Box Art Review #5 - Killer Klowns from Outer Space

Box Art Review #5

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)

Directed by Stephen Chiodo

Starring Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, John Allen Nelson, John Vernon, Michael Siegel, Peter Licassi

The Movie

One of the big trends in 80s horror movies was spoofing/homaging/ripping off the plots of cheesy ‘50s B-movies like The Blob. Generally, the plot breaks down as follows: Troublemaking teens witness aliens, they try to tell the cops, cops tell them to fuck off and quit being troublemakers, teens try to warn the town people, people get all murdered and dead, eventually the cops get their heads outta their asses and team up with the troublemaking teens to take down the aliens. There’s a handful of 80s movies that follow this set up and real talk: I’ll probably be reviewing those eventually in which case I’ll call back to this review and then it’ll be like an inside joke just for you and me <3.

Basically the real reason to see this movie is the effects work. The clowns are all well-designed and straddle that line between creepy and cute like the shirts at Hot Topic, and some of the kills are really creative and fun. I personally find the shadow puppet eating people to be particularly creepy because how the hell does that even work? Lemme throw in a clip of what I’m talking about in case you haven’t seen it so you can know why I’m baffled.

Anyway, it’s a surprisingly decent movie given the concept. I know it has a cult following, but really doesn’t anything with clowns tend to garner a cult following? Everybody from Krusty the Klown, to the Joker, to John Wayne Gacey, to the fucking Insane Clown Posse all have sects of devoted followers. The movie doesn’t amount to much more than the title, but it is a fun watch and definitely the kind of movie you’d find lingering in the corner of the rental place’s horror aisle back in the day, just waiting to be rented by impressionable children (which is probably why it enjoys a cult status to this day).

The Cover

This cover is an abomination. I mean, really, as a guy who’s looking for crazy, ridiculous, schlocky horror movie box art, this is a huge letdown, especially given the title of the film. I mean, the tag line is dumb as hell, the font is awful and looks like it belongs on the side of a fastfood bag, and the cover image is just the most bland image they could’ve used to represent the movie. There’s a lot you can do to represent the title Killer Klowns from Outer Space, in fact, fuck this cover, let’s look at the infinitely better MGM Midnite Movies re-release cover.

Now this is how you get people to watch a movie about killer clowns. I’m still not too crazy about the font – it looks like it’s advertising a bowling alley – but this is miles ahead of that other bullcrap. We’re looking at a painted version of the same clown from the other cover, rendered here as a far more menacing presence looming from outer space with hungry eyes that seem to be actively ignoring the abundance of free popcorn raining down from the heavens. Then there’s the absolutely ridiculous tagline, “IN SPACE NO ONE CAN EAT ICE CREAM!” First of all, is that even true? I can’t specifically remember reading about anybody ever eating ice cream in space, but I also can’t imagine why that wouldn’t be a possibility. Then again, I’m also not the smartest guy reviewing horror movies, and maybe there are some kinda outer space physics laws that state eating ice cream as off limits. Either way, it’s a nice little homage to Alien that’s somehow equal parts dumb and clever at the same time.

This is the kind of cover that would’ve stopped me in the video store. This is the kind of cover that, if nothing else, makes you take the movie off the shelf just to make sure you’re actually seeing what you think you think you’re seeing.

Movie: 4/5

Cover: 1/5 & 3/5

Killer Klowns From Outer Space [Blu-ray]