Palhaços Assassinos do Espaço Sideral

Considering the usually idiocy of aliens-invading-the-earth movies, I found this film a refreshing example of the genre, if only for the visual design. I appreciated the way the cast and crew played this spoof straight within its farcical settings and managed a pleasant time for this viewer.

Seriously deranged stuff with a ridiculous premise of alien clowns setting up camp near a small town, abducting the local inhabitants and turning them into cotton candy and snacks. Any film with a title like this deserves this amount of attention and it's still a stellar cult favorite in the Midnight- and Bad Movie circuits. Most of the films intentionally made as bad movies or camp usually blow it (like most of Troma's disasters), but this is a surprisingly fun and good-natured homage to some silly sci-fi and horror classics of the fifties like FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956), INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956) and THE BLOB (1958).

Our heroes are Debbie and Dave, two of your typical annoying eighties' youngsters with bad hairdos and less than impressive acting skills, trying to persuade the locals something's seriously wrong here. "Nobody stores Cotton Candy like this", observes Debbie when they enter the alien Klowns' circus tent. Smart girl, but how to get rid of these cosmic bozos. Now, clowns are plain creepy and evil. We all know that. Although the tone is generally tongue-in-cheek, the film does manage to throw in some genuine scares. The make-up fx are very impressive and when these Klowns are on the rampage, they are a seriously scary bunch. Undeniably a campy affair, with its truly off-the-wall premise, cheezy acting and predictable storyline, the whole film is laden with an irresistible charm, nicely complemented with a catchy theme song by cult punk band The Dickies, so eighties and so dated, it was already seriously out of fashion by the time the film was released. Cheezy fun all the way.

Camera Obscura --- 7/10

When it comes to silly movies, they don't get much sillier than this one. The title says it all, and its clear going into a movie called 'Killer Klowns from Outer Space' that you're not exactly going to be in for a serious ride. To be honest, I can't say I was overly enthused with this Sci-Fi spoof, but it's not hard to see why it's got a cult following. The film takes in the idea of clowns being eerie and frightening, and fuses it with the common theme of aliens coming down from space; thus giving us aliens that look like clowns. For what it is, the film is actually quite inventive; and while much of the action is clichéd and/or samey, it's the little things that ensure it doesn't get boring. As mentioned, the plot follows aliens from space that look like clowns. When their spaceship (a tent) lands in the forest, two kids rush to the police headquarters to tell the law that their town is being invaded. If someone gave me that story, I'd definitely believe it; but the law in this town is slightly more sceptical, and while the kids aren't being believed; the clown population is growing.

One thing I do like about this movie is the special effects. Rather than simply having the clowns being played by men in make-up and baggy clothes, director Stephen Chiodo has opted to make actual suits for the villains. The special effects are a lot like those seen in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice in the same year, and bode well with this absurd plot line. The style of the movie is consistently clown themed, and parts of the film such as the climax on the alien spaceship look great. The acting is typical B-movie, but the movie does benefit from several good performers. The young cast perform well enough with energetic performances that, like the rest of the movie, aren't delivered too seriously; but the standout is veteran actor John Vernon, who is great in the role of the sceptic police officer. The 'horror' in this movie is hardly potent, as much of it is sapped out because of the fact that it's all a big joke - but ideas such as people being cocooned in candy floss or eaten up by a shadow puppet are surreally frightening. Overall, this isn't a favourite of mine; but it offers ninety minutes of good fun and there's no real reason to hate it.

A friend of mine does not like comedy in horror. And I know he is not alone with that sentiment. So if you hate that as well, let me tell you: this movie is not for you. It mixes comedy with horror and does quite the swell job when doing so.

The makers of this do not take it seriously either, but they take their craft serious. Well they do try to make the best of it. Whether it is to your taste or not, is a different question alltogether. Good effects for a low budget movie and overall real fun to watch

Some people see Killer Klowns as a great "bad movie," but in spite of its low budget and iffy casting I rate this as a genuine "good movie." Here we have a film that reimagines every aspect of clowning and circuses -- puppet shows, cotton candy, balloon animals -- in terms of homicidal aliens. The level of ingenuity is remarkable, and parts of it are quite funny. This film deserves far more fame that it's gotten and I think it's sad that the Chiodo brothers never made anything else.