Now Available from Scream! Factory
Another sign that horror is always ahead of its time, the mainstream has finally caught up with the horror community and realize what a loyal but small fan base has known for a very long time. That “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” is a demented horror masterpiece, and there’s never really been anything like it since. You can kind of, maybe consider “Mars Attacks!” its successor, but “Killer Klowns” is so much more concerned with turning its villains in to genuine horror foes, rather than trotting out all sorts of guest stars and fancy special effects. Even today, “Killer Klowns from Out Space” is a bag of mixed treats filled with gore, grue, silliness, and a fun group of fearsome alien klowns that seem almost unstoppable in their rampage.
When a small town is invaded by aliens from outer space who are capturing and killing the townspeople, no one takes them seriously. Why? The aliens all look like circus clowns, use weapons that look clown like, and all have painted on smiles. Only a few of the young people in the town realize the danger and of course no one believes them. Armed with an ice cream truck they try and rescue their friends.
Considering the movie was made in 1988, the Chiodo Brothers are able to pull off some impressive feats in make up, prosthetics and props alike. The klowns are particularly a complete accomplishment, as they not only sport their own personalities, but they looks absolutely horrifying. They’re not just men dressed up as clowns, but actual monsters comprised of wonderful latex and rubber that make them look absolutely otherworldly at all times. If that’s not enough they even have their own personalities and body builds, and that’s all thanks to the wonderful imagination of the team behind the film. Among the main klown protagonists, there’s Slim, Fatso, Shorty, Rudy and Bibbo, all of whom really take the whole clown concept as far as it can go.
There’s the circus tent space ship, cotton candy cocoons, and even a deadly popcorn shooting gun that they mow down victims with. “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” is a cult gem worth checking off your list if you’ve put it off all these years, as it’s become an genre essential.
All Special Features (and movie) appear on the Blu-ray disc; the audio commentary appears on both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray discs. Not included are extras from the Arrow Video edition of “Killer Klowns” which were Arrow Video exclusive. Fans of the movie may be wise to keep both editions, as Scream Factory composes a neat new Steelbook edition with excellent art work.
There’s an archival Audio Commentary with The Chiodo Brothers explaining their inspiration for the movie, how they came up with the title and why they chose it; how they sold it with only a poster and the title; why Santa Cruz, California as the production calendar, etc; The Making of Killer Klowns is a twenty one minutes archival making-of with Stephen, Ed, and Charles Chiodo. The featurette covers the genesis of the idea; the original opening that didn’t make the cut; how the story was built out of the various friends they had during their teenage years; the various crew members that they made the film with; the sequel they’ve been trying to make for years; and much more. Komposing Klowns is a thirteen minutes archival interview with musical composer John Messari and how he came about getting the job with over 40 different composers and how The Dickies got involved.
The fourteen minutes Visual Effects with Gene Warren is another archival interview with Charles Chiodo and Gene Warren Jr. from Fantasy II Film FX shop, while the thirteen minutes Kreating Klowns is another archival interview with Charles Chiodo and master fabricator Dwight Roberts as they discuss the making of the props, miniatures, and makeup appliances for the production. There are a slew of pre-production drawings and behind-the-scenes videos of how the effects shop worked. There are two deleted scenes with optional commentary tracks, and Bloopers composed of B roll footage with various issues. Earliest Films of The Chiodo Brothers is a seven minute compilation of two short films with a running commentary by the Chiodo Brothers. One is less than a minute in length, the other is called Beast from the Egg.
Finally, there’s the original vintage Trailer, as well as assorted Easter Eggs included for collectors to mine.