Killer Klowns from Outer Space

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Killer Klowns from Outer Space

Directed by	Stephen Chiodo
Produced by	Charles Chiodo Edward Chiodo Stephen Chiodo
Written by	Charles Chiodo Edward Chiodo Stephen Chiodo
Starring	Grant Cramer Suzanne Snyder John Allen Nelson John Vernon Michael Siegel Peter Licassi Royal Dano
Music by	John Massari
Cinematography	Alfred Taylor
Editing by	Christopher Roth
Distributed by	Trans World Entertainment (TWE)
Release date(s)	May 27, 1988 (USA)
Running time	88 min.
Country	United States
Language	Engish
Budget	$2,000,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue	Unknown
IMDb profile

Killer Klowns From Outer Space is a 1988 movie, made by The Chiodo Brothers and starring Grant Cramer. It is the Chiodo Brothers first and only film to date.

The film is a horror comedy about aliens (who look like clowns) that arrive on Earth to capture and harvest people in order to use them as sustenance.

1 Cast
2 Plot
3 Movie notes
4 Action figure
5 Audio sample
6 External links

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Grant Cramer	Mike Tobacco
Suzanne Snyder	Debbie Stone
John Allen Nelson	Dave Hanson
John Vernon	Curtis Mooney
Michael Siegel	Rich Terenzi
Peter Licassi	Paul Terenzi
Royal Dano	Farmer Gene Green
Chris Titus	Bob McReed
Irene Michaels	Stacy
Karla Sue Krull	Tracy

[edit] Plot

An army of sadistic alien life forms, who look remarkably like our concept of a clown, land their circus tent ship in the sleepy American town of Crescent Cove (filmed in Santa Cruz, California). Mike Tobacco (Cramer) and Debbie Stone (Snyder), out for a romantic evening, spot the newcomers and decide to investigate. They soon encounter the Klowns and barely escape capture, having been shot at by a "popcorn gun." At first, it seems the popcorn functions simply to track the fleeing teens, but another purpose is revealed later in the movie. Mike and Debbie rush into town to warn others of the impending danger.

Naturally, they first try to warn the police. Their warnings are met with scorn by Sgt. Mooney, convinced that the couple are nothing more than kids trying to pull a prank. They are viewed with equal skepticism by another police officer, Dave Hanson (John Allen Nelson). Hanson also happens to be Debbie's ex-boyfriend, and his dislike of Mike is evident.

Meanwhile, the Klowns make their way into Crescent Cove. They harvest the unsuspecting population, blasting random victims with a ray gun that cocoons them with cotton candy, with lethal results. The Klowns use 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 children's toy. Since the methods themselves appear whimsical, the townspeople don't know they are in danger until it's too late.

Killer Klown.

When Officer Hanson sees a Klown use a Tyrannosaurus rex shadow puppet to capture a group of townspeople waiting for a bus, he is finally convinced of the danger and offers to help Mike and Debbie (who have also recruited the Terenzi brothers, a pair of local goof-offs who drive an ice cream truck). Hanson later discovers the clown's nose is a weak spot when failing to save Officer Mooney.

While the town is being slaughtered, Debbie is attacked twice and taken away (not converted into cotton candy) by the Klowns.

Officer Hanson faces off against the Master Klown.

Debbie is taken back to the Klowns' "Big Top" circus tent-spaceship. Mike, Officer Hanson and the Terenzi brothers pursue them. It is there that they discover why the Klowns have 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 Big Top. The Klowns insert a crazy straw into the cotton candy, sucking the deceased victim's gelatinized bodies.

Debbie is eventually freed, and a hole is crashed into Big Top by the Terenzi Brothers' ice cream truck. Rich and Paul Terenzi, using their PA system, pretend to be the Klowns' leader (there's a giant clown's head with a sugar cone-hat on top of the truck). They tell the Klowns to let Mike, Debbie, and Officer Hanson go. A thirty foot clown seeming kills the Terenzis and is turn destroyed by Hanson. It and the alien's shapeship explodes. Despite everything, the heroes and the Terenzis survive unscathed.

[edit] Movie notes

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Actor Sam Rockwell appears in his film debut in an uncredited role as a busboy.

The opening and end credits feature the punk rock band The Dickies performing the film's theme, "Killer Klowns".

The movie's taglines: "They make Aliens look like a circus" and "In space no one can eat ice cream" parodied that of the 1979 Ridley Scott film Alien.

The hardcore/emo band Chiodos stated in an interview that their name was taken from the production company's name of "Killer Klowns..."

The DVD Commentary indicates that Charles Chiodo portrayed "Klownzilla" in the film.

[edit] Action figure

In 2006 Sota Toys produced a Killer Klown figurine as part of their Now Playing movie action figures line.

Tower Records Killer Klown variant figure.

There are two such figures. The first is the most common Klown in the movie, a Klown warrior armed with a deadly popcorn blaster, cotton candy coccoon victim, and a colourful base with a pole to hang the deceased. A Tower Records exclusive figure of the same Klown mold has a radical blue paint scheme with vibrant red and purple highlights. This warrior comes with all the same accessories as the regular Klown, with the exception of the blaster; instead he is equipped with a sinister bat (similar to those the aliens use at end of the movie to pummel the heroes). Though the latter Klown model is considered a one-off variant, it can clearly be seen near the end of the film as one of the first Klowns to reveal itself. It can also be seen earlier in the film during the Klown parade, where it is one of the two Klowns pushing the vacuum that collects the cotton candy cocoons. The only discrepancy is that the figurine comes with a white bat, rather than one of the red ones wielded in the film.

SOTA's Jerry Macaluso has stated that he would like to create a mega-size "Klownzilla" figure (approx.size up to 20 inches high or more).