Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

-

The 1978 movie Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is noteworthy for several reasons:

Despite its intentionally low budget and campy nature, the movie has garnered a significant cult following since its release. Its bizarre premise and over-the-top humor have made it a favorite among fans of B-movies and campy horror-comedies.

The film is a parody of B-movie horror and science fiction films. It exaggerates the absurdity of the genre, featuring killer tomatoes as the main antagonists, which highlights the ridiculousness of many horror movie plots.

The film's popularity amongst connoseuirs of that genre led to a franchise that included several sequels, such as "Return of the Killer Tomatoes!" (1988), "Killer Tomatoes Strike Back!" (1990), and "Killer Tomatoes Eat France!" (1991). There was also an animated TV series, "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes," which aired from 1990 to 1991.

The film features a memorable and intentionally cheesy theme song, which adds to its quirky charm. The music contributes to the film's comedic and campy atmosphere.

"Return of the Killer Tomatoes!" (1988) is notable for featuring one of George Clooney's early film roles. His appearance in the sequel brought some additional attention to the original film.

"Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" is often cited as an example of successful DIY filmmaking. It was made on a very low budget, and its relative success has inspired many independent filmmakers to pursue their projects with limited resources.

Overall, "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" is remembered for its unique blend of humor, horror, and satire, its role in spawning a franchise, and its impact on cult cinema.

Film students are shown this, as part of their curriculum, to illustrate most of the above points. 

Comments

Post a Comment

I have disabled the requirement for logging into Google but have enabled comment moderation. This means that it may take a few hours or days for your comment to appear. The moderation is neccesary to prevent spam.

Popular posts from this blog

Going to the drive-in.

-
Image
Growing up in white middle-class South Africa, one cherished cultural hallmark of my teenage years was the drive-in theater. This is an outdoor venue with a large projection screen and a parking area, that allowed movie-goers to enjoy the latest films from the comfort of their own car. Unlike traditional indoor cinemas, the drive-in's projection building often housed a take-away restaurant, offering not just the standard snacks like popcorn and cold-drinks, but also cooked meals such as hamburgers. Thanks to the South Africa’s temperate climate and the small variation in sunset times between seasons, drive-ins were a popular year-round entertainment option. With an admission fee charged per vehicle rather than per individual, drive-ins were a magnet for large families and groups of friends on a budget. The drive-in's parking layout was designed so that each bay was slightly inclined at the front, ensuring an unobstructed view of the screen from the car's windshield. Those a...
Read more

Something to listen to.

-
Image
The Coming Storm is a series of investigative radio programmes, produced by the BBC and hosted by journalist Gabriel Gatehouse, that takes a look into the "labyrinthine rabbit warren of American conspiracy culture" that has seeimngly made its way into the mainstream of politics. There are 23 episodes in total, 13 of which were produced in 2022 with the remaining aired in late 2024 and during the US presential inaugration. You can listen to all the episides by clicking here . In my opinion, these episodes give us an insight into one facet of the American way of thinking. To what extent this represents the A verage American , I cannot say but it is a reflection of the current political thinking.
Read more

In English we don't break tongues, we twist them instead!

-
Image
Read the following out loud: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? Betty Botter bought some butter, but, she said, the butter's bitter. If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter. But a bit of better butter will make my batter better. So she bought some better butter, better than the bitter butter, put it in her batter, made her batter better. So 'twas better Betty Botter bought some better butter. She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if she sells seashells on the seashore, I'm sure she sells seashore shells. Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy, was he? How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck wou...
Read more