KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE

		Article by E.C.McMullen Jr.

The Chiodo Brothers worked on everyone else's movies, often finding themselves on par with Jim Henson's HA and occasionally surpassing the abilities of Disney itself. But that was the thing, you see? They were always recreating someone else's creation. Creating animatronic Henson creations, suits and puppetry for Eastman and Laird's TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, CRITTERS, and so on.

And sure, that brings in the money, but why not make a movie showcasing their own practical effect creations?

Why not? Well for one thing, even low budget feature films and distribution were prohibitively expensive. What's the point of such a gamble?

Henson himself took that risk when, wanting to show he and his team were far more capable than just Muppets, they released THE DARK CRYSTAL in 1982.

It's a showcase movie, like Rick Baker's THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN in 1977 or Stan Winston's PUMPKINHEAD, also in 1977 (Star Wars [1977], and its expensive 1978 TV sequel, The Star Wars Holiday Special, made unknown practical effects folks flush with cash and cache!). Like the others, KILLER KLOWNS was largely an advertisement for the Chiodo Bros. workshop and an acceptable loss if it flopped. It's meant to bring in more money to the SFX company from other studios large, small, and independent.

Risking a loss for the bigger picture is not limited to indie low budget movies, either.

Big studios often do it for their November December releases to get through the gate for Oscar season. They spent the year making bank on the size of their eye-watering budgets for the latest first weekend Spring/Summer return from their Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich/Dean Devlin debacle. Fall / Early winter is for the Oscar prestige from big studio period piece costume dramas. Or more recently, as the big studios go against their ingrained corporate culture and awkwardly try to graft Woke onto their late night Cinemax-style soft porn lez flicks, by throwing an extra 1 million at the budget and casting a few unknown BIPOC / LGBTQ+ into Limbo beneath the velvet rope of diversity.

CEO Bob: "Can we find some woman director to helm it, for cheap?"

Kathleen: "What about a woman of color to helm it?"

Bob: "Now you're talking, Kathy. That's Brill!"

They: "What about a trans-woman of color to direct it?"

Bob: "OMG, They! You just made me O! ... Uh, am I allowed to say that?"

However, the Chiodo Bros. weren't looking for awards or to redefine cinema. They'd be happy with a fun, enjoyable showcase, that won't be judged on its box office, only what it can bring to future productions. Though one can always dream, that's mostly all Chiodo Bros. were realistically hoping for. Yet their movie not only became a box office hit, but at nearly 40 years old, it has surprisingly long legs selling not just the movie itself, but movie merchandise and collectibles as well.

With Equal doses of Chilling and Cornball, find out what keeps this Schlock-A-Riffic flick at premium status in the hearts of so many fans!

My look at Killer Klowns From Outer Space.

This article copyright 2021 E.C.McMullen Jr.

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