Released: 1988
Starring: Michael Villani, John Astin, Karen Mistal, Anthony Starke, George Clooney
Director: John De Bello
Distributed by: New World Pictures
Rated: PG (UK – PG)
“Severe panic! Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the greenhouse…”
Here it is — the sequel to a film that didn’t need one. Return of the Killer Tomatoes sticks to its comedy roots, but makes changes in both style and quality compared to the original.
Return of the Killer Tomatoes takes place years after the Great Tomato Uprising (the first film) and tomatoes have now been outlawed. A mad scientist named Professor Gangreen turns out to be the one who created the killer tomatoes in the first movie. He continues his experiments in gene splicing with tomatoes, changing them into tomato-people through a combination of chemicals and music.
The protagonist of the movie, Chad Finletter, works at his uncle’s pizza place. His uncle is Wilbur Finletter (Stephen Peace; Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!, Killer Tomatoes Strike Back) who is hailed as a war hero from the events of the first film. Chad is infatuated with a girl who works with Professor Gangreen, named Tara (Karen Mistal; Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death, Space Cowboys), unaware that she is a tomato-person. Not wanting to be involved with Professor Gangreen any longer, Tara escapes his house and hides away with Chad. When Gangreen recaptures her, Chad gathers his friends and heads off to rescue her and stop Dr. Gangreen’s plan of taking over the world with his tomato-people.
Unlike its predecessor, Return of the Killer Tomatoes loses almost all of its horror origins in this sequel. It ends up being a self-aware comedy with a little touch of science-fiction. Except for a single animated tomato and footage used from the first film, all the “living” tomatoes are replaced with human actors. However, I think that this gave the movie a feeling of freshness. It allowed for more story and character development and even supplied a few jokes for the film (such as tomato-people celebrities). The first movie was so uniquely bad that merely doing more of the same would never have worked.
Speaking of the few tomatoes in the movie, FT (stands for Fuzzy Tomato) is a mutant tomato who wobbles and squeaks his way through the film, but he is crucial to the plot. He becomes part of the reason for Tara leaving Gangreen’s place, he helps rescue Chad and Matt, and more that I would not want to spoil for anyone who wants to see the film. While he may have been designed to be a mascot for the film or possibly released as a toy (they even make a joke about that in the movie), his character was put to good use throughout the film.
While basic, the story of Return of the Killer Tomatoes does what a sequel should and ties into the first movie right away. It pulls a few characters from the first film (although most are not played by the same actors) and introduces new characters (mostly young ones) so we get a different story from the first movie. Return of the Killer Tomatoes also reduces the scale of the conflict from a countrywide war to only a few locals in a small town. This change in style makes the story more intimate, and you focus more on the relationships between characters rather than the larger looming tomato danger.
And the effect of the comedy in Return of the Killer Tomatoes is going to depend on the type of person you are. It uses a lot of situational comedy, visual gags, and slapstick. There is also quite a bit of fourth-wall breaking comedy including having the director stop the film due to lack of funds. That last one leads to one of the film’s most extended jokes, the use of product placement to secure the financing to finish the movie, mocking a practice that is still used heavily today. Your reactions will range from eye-rolling to brief laughs. I experienced the full range while watching.
Production values went up compared to the first movie. You have well-lit scenes and actors giving solid performances as well as clear sound. The effects in the film are limited, but the few that are there are good enough to not pull you out of the movie. Although the puppet for FT is basically a pillow. While I think the first movie is a little hard to watch visually, I have no problem watching this one except maybe for the clothing and haircut styles. A lot of ‘80s hair abound in this film.
The standout actor in the film is John Astin (Teen Wolf Too, Freaky Friday) as Professor Gangreen. Astin is a performer who is fully capable of exaggerating his performances without taking away from the scene or the other actors. His casting as a mad scientist is perfect, and you will enjoy every minute he is on the screen.
Return of the Killer Tomatoes also has George Clooney (From Dusk till Dawn, Ocean’s Eleven) in one of his early film roles. Playing Matt Stevens, the second lead and best friend to Chad Finletter, Clooney portrays a charming ladies man (a stretch, I know) who encourages Chad to go after Tara and helps out on the mission to rescue her. He also shows his comedy chops throughout the movie. Even this early in his career you can see a star developing.
On the flip-side, Anthony Starke (Repossessed, Baby on Board) exaggerates his performance to the point that he no longer is connected to the scene. In moments like telling his friend Matt that Tara is a tomato, he is overacting so much that it ruins the comedy of the scene. While some may find it off-putting, Starke’s performance does not negatively affect the film to the extent that one would stop watching and he does deliver some good laughs throughout.
I was able to snag a copy of Return of the Killer Tomatoes on Blu-Ray from Arrow Video. I have to say that the picture quality is superb (as is with most of their releases). Everything is sharp, and the colors are bright and vivid. The audio is well done with clear sound in uncompressed stereo. The special features include new audio commentary with the director John De Bello and a new interview with Anthony Starke. The latter of which was quite fun to listen to. The menu needs some help. On my screen, it was hard to navigate the skip to a scene because the thumbnails were too small to figure out where you were. Still, it is an excellent Blu-Ray for fans of cult films and comedies. You can get yourself a copy with the links at the bottom of this review.
Return of the Killer Tomatoes is a solid follow-up to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! If you are looking for anything remotely horror, look elsewhere. But, if you are searching for a fun movie with a couple of good laughs, you can’t go wrong here. So pop it into your player, play a bit of Beethoven’s 5th (to test if anyone around you is a tomato), get comfy on your couch, and save me some popcorn!
Check out our other reviews of the Killer Tomatoes franchise!
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!
Rating:
Jack Savage:
They couldn’t have made any more of these films, could they?
Stay tuned for reviews of…
Killer Tomatoes Strike Back! &
Killer Tomatoes Eat France!
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