When Tomatoes Attack!

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes from 1978 is a delightful romp in movie making by folks who knew only some of what they need to know to make it a fully professional show and didn't have the money to do it anyway.  The show is a send-up of most every invasion and monster movie you've ever seen while taking time to potshot then recent hits like Jaws and Superman. The movie has three sequels, the first in 1987 and sadly by that time despite an earnestness of purpose and talented folks, the movie looks a whole lot like most other ironic monster movies which filled the VHS racks to supply the endless need of the home video user. There is a abundant use of sex to sell a show that is essentially cynical about its subject. That's not the case with the original. There is a genuine exhilaration at just making a movie which keeps this cheap little number from falling into the same ditch so many of its kind discover in the end.

The premise is pretty simple -- mutated tomatoes of our own making have attacked their creators and it's up to a few brave public servants to discover the full nature of the threat and stop it. The film has pros in it like Jack Riley and Eric Christmas, but the bulk of the story is carried forward by essentially amateurs. One of those amateurs is Stephen Peace who goes on to appear in other of the Tomato movies and who became a  California legislator for a time.

The show's biggest moment comes early when a helicopter crashes with a stunning realism. The reason it was real, a helicopter did crash in the middle of a scene and the camera kept rolling. No one was hurt, but it was hard to watch it and not thing someone did. The filmmakers just used it and it became a famous enough scene to get Jack Riley onto the Tonight Show and got Attack of the Killer Tomatoes some free publicity it could have never afforded otherwise. I imagine most folks have seen this one. But if you've only ever seen one of the sequels, I beseech you to seek out and enjoy the original. It's shoddy but filled with enthusiasm and more than a few laughs. It, unlike its descendants has a heart, a great big juicy red heart.

In 1988, the same team that created the first movie attempted a sequel titled Return of the Killer Tomatoes, and this time they had money. They also unwittingly had a budding superstar in George Clooney, who doesn't even play the romantic lead but his sidekick. 

The movie shows a world reeling still from the tomato wars and tomatoes are forbidden. But John Astin is a mad scientist named "Professor Mortimer Gangreen" who was at least in part responsible for the first attack. He's at it again, but this time he can make tomatoes into a people, or at least imitations. 

One such creation is "Tara Boumdeay" who rebels and takes her little tomato buddy F.T. (for Fuzzy Tomato) with her when she escapes. She finds comfort in the arms of "Chad Finletter", the nephew of the hero of the first tomato war. They fall in love and the rest is madness. The movie breaks the fourth wall often and even stops at one point to fund raise by using product placement. Clooney is Chad's best bud Matt, who is a lady killer of the first order. The old team from the first movie return as well to foil the schemes of Gangreen. 

In 1991 we are treated to the third installment in the series titles Killer Tomatoes Strike Back. The absurdity is dialed up even more, if that's possible. I really enjoyed this one as the story got weirder and the performances got broader in response. By the climax of the movie, the story has reached Warner Brothers cartoon parameters with logic giving way to visual gags over and over again. The story starts in a world again threatened by tomatoes, but this time they are rather like the Gremlins in that movie series, the size of softballs and hungry. 

Our hero is a cop played by Rick Rockwell who is a fool from the beginning, and he eventually teams up with a "Tomatologist" played by Crystal Carson. They are battling Professor Gangreen yet again, but this time he is using television to hypnotize the world to follow his orders. To do that he has created the identity of "Geronahew" ( Geraldo and Donahue blended to together) to take control by using a daytime talk show to spread his message. It's a crazy movie, but I have to say I enjoyed it, especially the after-movie reports. 

Professor Gangreen (John Astin again) and his assistant Igor (Steve Lundquist who has played the role in all three sequels) are up to no good again in 1992's Killer Tomatoes Eat France! This time they are assisted by tomatoes the size of soccer balls, each with a malicious look on his mug. The biggest difference is that the tomatoes can talk this time and have distinct personalities, all bad save for the F.T. who is once again on the side of right. Zolton, Viper and Ketchuk are the three main baddie tomatoes and according to sources are largely borrowed from the cartoon series derived from the movies at this point. 

The plot draws from the barest outlines of Alexander Dumas' The Man in the Iron Mask. Our hero is an American named Michael (Marc Price), and a French young woman named Marie (Angel Visser). As much as they try to recreate manic madness of the previous movie they fall short, though it does quite hectic. This is my least favorite of the four movies in the "Killer Tomato Trilogy". 

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