Killer Klowns From Outer Space

Stop it! That's our home!

Killer clowns? From outer space? Holy shit. —Mooney

Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a 1988 B-Movie. A spaceship shaped like a giant circus tent lands on the outskirts of a small town. The occupants are aliens that look like Monster Clowns. They begin abducting the townsfolk, sealing them in cotton candy cocoons, and then draining them of their blood. Only one man, his two delinquent friends, his girlfriend, and her cop ex-boyfriend can stop them.

A very Affectionate Parody of 50's B Movies (particularly The Blob) with just about every alien invasion and circus trope present.

Tropes used in Killer Klowns From Outer Space include:

• Achilles Heel: Destroying a Klown's nose kills them instantly.
• Affectionate Parody: The tagline is a parody of The Aliens' one.
• Ancient Astronauts: One of the Terenzi brothers jokingly suggests that previous visits from the Klowns are why we fear clowns.
  • Did they also suggest they were the inspirations for the clown concept?
• Anyone Can Die: The rest of the townsfolk.
• Attack of the Killer Whatever: Klowns.
• Bad Humor Truck: The Terenzi brothers' latest get-rich-quick scheme. Also devised as a way to get fat girls.
• B-Movie: Understatement
• Boldly Coming: Downplayed example (apparently). The Terenzi brothers get separated from the other main characters briefly ending next to two lady Klowns. Cut away, and they come back shortly after Covered in Kisses.
• Breast Expansion: Two "female" clowns.
• Bullying a Dragon: A group of bikers mock the smallest klown in the bunch. It does not end well for the main instigator.
• Cassandra Truth: Inverted. Sgt. Mooney believes the hundreds of calls coming in of Monster Klowns are part of an elaborate hoax.
• Circus of Fear: What the Klowns' mothership is designed as.
• Critical Research Failure: In-universe example happens when farmer Green sees the Klowns' arrival on earth he deduces that it's the Halley's comet.
• Dead Guy Puppet: One of the Klowns uses a sheriff as a ventriloquist's dummy to talk to one of the teenaged heroes, apparently shoving its hand into his back.
• Decoy Protagonist: Mike. Dave turns out to be the real hero.
• Dirty Cop: Mr. Mooney. Yes, the idea of killer clowns from outer space attacking Earth is somewhat unbelievable, but the reports of several violent deaths shouldn't be taken lightly.
• Disney Death: The Klowns' spaceship blows up at the end of the film with Dave and the Terenzi brothers on board. All three of them are alive and well a minute later.
• Earth-Shattering Poster
• The End — or Is It?: At the end of the movie, The Klowns' ship explodes...and everyone has a "thank goodness that's over" moment...only to be hit by cream pies.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: See the Page Quote.
• Hate Sink: Since the Klowns are comedic in their own twisted way, the movie decides to include Officer Mooney who is a bad police officer.
• I'm Melting: Near the end the Klowns dispose of a security guard by showering him with throwing pies... which promptly melt him down to a pile of bones.
• Inferred Holocaust: The town's entire population gets killed outright or turned into cocoons (apparently an irreversible process) and then blown up when the Klowns' spaceship explodes. Only five characters survive, three of whom merely due to their Disney Deaths. Um... yeah?
• Large and In Charge: The boss Klown.
• Living Shadow: One of the Klowns entertains a crowd with Impossible Shadow Puppets before creating a T-Rex one and devouring them with it.
• Load-Bearing Boss: Klownzilla.
• Make-Out Point: Near where the Klowns land. Christopher Titus makes his film debut as one of the unfortunate teens.
• Monster Clown: From Outer Space.
• Mugging the Monster: Mooney tries a little Police Brutality on a klown, thinking it's a prankster in a costume.
• Off with His Head
• One-Scene Wonder: John Vernon (Sgt. Mooney) has a grand total of seven minutes of screen time. He gets an "And Starring" credit. Then again, he was pretty much the only big name in the cast.
• People Puppets: Mooney after being killed by a Klown.
• Police Are Useless: Mooney is absolutely convinced that the Klowns are a hoax perpetrated by the Terenzi brothers.
  • And, apparently, that the same hoax is supported by the entire population of the town. He thinks they're all in on it.
  • The police did came at the end, only to see the spaceship explode and the survivors escape.
• Rabid Cop: Mooney.
• Ray Gun: The Klown's main weapon of choice is a ray gun that turns people into cotton candy.
• Shower Scene: We don't get to see anything, but the love interest apparently spends a good half-hour in there...
• Stripped to the Bone: Acidic custard pies.
• To Serve Man: As mentioned above, the Klowns capture people to drink their victims' blood.
• Visual Pun: The Klowns' "Big Top" tent/spaceship, when it takes off at the end of the movie, is revealed to actually be shaped like a Big "top"
• Would Hurt a Child: In an otherwise silly movie, the prospect of this provides a moment of true suspense.
• Xtremely Kool Letterz