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Killer Klowns From Outer Space is a title which, despite pre-dating the Ronseal advert, does exactly what it says on the tin. Well, if not tin, then Steelbook, as the film is available on a regular box as well as the Steelbook Limited Edition. Both contain the film on Blu-ray and DVD, continuing Arrow’s tradition of delivering the goods on both formats in the same package.
Killer Klowns arrive from Outer Space and start killing people, starting with an old man who, first, has his dog stolen by them.
The main people on the case are the preposterously-named Mike Tobacco (Grant Cramer), and since a guy needs a girl, she’s catered for in the form of Debbie Stone (Suzanne Snyder). Mike’s unably assisted by young cop Dave Hanson (John Allen Nelson, best known for the ridiculously-named John D. Cort from Baywatch), and his superior is Curtis Mooney (the ever-wonderful, but now sadly deceased John Vernon, who I remember best as the Mayor from Dirty Harry). He gets some of the best lines including: “I made it through Korea. I can make it through this bullshit.”
Throw in a couple of doofuses, the Terenzi brothers (Michael Siegel and Peter Licassi), and that’s the main cast covered, all hamming it up nicely.
The film certainly delivers the Killer Klowns, even if they’re just turning up in seemingly random places including one who decapitates a biker, and another who casts a large shadow puppet on a wall in order to eat a group of intrigued pensioners. It knows it’s a B-movie and plays out that way, so you know what to expect. The incessant murders don’t hang together as any form of coherent plot but it’s a good one to watch when you’re drunk, not least for the Klowns’ spaceship, decorated like a crazy fun-house with a popcorn maker on the dashboard. And once they capture people, the bodies end up cocooned in candyfloss. Oh, and one of the klowns has a tracker dog made out of balloons!
Killer Klowns From Outer Space has some very inventive prosthetics which you just wouldn’t get from CGI these days, and in the extras one of the Chiodo Brothers states how fans have said if a sequel was ever produced, it’d have to be made in the same style.
The stereo soundtrack is a bit odd at times, when action or dialogue is being spoken, but comes out of either the left or right speaker even when they’re not on that side of the screen. There’s a good example of this in the convenience store scene around 25 minutes in.
And don’t forget: Death by custard pies!
The film is in its original 1.85:1 widescreen ratio and in 1080p high defintion, but while it’s a remastered version the print isn’t always wonderful and does look hazy at times. I expect a lot of of this is down to the original print and how it was filmed, so this is as good as we’re going to get it. It’s certainly watchable, but don’t expect it to look as good as a Blu-ray release of a modern film. For the record, I’m watching on a Panasonic 50″ Plasma TV with a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.
Sound-wise, the film is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, and it’s fine, apart from the odd moments described previously.
The extras are as follows, the recently-filmed parts of which are in HD, but sadly none of them are subtitled:
- Featurettes – all of these are in 4:3:
- The Making of Killer Klowns (21:40): An MGM-made look at the production of the film with behind the scenes footage and a 2001 interview with the Chiodo Brothers.
It also includes a look at the original opening for the film as well as various takes which were shot.
- Visual Effects With Gene Warren Jr (14:52): A featurette looking at the Klowns’ spaceship, perspective shots and optical effects amongst other aspects.
- Kreating Klowns (12:50): Charles Chiodo and creature fabricator Dwight Roberts talk about how they brought the film’s creations to life, such as the vacuum machine, the popcorn gun and a Klown appearing out of a pizza box, and all the problems involved in doing so.
- Bringing Life to These Things (7:39): Shot more recently, Stephen Chiodo takes us on a tour of Chiodo Bros Studios, including a look at the original Klown heads. He also talks about how fans want a sequel, but only as long as the baddies are rubber monsters again!
- Chiodo Brothers’ Earliest Films (7:10): Some very early stop-motion animation made when they were still living with their parents. There’s a ‘creature feature’ here, and not only is it actually rather good, but it’s also great to see such old footage brought to the fore for Blu-ray extras.
- The Making of Killer Klowns (21:40): An MGM-made look at the production of the film with behind the scenes footage and a 2001 interview with the Chiodo Brothers.
- Cast interviews: Shot in July this year, two of the cast give their thoughts on many aspects of the film, starting with Tales of Tobacco (18:59), where Grant Cramer talks about mostly doing night shoots, and how he was living with the props guy, working all night then going home to play Pong until they passed out asleep; Debbie’s Big Night (10:39) – where Suzanne Snyder, still looking great today, talks about how much she enjoyed working with John Vernon; and finally, Komposing Klowns (13:15) is an at-the-time interview which shows composer John Massari talking about making music for the movie.
- Deleted Scenes Two of them here – Bad Experience (2:15) and Tight Rope (2:24), both with optional commentary. I’d put the second one back in as it adds to the ridiculousness.
- Killer Bloopers (2:49): Some great out-takes here.
- Klown Auditions (3:56): Learn how to walk like a Klown.
- Storyboard Gallery: And now, it’s time for the Gallery. Every scene is here. A great extra for a cult film like this.
- Image Gallery: 207 wonderful images.
- Trailer (1:53): In 16:9.
- Booklet: Also included in the package is a 24-page booklet featuring many stills from the film, plus an in-depth look at the film by Joel Harley.
- Audio commentary: from writer/directors The Chiodo Brothers.
As you put the disc in, the menu bursts into life with clips from the film and the main theme. There are subtitles in English, but when it comes to the chaptering, I feel one should come every five minutes on average. Arrow, like many other distributors, go for a low 12 however long the film. I would like them to increase that number. Subtitles are in English.
Killer Klowns From Outer Space is out now on Blu-ray/DVD Dual Format Special Edition, and check out the full-size cover by clicking on the packshot.
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FILM PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
7 7 7 8 |
| OVERALL | 7 |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 109 minutes
Year: 1996
Distributor: Arrow Films
Released: September 15th 2014
Chapters: 12
Cat.no: FCD966
Picture: 1080p High Definition
Sound: DTS 2.0 HD Master Audio (Dolby Stereo), DTS 2.0, Dolby Digital 2.0
Languages: English
Subtitles: English
Widescreen: 1.85:1
Disc Format: BD50
Director: Stephen Chiodo
Producers: Charles Chiodo, Edward Chiodo, Stephen Chiodo
Screenplay: Charles Chiodo, Edward Chiodo, Stephen Chiodo
Music: John Massari
Cast:
Mike Tobacco: Grant Cramer
Debbie Stone: Suzanne Snyder
Dave Hanson: John Allen Nelson
Curtis Mooney: John Vernon
Rich Terenzi: Michael Siegel
Paul Terenzi: Peter Licassi
Farmer Gene Green: Royal Dano
Bob McReed: Chris Titus
Stacy: Irene Michaels
Tracy: Karla Sue
Punk #1: Brian Degan Scott
Punk #2: Danny Kovacs
Mrs. Franco: Adele Proom
Mr. Myers: Howard Malpas
Mom #1: Karen Raff
Mom #2: Kathleen Stefano
Little Girl: Claire Bartle
Waitress: Sharon O’Mahoney
Slug: Michael Halton
Sheila: Lucinda Burgess
Black Biker: Melvin Thompson
Security Guard: David Piel
State Troopers: Steven Jones, Armon Stover, Jeff Yesko, Steve Rockhold
‘Klownzilla’ the King Klown: Harrod Blank
Klown Performers: Michael Harington Burris, Geno Ponza, Scott Beatty, Paul Haley, Dennis C. Walsh, Genie Houdini, Charles Chiodo, Karl Shaeffer, Paul Parsons, Jimmy Locust, Mitch Bryan, Greg Sykes
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.