Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)

User Rating:

4.2/10   

Director:

John De Bello

Writers:

John De Bello (writer)
Costa Dillon (writer)

Release Date:

October 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Musical

Plot:

A group of scientists band together to save the world from mutated tomatoes that KILL!

Plot Keywords:

Underwater | Master Of Disguise | Alien | Midnight Movie | Sword

Cast

David Miller	...	Mason Dixon
George Wilson	...	Jim Richardson
Sharon Taylor	...	Lois Fairchild
J. Stephen Peace	...	Lt. Wilbur Finletter (as Rock Peace)
Ernie Meyers	...	The President
Eric Christmas	...	Senator Polk
Ron Shapiro	...	Newspaper editor
Al Sklar	...	Ted Swann
Jerrold Anderson	...	Major Mills (as Jerry Anderson)
Don Birch	...	Old man
Tom Coleman	...	Singing soldier
Art K. Koustik	...	FIA Director (as Art Koustik)
Jack Nolen	...	Senator McKinley
Paul Oya	...	Dr. Nokitofa
John Qualls	...	Captain

Runtime:

87 min | 90 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:L | Spain:13 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Oceanside, California, USA

Company:

Four Square Productions

Trivia:

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

Quotes:

Commerical voice: Last year, more people were killed by automobile accidents, heart attacks, lung cancer, and natural causes combined than by any one tomato.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Derby Stallion (2005)

Soundtrack:

TOMATO STOMP

The purest form of High Concept movie making

The trailers before the movie on my VHS copy are for a Hannah Barberra cartoon ("Yogi bear in the Arabian Nights" or something) which shows you who the marketing guys thought their target audience was and, taken on that kind of dumb stupid cartoon level, this is one of the funniest things I have seen for years. I laughed out loud several times whilst completely sober and on my own. Yes, its story structure is an utter mess, yes, the acting, directing, editing production values and sound (especially the sound) are awful, yes, a lot of the gags just don't work - the timing is all over the place sometimes jokes are rushed, other times they are stretched out way beyond their worth but as a whole "Tomatoes" is undeniably funny. I'm afraid I nearly wet myself when the Adolf Hitler line came as the payoff to a what looked like a lame running gag.

Reading some of the reviews here I find it hard to understand how anyone can be disappointed in this movie. It lays its stall out in the first two minutes. Girl is attacked by a tomato - then some of the funniest opening credits ever. It is so preposterous it defies criticism. This is the purest form of High Concept movie making. "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes"... unless you didn't actually KNOW what a tomato was how could anyone think this is anything other than what it is - a dumb, stupid, funny movie? and I defy anyone who watches this film not to have the theme song running around their head for days afterwards.

Think of this movie as being made by Matt Stone & Trey Parker (the guys behind South Park etc.) and you get the idea - though in my opinion "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" is a lot funnier than "Cannibal, the Musical" or "Orgazmo".

Definitely a movie to watch with your brain, and any critical faculties you may think you have, switched very, very off.