Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) Review

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) Review  

You see that title, and you instantly know what you’re in for. Review over. 

Just kidding. Here we go. 

The movie begins with some teenagers at a make-out point in the woods spotting something flying through the night sky and landing nearby. They discover it’s a space ship that looks like a circus tent, and extraterrestrial clowns have come to cocoon every townsperson in cotton candy and suck their liquefied remains through crazy straws. The teens try to get help from the cops, but they are obviously skeptical at first, until more and more clowns show up and the evidence seems to suggest they actually are a real threat. 

Killer Klowns from Outer Space uses the framework of a pretty run-of-the-mill 80’s sci-fi premise, but of course it’s the clown aspect that makes it so unique, and so great. The Chiodo Brothers (known for their 80’s-era special effects) made the whole movie for only two million dollars, and with that in mind, it’s actually impressive what they were able to pull off. The practical effects are charming and plentiful. They don’t make you wait to see the monsters. The clowns are shown pretty early on, and get many scenes throughout, with the best saved for last (one word: Klownzilla), and it makes the whole thing entertaining from beginning to end, without it ever really dragging at any part. 

The clowns actually do manage to be creepy at points. There are multiple moments where they’re shown in close-up, laughing, and it’s pretty disturbing. Mostly, though, they just generate laughs. Nearly every clown-ism imaginable is addressed—big red noses, flowers that squirt water, and practical jokes, just to list a few—but their alien-clown tech is inventive and hilarious, too. They have popcorn guns, which shoot popcorn that eventually grows into mutated clown/snake monsters, and a balloon animal made into a dog, which becomes sentient and sniffs out the teens. The Chiodo’s had many ambitious ideas, and brought them to life in some impressive ways.  

Nearly all of the budget was used toward the special effects, so as a result, some of the other aspects of the movie are lacking, such as sound mixing and set design. The acting is pretty amateur, except for John Vernon (you might know him as the dean from Animal House), who is hilarious in every scene he’s in. He thinks the young punks are always pranking him and trying to get him to quit the force, so when the calls start coming in about clowns attacking people, his skepticism increases more and more, as does the comedy. And while the acting from the teens isn’t great, the dynamic of the girl working with the ex-boyfriend and current boyfriend to save everyone from the clowns is at least interesting and different enough to sustain the clown-free scenes.  

Killer Klowns from Outer Space is the kind of low-budget 80’s horror-comedy you just have to see to believe. If you know anyone who has coulrophobia (fear of clowns) like I do, find an excuse to get that person to come over for a movie night, and trick them into watching. It’ll make an already entertaining movie an even more entertaining experience. Oh yeah, and did I mention there’s a theme song?