The initial reception of Killer Klowns from Outer Space back in 1988 might have been underwhelming, but its fandom has grown immensely passionate over the decades, with this weekend seeing an opportunity for fans to watch the film along with its creators, thanks to a live-watching series on Nostalgic Nebula YouTube channel. Fans will have to queue up their own copy of the film, as it won’t be streamed online, but with the film is currently available to stream on Netflix, so it should be easy for most fans to take part in the event. Tune in to the event this Saturday, June 20th beginning at 4 p.m. PT.
Slated to participate in the event are director Stephen Chiodo, writers Charles and Edward Chiodo, composer John Massari, and actor Grant Cramer.
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As the title implies, the film features a group of otherworldly jesters invading a small town to wreak havoc, using silly-looking weapons to terrorize the community and capturing victims in cocoons of cotton candy, allowing the aliens to slurp up a human slurry. Despite the theatrical release of the film being somewhat disappointing, when the film ultimately landed on home video years later, it earned the respect it deserved from genre fans.
“It’s a product of its time. We look back at it now, as filmmakers, there are things that still make me cringe to this day, things that didn’t go off quite right,” co-creator Edward Chiodo shared with ComicBook.com earlier this year. “Things we wanted to do better or things we didn’t even get to do. But, overall, I’m pretty proud of the movie. I manage to see it a couple of times a year when we’re at festivals or appearances. There’s enough time that has passed where I can actually objectively watch it now, and it’s pretty good. The fact that Universal Studios has recognized it and now, Florida, two years in a row, made it a part of their Halloween Horror Nights, and then this year in Hollywood, that was quite the tribute.”
He added, “35 years later, we’re doing a holiday special for Netflix with Jon Favreau as our executive producer. It’s been a long time coming, but things happen for a reason, they happen on their own timeline. I’m glad that it’s found an audience and it makes people happy. It’s funny, it’s such a silly title. You know what you’re getting when you see it, but on more than one occasion, people have come up to us to say that they were going through a tough time in their life. One person, in particular, was having a really tough time with his father. They just fought, they just did not get along. They really didn’t like one another. But the one thing they had in common was their love for our movie and they would be able to find common ground by watching the movie together to try to build their relationship. That’s pretty special. If that’s the only person it touched, that’s pretty good, too.”
Check out the Killer Klowns from Outer Space live-watching event this Saturday, June 20th at 4 p.m. PT on the Nostalgic Nebula YouTube channel.
Will you be tuning in to the event? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!