Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!

a Visionary film or plain crap?

Today we'll enter the deepest, darkest, most hyped and criticized movie of all times. Nevertheless, do we have what it takes to say what everyone has? how do you define a bad movie? what is a bad movie? where are the standards on film making? If you think a good movie follows the intro/development/climax pattern then, every film should be worth the try but, if we put it in grammar terms does the following sentence make sense: "Green ideas ran furiously in deep space" the answer is completely and utterly yes. The structure is correct so, does every film ever made count as a correct production everyone should worship? Nope. Movies do not depend on structure, they depend on something entirely different: impact, and impact is entirely attached to the viewer's reception. 

For instance, when Steven Spielbergs' Jaws was released in 1972 it was an instant hit, and let's be honest, Jaws does not have a good script, in fact, it has plenty of flaws, even wrong science facts! but, whatever, people loved it yesterday and still love it today (not me dudes) 

Expectantly, a new breed of movies spawned, trying to reproduce the success of Jaws. Several years after that, in 1978, a low budget movie named Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! came out. AOTKT (I'm too lazy to type it every time) was primarily a spoof of the said genre. Unfortunately, many people took it too seriously and failed to recognize its comedic appeal. Therefore, AOTKT is generally considered a bad movie, some even call it the worst film of all times. But, is it fair?

World leaders decide to take the tomatoes matter seriously.

Monsanto before Monsanto.

The movie's plot is rather simple. Tomatoes started killing people and are now a menace to whole humanity. The government of the USA decides to fight back with any means necessary. Here our protagonist, one Mason Dixon comes in play: he leads a group of useless men in a quest to find a solution for this horrible menace. Of course, calling Mason Dixon's character the protagonist could be a bit of an overstatement since there's a bundle of characters in the movie and no one is really that prominent. Because there are so many characters in the movie, AOTKT sometimes feels like a series of sketches rather than a coherent movie. Which isn't really that bad since many of the 'sketches' are funny but, considering general movie logic, various scenes don't lead anywhere and feel pointless.

First of all, I don't understand why people took this movie so seriously. The movie's name is Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!, and it even has its own theme song, for crying out loud! Also, the movie makes it pretty clear throughout that it is just a ludicrous little spoof. It's even a part time musical with a few ridiculous songs in it. So my advice is - if you're going to watch this trashy thing, try to relax and by no means take it seriously. So yes, the absurdity of the script, the awful acting and the bad special effects are deliberate. You may or may not enjoy that but it's insane to bash this movie for the wrong reasons.

a Vegan's nightmare!

Super tomato!

One may say - 'ok, it's a spoof, not a serious movie but so what? That doesn't necessarily make it any good.' That's true but AOTKT is pretty enjoyable either way. It manages to successfully make fun of most creature feature movie clichés. I must say, I had quite a few laughs watching this. I would even go as far as to compare it to the classic 1980 comedy Airplane!. Who knows? Maybe Airplane! took the idea of the exclamation mark in the title from AOTKT. If you like trash movies, you can do no wrong by watching this one. Its low budget charm only makes it more appealing; if nothing, because it looks like the movies it spoofs. Naturally, it's not the best comedy movie out there, far from it, but it will certainly do well as a one-time comedy experience.

12 Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! unknown facts.

Real Helicopter Crash.

 

The helicopter crash in the early scenes was unintentional. You clearly see the helicopter's tail rotor blades accidentally hitting the ground which caused the helicopter to spin out of control and crash, with debris and the top rotor blades narrowly missing the policemen in the scene and the crew off camera. The pilot received minor injuries. After being pulled from the wreck, Jack Riley and George Wilson quickly ad-libbed the rest of the scene as the wreck was set on fire. The crash of the $60,000 rented helicopter used up more of the budget than all other aspects of the film combined.

 

Foam Tomatoes?

 

The giant tomatoes were made out of foam.

 

Toilet Seat Headset.

 

The giant ear muffs that the giant tomato is wearing at the end was actually two big bright green toilet seat covers. 

 

Stuntman Peace.

 

J. Stephen Peace did all of his own stunts. Moreover, Peace had a wooden board on wheels placed under his stomach for the scene in which he's dragged down the street by a car. 

 

Dana's Debut.

 

Film debut of Dana Ashbrook.

 

Grunge Tomatoes.

 

The song "Puberty Love" was performed by Matt Cameron, who would later go on to be the drummer for Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. 

 

Before Apple, there was iTomato!

Just chillin' with my tomatoes.

Stock Film Quality.

 

Shot on 35 mm Kodak 5247 negative stock film - very unusual for a low budget film at the time. Most low budget films were shot on positive stock film. The quality of the negative is one reason why many people thought the film cost more to make than it did. 

 

All in the Family.

 

Various relatives of the filmmakers were financial backers for the movie. Moreover, several family members of the filmmakers appear throughout the picture in small parts. 

 

Illegal Scene.

 

The scene at the public water fountain was shot without a permit.

 

We buy at Goodwill's.

 

Most of the army uniforms were purchased at Goodwill department stores.

 

Strike back!

Climax Improv.

 

The climax at the San Diego Stadium was shot in a single day. Moreover, all of the extras at the climax wore their own outrageous outfits. 

 

a Press Conference in a School?

 

The press conference scene was shot in a high school auditorium.

  
Ok peeps, here's the ending of our humble review and we say goodbye with the usual movie trailer: