Return of the Killer Tomatoes

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Return of the Killer Tomatoes!
Theatrical release poster.
Directed by	John De Bello
Produced by	Stephen Peace
Written by	John De Bello Costa Dillon Stephen Peace
Starring	Michael Villani John Astin Karen Mistal Anthony Starke George Clooney
Music by	Neal Fox Rick Patterson
Cinematography	Victor Lou Stephen Welch
Editing by	John De Bello
Distributed by	New World
Release date(s)	1988
Running time	98 min
Language	English
Preceded by	Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Followed by	Killer Tomatoes Strike Back
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Return of the Killer Tomatoes was the first sequel to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Set ten years after the events of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (referred to as the Great Tomato War in the movie), the basic plotline is that after the events of the first film (where the tomatoes were stopped by the worst song ever composed called "Puberty Love") the misanthropic villain, Professor Mortimer Gangreen (Played by John Astin), has created a tomato transformation chamber by which he can turn 'ordinary' Killer Tomatoes into humans. By dipping ordinary tomatoes into vats of toxic waste and then placing them into the chamber, Gangreen uses music to his advantage, as the juke box that is hooked up to the chamber syncs up with the tomato transformation chamber, allowing him to create virtually anything by the use of whatever song he's picked. With these, he plans to conquer the world. Though the veterans of the Great Tomato War have something to say about that...

This film marks the appearance of FT, the Friendly/Fuzzy (depending on who you ask) Tomato. Other notable characters are Chad Finletter (Anthony Starke), nephew of Wilbur Finletter (the semi-main, but more popular, character of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes) and his girlfriend Tara, who is actually a female Killer Tomato turned into an attractive girl by the device. Tara turns back into a tomato when she hears the opening musical notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony; however, the musical notes of the theme to "Gone With The Wind" restores her to human form.

The characters and timeline of this film were recycled for the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series (with some changes, such as Professor Gangreen's first name being changed to Putrid and his title being changed from 'Professor' to 'Doctor' and Tara having an 'allergy' to salt which changes her back into a tomato with pepper changing her back to human form).

Return of the Killer Tomatoes! also has the distinction of being one of George Clooney's earliest movies.

[edit] Trivia

Gary Condit, the former United States Congressman at the center of the 2001 Chandra Levy scandal, appeared in the film unbilled as a pizzeria patron during a fight sequence. Wearing a trucker hat, he smashes a bottle on the head of a cowboy[1]. Condit was friends with Stephen Peace, and both were members of the California State Assembly at the time.

In one scene, George Clooney's character cooks up a scheme to pick up women by holding a fake contest to win a date with Rob Lowe. In an ironic twist, when 'Return' was released in theatres during the summer of 1988, Lowe gained notoriety during the same period of time by allegedly having sex with underage women, something that nearly ended his career. Also ironic is the fact that in the following decade (the 1990s), Clooney would become a bigger star and heartthrob than Lowe.