Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Short description
A glowing object falls into the woods outside a small American town, and a young couple who go to investigate find no crater but a brightly lit circus tent. The tent turns out to be a spacecraft, and its occupants are aliens who look like clowns. Rather than performing, they set about hunting the local residents, wrapping their victims in cotton candy cocoons to store them as food. The couple escape and try to warn the authorities, meeting disbelief from an unpleasant older officer before a childhood friend on the police force agrees to help. As the clowns move into town and the attacks mount, the few who understand what is happening attempt to fight back, leading to a confrontation at a local amusement park.
Stephen Chiodo directed, and he wrote and produced the film with Charles and Edward Chiodo, the brothers behind its production company. The cast includes Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, John Allen Nelson, John Vernon, Royal Dano and Christopher Titus. Made for about two million dollars, it went on to take roughly forty-four million worldwide, a strong return on its budget.
On IMDb it holds a 6.2 from around fifty-two thousand votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.7 from about twelve hundred. A critics' rating of 6.3 from twenty-nine reviews places it close to those audience scores. Chiodo's next feature as director, Alien Xmas, followed decades later.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film's budget was $2 million. Almost everything was spent on production costs. Nearly all the special effects, as well as the clowns, were created by the filmmakers themselves for next to nothing.
- Initially, it was planned that Clownzilla would be made using stop-motion animation, but due to the financial costs of its production and limited time, it was decided that an actor in a costume would play the role.
- The film's slogan, “In space no one can eat ice cream!”, parodies the slogan “In space no one can hear your scream” from the film “Alien” (1979).
- The main clown in the final scene, named “Clownzilla” by the Chiodo brothers, is played by one of them – Charles.
- The scene where the car flies over a cliff was initially intended to be more spectacular – the car was supposed to fly over the cliff and crash to the ground. Unfortunately, someone on the film crew forgot to remove the brake pads from under the car’s wheels, causing the cables to snap at a very inopportune moment, and the result is visible on screen. The car slowly tipped over the edge and, as it fell, got stuck in the tree canopy.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
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