Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Blu Ray Review (MVD Rewind Collection)
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a 1978 horror comedy directed by John DeBello (All the Tomatoes sequels, Happy Hour, & Black Dawn) that spawned 3 sequels which include Return of the Killer Tomatoes!, Killer Tomatoes Strike Back!, & Killer Tomatoes Eat France! The film was adapted into a cartoon TV series in 1990 on Fox Kids. Multiple video games & a comic was also released based off Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. A remake was announced in 2008 but there have been no updates from it since 2011 but I wouldn’t be surprised if something happens soon because Hollywood is all about remakes these days. This film contains footage of a real helicopter crash, it was worth $600,000 & only rented by the production at the time. All of the crew were non union & a decent amount of the cast never acted again after this film. This one definitely stands out from other films in the same genre & fans of weird musicals appreciate it all over the world. “Puberty Love” was performed by Matt Cameron, who is more known as the drummer for Soundgarden & Pearl Jam. It was inspired by 1963 killer mushroom movie Matango. Killer Tomatoes was basically the creature feature equivalent to what the Scary Movies would become with slashers & modern horror later on. It was around before all those other spoofs like Airplane, Naked Gun, & the National Lampoon films.
The movie starts out with a hilarious warning. Not going to lie, that theme song is very catchy & gets stuck in your head easily. Police investigate a mysterious death of a woman in her kitchen. A bloody corpse that tastes like tomato juice! Speaking of tomatoes, there’s a recent drought & all kinds of accidents are happening around them lately including a dangerous shoot out. They can’t stop them. They tried chemicals, bugs, & bullets but nothing seems to work. Mason Dixon is in charge of stopping this chaos. Who? No one knows him because he hasn’t worked since the the Bay of Pigs. They bring in all the eccentric professionals for help with this bizarre situation. They gather up & make a plan to fight this evil. It includes the BEST English dubbing in cinema history! A young reporter stirs up controversy during a press conference about the killer tomatoes. The public is now in fear over the little red monsters. They are no longer delicious, they are vicious! As the movies goes on, the characters get more ridiculous. Tomatoes are causing disaster from the grocery store to the woods all over with no sign of slowing down. They are non stop killing machines that’s starting to overgrow the human population. This frustration leads to confrontations, human vs human instead of fighting together. The town is damaged & starting to become deserted. Double crossed & fueled with greedy ambition. Dixon & his crew were set up for failure to advance someone’s career! After struggling & losing their fight for survival, an unlikely hero arrives to save the day! A HORRIBLE singing voice plays through the speakers & the tomatoes are no match to the tone deaf vocals striking them down. They start to shrink & get smashed into the ground by the locals. As everything ends, a new vegetable emerges as the next threat!!!!
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is the type of movie that you have to turn your brain off & just enjoy. This can go either way with cinephiles, it might become one of your personal favorites or it might be one of the worst films you have ever seen! You can’t deny that it’s truly unique & it was way ahead of it’s time in 1978. I know some people can’t stand musicals but it’s definitely more tolerable than most due it not taking itself serious & proving nothing but over the top entertainment. It’s the perfect movie to gather up some friends & get trashed to. I haven’t seen this in forever so after watching the original I want to revisit the sequels soon. I have a huge movie collection & at the end of the day this one stands out more than most of them. It’s something you won’t forget & you will want to show others in the future. It obviously done something right if you look at all the stuff it created just from this original feature.
MVD Rewind Collection delivers the best visual presentation to ever exist for killer tomatoes. I’ve seen it on various other formats & it’s beyond impressive how much better it looks now with this 1080p (1.85:1) transfer remastered in 4K. It’s seriously night & day compared to anything else ever released with this movie.The audio (English: LPCM 2.0) is just as good as the visuals on this. When you look at the back of this release, you will noticed it’s loaded with special features from past releases including almost everything from the previous 25th Anniversary DVD. All of them are presented in SD rather than HD because of being older extras used on stuff before Blu Ray was around but it’s still a nice bonus to this release. Audio Commentary with John De Bello, Costa Dillon, & Steve Peace. Legacy of a Legend is a 14 minute archival retrospective with cast, crew, & fans. Crash and Burn is a nearly 4 minute look into the real life crash from this movie. Two Super Duper 8 Prequels: 17 minute Attack of the Killer Tomatoes & 32 minute Gone With the Babusuland. Famous Fowl is a 2 minute chat with the San Diego Chicken. 3 deleted scenes from the film. Killer Tomatomania is a 4 minute look at a killer tomato taking over Hollywood. Where Are They Now? is an almost 4 minute catch up with various cast members. We Told You So is a silly 3 minute conspiracy piece. Sing Alongs for various songs from the film. Slated for Success is a two minute feature on unknown talents. Theatrical Trailer & Radio Spots round up the extras listed on the artwork. Easter Eggs are included but you have to find those yourself. The original pressing of this is already sold out but if you still might find the rare retro slipcover from various retailers with remaining stock. Anything new won’t include that. You also get a DVD to go with your Blu Ray & a nice mini poster inside. MVD Rewind Collection hit a home run with this release! If you are a fan of this movie & this franchise I highly recommend you to pick this up ASAP! It’s the definitive home video release for Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
