Studio: Wea-des Moines Video Release Date: 09/23/2003Movies with “wacky” titles are almost never any good, and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! was intentionally made to be an instant golden turkey. Despite that, and the grade-Z production values, this is a regularly funny film. You need to be a fan of the kind of low-budget horror movie it’s spoofing, and you need to be very forgiving of the technical ineptness and frequent clunkers, but it works. The story? Well, tomatoes attack, basically. Jack Riley and the San Diego Chicken are in it, and that genuinely alarming helicopter crash you see in an early scene was a real accident. Seen now, the whole ratty affair brings back agreeable memories of the circa-1978 college-movie/midnight-cinema era, when seeing this film was virtually unavoidable. The sequel, Return of the Killer Tomatoes! (with a young George Clooney), is actually an even funnier film. Director John De Bello would continue to squeeze the Tomatoes franchise for years to come. –Robert Horton
Rating: 
(out of 83 reviews)
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October 10, 2010
#1
Review by
Rating:
What so many people don’t realize is that Attack of the Killer Tomatoes was made to be bad. It was written as a cheesy satirie of a silly genre of films. I think it achieved that. The expectations were met. There are two classic scenes: The Japanese scientist being dubbed and the slow speed car chase. They both stand out in my mind. A bit of trivia: The helicopter crash early in the movie was real. They didn’t plan on it crashing, but got it on film. Nobody was hurt, but the helicopter was obviously destroyed. Jack Riley (the future Mr. Carlin on the Bob Newhart Show) was in it when it crashed.Finally: The guy in the Arab outfit in the final scene was me. I wonder why my career didn’t take off after that? Oh, well.
October 10, 2010
#2
Review by
Rating:
This movie is a classic goofball flick: you’ll love it or hate it. I love it!I am mainly writing this as a warning about the “Director’s Cut” version of the film that Disney released. Viewers should be warned, this is not good! It’s true that a cut scene or two is added back in…but the payoff isn’t worth the price. The movie is interrupted several times for comments from the director!!!!! And they cut out the Advertising song!!!!! (“They sell, they buy, and only I know why!”) Try to find a full copy, the restored scene is feeble, and isn’t worth the interruptions and loss of the terrible, terrible song.
October 10, 2010
#3
Review by therosen
Rating:
No sense in making fun of the script – the plot couldn’t possibly work. No sense making fun of the special effects – you can see the wheels on some of the tomatoes. No sense making fun of the music – it’ll only come back to haunt you in the late hours.
Somehow the over the top kitsch makes this movie a classic. You have to laugh. And watch it again and laugh some more. And watch it again making up drinking games as you go. No wonder it’s become a cult classic.
Not a classic quality movie, but a prime example of excellence in the B-cult genre.
October 10, 2010
#4
Review by Michael Valdivielso
Rating:
This movie was designed to make fun of every monster movie, every horror movie, every bad B-movie ever made. Along with the tons of humor there are also some serious messages about journalism, commercialism, and politics. But mostly it is about giant tomatoes, song and dance numbers, old fashion cars and characters nobody cares about.
You’ll never look the same way at a fruit again. No wonder it had so many movie AND cartoon spin offs. Great theme song!
October 10, 2010
#5
Review by
Rating:
This has got to be the most bizarre movie I’ve ever seen, and believe me, I’ve seen a lot of weirdos. Tomatoes the size of minivans terrorizing the country. I could probably have single-handedly paid all costs for this movie- gives a new meaning to the term “low budget”. The director and producer each had about fifteen roles, appeared to have recruited the cast out of their friends and relatives, and must have taken bad hallucinogens while eating a Caesar salad as small children. The movie was deservedly given bad ratings by the reviewers, yet this is the main part of its charm- watch it, laugh, and then groan at the same time. This is such a stinker it’s zillions of times more enjoyable than most serious movies given great reviews.