KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE (1988)

In Space…No One Can Eat Ice Cream…that was the genius tagline riffed from the ‘Alien’ movies of the classic KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE. When Debbie and Mike, along with other friends, witness what they think is a shooting star they go to investigate only to stumble across a circus tent, life sized cocoons, and klowns! Only these ‘klowns’ aren’t realllllly circus clowns, they come from a far away place with the intent on turning every human into cotton candy cocoons, shoot popcorn from a gun, and take over the earth for their own well-being. Somehow, all the pieces of this film work. The cast is hilarious and have great chemistry, (the late John Vernon is greatly missed, this is one of the most underrated roles of his career); the humor is subtle and not too goofy and as for the klowns themselves, top notch. There’s a reason why the Chiodo Bros. are most well known for this outing and that’s because we have just the right amount of absurdity, horror, zany characters, laughs, and wtf moments to place this on top of almost any horror fan’s list. Supposedly a sequel has been in the works for several years…as great as that idea is one can only wonder how it could possibly live up to the original. Just try and top the ‘shadow puppets’ scene with lame CGI…now that would be a laugh.

SLASH SCENE: Shadow Puppets!

SLASH SCORE: 5/5