Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Fun Facts

Also Known As

Brazil - O Ataque dos Tomates Assassinos
Spain - El ataque de los tomates asesinos
Finland - Tappajatomaattien hyökkäys
France - Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Italy - Pomodori assassini
Poland - Atak pomidorów zabójców
Portugal - O Ataque dos Tomates Assassinos
Russia - Нападение помидоров-убийц
Sweden - Mördartomaterna anfaller
Germany - Angriff der Killertomaten

Taglines

Aaargh!
A New Musical-Comedy-Horror Show

Main Details

Released in 1978
Color
Running Time: 83 min | 90 min (director's cut)
Production Co: Four Square Productions
Distribution Co: NAI Entertainment (1978) (USA) (theatrical) | Danton Films (1979) (Canada) (theatrical)

Cast and Crew

Directed by John De Bello
Written by Costa Dillon, John De Bello, J. Stephen Peace, Rick Rockwell
Starring David Miller, George Wilson, Sharon Taylor , J. Stephen Peace, Ernie Meyers, Eric Christmas, Ron Shapiro, Al Sklar, Jerrold Anderson, Don Birch
Produced by Michael Bard Bayer, John De Bello, J. Stephen Peace, Mark L. Rosen
Original Music by Gordon Goodwin, Paul Sundfor
Cinematography by John K. Culley
Film Editing by John De Bello

Film Review

The 70's was the era of Disaster films and the Eco-terror genre. Everything killed you in the 70's, from plane flights to earthquakes to spiders to frogs to sharks and snakes...even tomatoes could kill you! Seriously, there's a 70's movie called "Attack of The Killer Tomatoes" that spoofed this trend. Before I watched the film, I had very high expectations since Return of the Killer Tomatoes (the sequel) is my MOST favorite comedy film of all time. It is a brilliant satire about product placement/late night TV airings of B-movies and usually breaks the fourth wall, which makes the film totally awesome. However, the original Killer Tomatoes is not as good as I hoped.

The plot: mutated tomatoes kill people so the government and a group of scientists have to stop them. That's it. Simple as 50's B-movies. In fact, this is a spoof/tribute to 50's B-movies. It has a stupid plot, bad acting, and music. There's also insane musical numbers in this film to make you smile.

Anyway, 60% of the comedy gags in this film are pretty bad and not funny. I'm sorry to say this, but it looks like a bad rip-off of The Kentucky Fried Movie because there are literal gags here. For example, there's a scene in which army generals discuss about how to stop the chaos. This conference happens in a small room...so small that they have to climb on the table to sit in their chairs. Then, the Japanese scientist talks about his plan to stop the tomatoes. And while he's talking, his hand accidentally pushes the picture of USS Arizona into a fish bowl (HINT: Pearl Harbor). It's like they are trying too hard to be funny in some parts.

Luckily, this film follows the 50's sci-fi flick route pretty well. It has a good moment of spoofing on how low the budget is. There's a montage that tells audience that killer tomatoes are attacking people in many states, but actually it's just a same group of people running from the left side of the screen to the right side of the screen, then run to the left side, then run to the right side again and again and again.

Overall, it's not the laugh-out-loud type of comedy, but it captures the vibe of B-movie pretty good.

Reviewed by Nuttawut Permphithak - 8/21/13