Nite Owl 50th Anniversary: Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
Director: Stephen Chiodo Run Time: 88 min. Rating: PG-13 Release Year: 1988
Starring: Grant Cramer, John Allen Nelson, John Vernon, Royal Dano, Suzanne Snyder
Country: United States
Language: English
Columbus late-night legend, Fritz The Nite Owl will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original 10tv show by hosting the 1988 cult classic, Killer Klowns from Outer Space. The film will screen, breaking every 20 minutes or so for Fritz’s on screen host segments providing trivia about the making of the film and other fun anecdotes. Learn more about Nite Owl Theatre here.
About the film:
When teenagers Mike and Debbie see a comet crash outside their sleepy small town, they investigate and discover a pack of murderous aliens who look very much like circus clowns. They try to warn the local authorities, but everyone assumes their story is a prank. Meanwhile, the clowns set about harvesting and eating as many people as they can. It’s not until they kidnap Debbie that Mike decides it’s up to him to stop the clowns’ bloody rampage.
“a real gem of a monster movie that is as sincere as it is silly.”
—Chase Hutchinson, Collider
About the filmmaker:
Stephen Chiodo is a filmmaker from New York who is best known for his special effects work, especially through his company, Chiodo Bros Productions. During his time studying at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Chiodo was awarded “Best Young Director” at the Cannes Film Festival for the short film Cricket, a ten minute short which he wrote, produced, and directed. His first major professional credit was animation director on the first feature-length clay animated film, I Go Pogo (1980), based on Walt Kelly’s “Pogo” comic strip. In 1988, Chiodo wrote and directed his debut feature film, the popular cult classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988).
Over the years, he has worked with notable Hollywood directors such as Joe Dante, Jon Favreau, John Landis, Matt Stone & Trey Parker. He also worked closely with Tim Burton on several projects, most notably as a Technical Director and animator for the acclaimed short Vincent (1982) for Disney and animating Large Marge in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985). Most recently, Chiodo functioned as supervising animation director for the Academy Award nominated film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021).