Killer Klowns from Outer Space

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Imagine giving the "puppet supervisor" from 'Team America' / "creature fabricator" from 'Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie' / "stop motion animation supervisor" from 'Elf' and give that guy and his brothers some creative control with their own product. This here, is the end result - however, predating all said movies.​

This one comes from the Chiodo brothers, Edward, Stephen and Charles, and boasts one of the most fun oldschool horror titles in existence. One could think of it as a sort of fully self-aware "good/bad" movie. I mean, shit, look at the title!

The basic story involves a circus tent from outer space landing on Earth. Of course, this is the vessel these Killer Klowns take to invade our home planet. The plan pretty much involves going around, zapping human beings with a gun that wraps them in a cotton candy cocoon, and taking them on board their ship for, well, reasons.

This is one I would probably classify as more of a comedy than a horror movie, and even the worst coulrophobes might not have that bad a time with it. It's pretty damned silly altogether. But that said, it's not like aspects of strange and unusual horror aren't still there to give you a few shivers.

In a movie so seemingly silly, that must sound odd, but there are things like what the victim inside the cotton candy cocoons looks like, and even the way the Klowns communicate and laugh has an odd sort of creepiness to it. And lets not forget one scene where some creepy clown is trying to lure a child outside while holding a mallet behind his back. It's not the mallet that's creepy though, it just the imagery of something so reminiscent of every child's worst stranger fears.

By no means is any of this stuff truly horrific and terrifying or anything, and your dreams will likely be safe when all said and done. However, I can't deny that the creepiness is there, despite the fact that this movie plays out as such a self-aware comedy over horror. It's kinda what makes it so enjoyable.

This movie may not be everyone's cup of tea though, and reviews are seemingly split down the middle. So it's kind of a hard one to sell people on, but I'd just ask that you bear this in mind. If nothing else, this makes for some great fun around Halloween to get you into the holiday spirit. That's when I introduced myself to these Klowns.

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