Killer Tomatoes Strike Back!

This is the third in the four films of the Killer Tomatoes trilogy. Unlike the others, this one didn't even attempt a theatrical release and went straight to video. In fact, it almost seems to have been fit into the production schedule during a lull in the preparations for the climatic KILLER TOMATOES EAT FRANCE.

This installment takes the form of a police thriller. Rick Rockwell (the future "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?") stars as Lance Boyle, a Dirty Harry parody. J. Stephen Peace does his third and final turn as Wilbur Finletter, hero of the Tomato Wars and now a police captain. Crystal Carson is this installment's obligatory gorgeous blonde, in this case the biochemist Kennedi Johnson.

The ever-delightful John Astin returns as the nefarious Professor Gangrene, this time setting his sights on conquering through the world through the medium of daytime talkshows. Aiding him is the ever-faithful and ever-dim Igor, played as always by Steve Lundquist.

Aside from the original, this is probably the lowest-budgeted of the Killer Tomatoes series. Still, the creative team makes the most of their resources. Look for appearances in front of the camera by various members of the creative team.

The Killer Tomatoes series is almost a world in itself. The cast and crew do not appear to have been involved in many other film or TV projects. Given the gorgeous leading ladies, this is a bit of a tragedy. Still, given how few people ever get to make a single film, let alone complete a four-part trilogy, De Bello and his team have pulled off quite an accomplishment. Thanks, guys!

Sure, it's not AS funny as Return Of The Killer Tomatoes (1988), but it's still pretty damn hilarious in its own right. Cmon, a tomato robs a bank. Thats on par with zombies renting Day Of The Dead in "The Dead Next Door." Seriously though. If you like B films, enjoyed Return or Attack of the killer tomatoes and want some good old fashion fun, RENT this movie! Seriously, it's almost as good as "robot monster." Anyways, you have Gomez Adams (John Astin) returning as Prof. Gangreen in this sequel in which the tomatoes have faces! Seriously, go see this film - it took forever to get it on DVD. Maybe, one day, if we are lucky, they will add a 5th film to the series. And when will the TV show be released on DVD?!

This film essentially begins with an attractive woman (played by Debra Fares) running in the woods at night while being chased by an unseen attacker. Once the attacker catches up to her it is revealed that he is a man in a hockey outfit that looks eerily familiar to Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th franchise. However, rather than being alarmed by his appearance, the young woman is relieved that he isn't a killer tomato. Just then, a noise is heard and both the woman and the goalie let out screams of horror when they find themselves surrounded by killer tomatoes wearing hockey masks and wielding chainsaws. The scene then shifts to a detective by the name of "Lance Boyle" (Rick Rockwell) getting an assignment to investigate a double homicide out in the woods. Being the rather clueless detective that he is, he immediately rules out killer tomatoes as the culprits even though a tomatologist by the name of "Dr. Kennedi Johnson" (Crystal Johnson) tries to convince him otherwise. It's also during this time that the notorious "Dr. Gangreen" (John Astin) makes a return appearance with plans to, once again, use killer tomatoes to take over the world. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film turned out to be one of those comedies that just wasn't very funny. At least, not to me. It does, however, have pretty good special effects and having an attractive actress like Crystal Johnson certainly didn't make matters worse. But even so, on the whole, I found the movie to be rather tedious and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

Well, it's a lot more entertaining that most of the previous installements. If you turn off your brain you might even get a giggle ouf of this movie.

As others mentionned, it's a poor attempt at imitating the Leslie Nielson /Zucker brothers movie style.

I think the funniest thing in this movie is seeing people wearing MC Hammer pants with a suit jacket... man thats scary!

This is a silly, silly movie without a serious intent in its entire running time. But funny, it certainly is, and the high points are the all-too-brief scenes featuring Kevin West as a mad bank teller. I've bought the movie just for these scenes (though it is fun in general). West is one of the underrated comic wizards of our time, and the bank scene will convince you. I won't spoil it with details, but it's Deliverance meets PeeWee. A second Westian moment, in which he's held captive by the villains and discusses his odd proclivities, is priceless. I can say no more.

Overall, the film lacks the out-of-the-box wildness of the original, but hey, it's a Killer Tomatoes film and therefore not without some fruitful redeeming value. John Astin is, as always, John Astin. The premise is strictly Saturday morning cartoon. It's neither Brecht nor Hemingway, though it's both absurd and mercifully brief. But Kevin West is the draw, and no tomato is safe.