OCTOBERFEAST – Killer Klowns from Outer Space
[OCTOBERFEAST is the greatest celebration of the year, a revelry dedicated to pop-culture’s most nutritious Halloween detritus. Plastic screams and artificial sweeteners have never been more bountiful. In the old country, villagers refer to the extended party as Satan’s Snacktime]
Ahoy! If you’re reading this, it means that you’ve managed to survive the first half of the OCTOBERFEAST! Congratulations! You are now amongst the ranks of the frightfully faithful, the few capable of gorging on sugary-shock and plastic-paranormal. At this point, most’ve bowed out, deciding that they cannot continue to worship the manifestations of humanity’s darkened heart without causing irrevocable damage to their consciences.
Your reward for not running off into the dim horizon – some chuckles.
See, a major misconception about OCTOBERFEAST is that levity is wholly absent. This, of course, is simply false. Sure, the festival is dedicated to slayings, acts of havoc, and undead armies, but that doesn’t mean we can’t cackle at a few gutbusters! Hell, today’s featured guests are guaranteed to tickle the `ole funny-bone!
`Cause the only folks funnier than clowns are Killer Klowns from Outer Space!
The brainchild of the Chiodo Brothers, Killer Klowns from Outer Space chronicles the hysteria that results when aliens land in small-town Americana. While the premise has been done and copied before, this flick ups the ante by asking the following question: What if aliens are actually monstrous clowns?
As you might expect, the answers are both horrifying and hilarious.
Originally released in 1988, the movie blends and defies and reimagines genres with a panache that only existed during the Reagan Decade. The uninformed might speculate that Killer Klowns from Outer Space is nothing more than a lame attempt to exploit coulrophobia via cinema, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. The movie is incredibly self-aware, hamming up all of the well-worn tropes in its employ:
– Right when the dude and his babe are about to get it on, they see something in the sky and abstain to go track it!
– Oh my, it turns out to be a spaceship!
– The young cop and the old cop don’t get along!
– The babe gets kidnapped!
– The aliens terrorize the townspeople!
But where the movie really shines is in its use of the alien-clown concept. The Killer Klowns are equipped with a plethora of big-topped weaponry, including (but hardly limited to) popcorn guns, creme pies of death, and the ability to turn people into cotton candy-cocoons! So while the violence might be frequent enough to constitute a veritable carnival of carnage, it’s also ridiculous enough to qualify as satirical.
Back in `88, the Chiodo Brothers didn’t have the benefit of injecting computer-generated-hogwash into their movie. Consequently, the Killer Klowns actually look damn freaky, like some sort of manifestations of cartoon nightmares. They move and smile and grimace, making for performances that are both tethered to the real-world and incredibly animated.
The OCTOBERFEAST has raged on for the better part of a month, and plenty of faint-hearted weaklings have been consumed. So take a moment to lighten up – that’s right, peel yourself away from the witch’s bubbling cauldrons, and the cannibal death-matches, and the fire-cracker pumpkin-carving competition. The Killer Klowns from Outer Space have arrived, and you should give them your laughter.
Otherwise, they might take your lives!