Come for what it says in the title, the wonderfully garish, but stay for the effects, colors, a few clever lines, and some delightful foreshadowing. Mike Tobacco and Debbie Stone are on a date when they see something strange, but what they find is out of this world, alien klowns turning people from the town of Crescent Cove into cotton candy cocoons with the intention to drink them as snacks once they’re liquefied.
I love the idea of these savage creatures not breaking their clown theme. Costumes, weapons, vehicles — they all look right out of the big top. It gives them a disarming quality, but when they finally show their teeth, it’s even more satisfying. The events of the film aren’t scary unless someone watching suffers from Coulrophobia, but there are moments that set the tone well.
The characters help make this movie endearing. Every last cast member embodies their character’s archetype, which helps the overblown script feel more human. The Chiodos wanted to turn a few classic tropes on their heads, like not having Debbie be the dumb blonde and letting Dave be the brave partner instead of a jealous ex and antagonist.
There’s also some excellent music here. The film received a theme from The Dickies, who knew nothing about the film other than the title when they wrote the song. John Massari crafted the score for Killer Klowns — a wonderful composition with some catchy guitar riffs — but one of the songs was actually