Killer Klowns from Outer Space

"It’s craazzy!"

1988 1h 26m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

🍅

79%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.2

IMDB

★6.7TMDB · 1,227🍅79%Rotten Tomatoes●43Metacritic★6.2IMDB · 49,750

ComedyHorrorScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Aliens disguised as clowns crash land on Earth in a rural town to capture unsuspecting victims in cotton candy cocoons for later consumption.

“It’s craazzy!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Grant Cramer
Mike Tobacco
Suzanne Snyder
Debbie Stone
John Allen Nelson
Dave Hanson
John Vernon
Curtis Mooney
Royal Dano
Farmer Gene Green
Christopher Titus
Bob McReed
Michael S. Siegel
Rich Terenzi
Peter Licassi
Paul Terenzi

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Stephen Chiodo
Writers: Stephen Chiodo, Edward Chiodo, Charles Chiodo
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

86 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $44M — a 24.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Stephen Chiodo, shot by Alfred Taylor. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Massari. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Christopher Roth shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Grant Cramer and Suzanne Snyder and John Allen Nelson carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Stephen Chiodo directs. Alfred Taylor behind the camera. John Massari scores. Christopher Roth cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $1.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $44M — a 24.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
438 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
5Directed by Stephen Chiodo, shot by Alfred Taylor. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by John Massari. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Christopher Roth shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Grant Cramer and Suzanne Snyder and John Allen Nelson carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "It’s craazzy!".
10IMDB entry: tt0095444 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 13 themes, including "clown", "extraterrestrial", "campy", "ice cream truck".

The technical file

Cinematography: Alfred Taylor
Original score: John Massari
Editing: Christopher Roth
Production design: Charles Chiodo
Costume design: Darcee F. Olson
Runtime: 86 min · 1h 26m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,800,000
Box office: $43,625,095
Return: 2424% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
Rotten Tomatoes: 79% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 43/100
IMDB rating: 6.2/10 · 49,750 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

2 nominations total

Also by

Stephen Chiodo

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2024-12-30
★ 5/10
Amusing, but too ridiculous, yet interestingly relates to the Hebrew diaspora A town by the central California coast is invaded by circus-like extraterrestrials, who prey upon humans for their blood. "Killer Klowns From Outer Space" (1988) is a colorful and fun alien invasion flick in the mold of “Critters” from two years earlier but, unlike that flick, is too preposterous to suspend disbelief. For instance, “Critters” offers a good explanation for how one of the extraterrestrials appears like a striking rock star, but you’ll get nothing like that here. Nevertheless, there are multiple funny moments and winsome redhead Suzanne Snyder is a highlight as Debbie. Also, John Vernon is entertaining as the curmudgeon officer and the sequence involving one of the Klowns using a certain character as a ventriloquist dummy is worth the price of admission. An interesting interpretation is that the Klowns are analogous of the dispersed Israelites who learned to hide in plain sight and thrive (not just survive) by changing their names and taking control in their new environments thru influencing and manipulating entertainment, politics, the media and financing (e.g. Federal Reserve banking). It runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot in Watsonville, California (and nearby Santa Cruz), which are located 80-90 miles south of San Francisco. GRADE: C

Production companies