cup of tea. I don't think it's a very good film, but I can't deny that I had a fairly good time watching it. I feel like it would've been better back in the 80's - it certainly would've been scarier - but I can see why it's somewhat a cult classic. It definitely leaves an impression.
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