Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Return of the Killer Tomatoes! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 27, 2016

Maybe those wacky macrobiotic diet folks are on to something. As someone who has spent most of my life as a vegetarian, but who doesn’t hesitate to scoff at the “silliness” of vegans, Paleo aficionados, and other niche dietary tribes, I’ve never quite understood the odd specificity of some of the macrobiotic “no no” foods, which include proscriptions against so-called nightshades, a category which itself includes tomatoes. Of course, prescient Darwinists may want to argue to that it’s probably better to eat a tomato than to have a tomato eat you, at least if one takes the decidedly whimsical horrors of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes into account. This ultra low budget comedy debuted in 1978 to largely withering reviews but substantial enough box office to foster several sequels, of which 1988’s Return of the Killer Tomatoes was the first. Much like the sequel’s release date itself, Return of the Killer Tomatoes picks up a decade after the events of the first film, though there are truly only tangential connections between the first film’s (non tomato) characters and this aggregation. Return of the Killer Tomatoes has a requisite “mad scientist”, Professor Mortimer Gangreen (John Astin), a typically crazy inventor who is obsessed with letting tomatoes do their worst. In the wake of the horrors unleashed in the first film, tomatoes have been outlawed, and part of this film’s humor is derived from the “contraband” element that has now ensued. While somewhat different in how it “arranges” its set ups and subsequent punchlines, the overall anarchic tone of Return of the Killer Tomatoes is at least somewhat reminiscent of the Zucker Brothers’ iconic films (like Airplane! ), at least insofar as the film’s relentless silliness attempts to skewer just about everything that wanders into the frame at any given moment. (The commentary on this disc has director John De Bello mentioning how the first film may have had a bit of a hard time initially finding its audience because it pre-dated Airplane! and other similarly ridiculous parodies.)

While the first film’s Wilbur Finletter (Stephen Peace, also a co-writer) is around, at least tangentially, this film features a kind of “next generation” gambit, proffering Wilbur’s nephew Chad (Anthony Starke) as the new hero du jour. Chad works at Wilbur’s tomato free pizza joint and also hangs out with his womanizing buddy Matt Stevens (George Clooney). While the film’s title obviously promises killer tomatoes, one of this film’s goofier conceits is that Professor Gangreen is actually transforming tomatoes into humans (or something like that), in a patently insane plot to take over the world. There are elements of both the then relatively recent The Toxic Avenger as well as the more “historic” Invasion of the Body Snatchers in this formulation, though it’s obviously played totally for laughs, largely removed from the subtextual histrionics of the 1950s film and even the ecological underpinnings of the Troma outing.

What perhaps keeps Return of the Killer Tomatoes from the heights (sorry, pun unavoidable) of Airplane! is that the Zucker- Abrahams comedic masterpiece had an identifiable template it was parodying. There aren’t exactly a slew of murderous vegetable films out there that Return of the Killer Tomatoes can mine for specific satiric elements, and so the film tends to coast along on its own completely absurd momentum, generating decent laughs both from the utter silliness of it all as well as the appropriately hyperbolic performance styles.

That said, there’s a certain similarity to Airplane!’s approach, with director John De Bello (another co-writer) throwing as much potential comedic fodder at the wall (and/or screen) in order to see what (if anything) sticks. The gags are nonstop, but they tend to vary in impact, with some of the best humor actually springing not from the whole tomato aspect but from more tangential elements, like a string of obvious product placements, along with certain “meta” aspects, like an early text card describing what’s going on in no nonsense terms (ones devoted to the pulchritude of scantily dressed females on the beach).

Return of the Killer Tomatoes is flat out ridiculous, and appreciation of what it has to offer will probably stem solely from how much individual viewers like “stupid” cinema. One way or the other, it’s a lot of fun to see Astin chewing the scenery with such passion, and to see George Clooney in an early “heartthrob” role, years before he had made much of an impression either on television or in films.

Return of the Killer Tomatoes! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Return of the Killer Tomatoes is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The typically informative insert booklet details the provenance of the transfer, stating that it was culled from a 2K scan of a 35mm interpositive. Quite a bit of the transfer looks very good, especially when the film ventures out of doors into brightly lit environments (see screenshot 4). In moments like these, the palette breathes commendably, densities are substantial, and grain resolves naturally. Unfortunately, there's quite a bit of inconsistency on display throughout this video presentation, with a number of moments where grain clumps pretty badly (see several screenshots, including numbers 10, 12 and 17). The cross-hatched appearance significantly impacts detail levels, and several sequences therefore have a much softer, even fuzzier, appearance than the better moments. The palette also tends to suffer at times as well, with a slightly bluish-purple tint emerging at times, something that tends to be especially noticeable in flesh tones. There is occasional image instability on display, with transitory wobble, but my hunch is that anomaly will probably bother videophiles less than the grain resolution and color variances. Everything is watchable here, and it needs to be understood that this was an ultra low budget film to begin with, but there is room for improvement nonetheless.

Return of the Killer Tomatoes! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Return of the Killer Tomatoes features a lively if narrow LPCM 2.0 mono track, one that provides capable support for some of the goofy musical elements, as well as dialogue and equally silly sound effects. Fidelity is fine, if unremarkable, with no damage of any import to warrant concern.

Return of the Killer Tomatoes! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Hangin' with Chad (1080p; 17:24) is a fun interview with Anthony Starke.


• Stills Gallery (1080p; 2:27)


• Theatrical Trailer (480i; 2:15)


• TV Spot (480i; 00:31)


• Audio Commentary features director John De Bello hosted by Michael Felsher.

Return of the Killer Tomatoes! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Return of the Killer Tomatoes spawned a cottage industry of multimedia tie-ins, including a cartoon series and a videogame. In some ways, it's the most "cogent" (no, I can't believe I'm using that term to describe this franchise) of the Killer Tomatoes films, but that's not to suggest that it's a comedic masterpiece. The humor is hit or miss, and a certain amount of patience must be afforded the film. Still, for those with that requisite tolerance, there's a kind of ebullient spirit here that can't be denied. Video quality is kind of spotty, but audio is decent and the supplementary package enjoyable. With caveats noted, and especially for those who (like I do) tend to make fun of followers of macrobiotics, Return of the Killer Tomatoes comes Recommended.