Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes - Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes( DVD/Blu Ray) [MVD Entertainment/ Rewind Collection - 2018]Before the two Airplane films, The Naked Gun series, and the Scary Movies- there was this silly, at times amusing,and occasionally laugh-out-loud cult classic from 1978. Here on MVD’s new Rewind Collection line- we have a deluxe duel format reissue of the film, featuring a host of extras, commentaries, and even a poster. The two discs- region-free DVD, and region A,B,C Blu Ray- come in a double Blu ray case, and you get a nice bright- yellow & red slip sleeve giving a nice retro feel, with the ‘be kind rewind’ stickers on. The set comes with a fold-out poster, taking in the original garish film poster of a cartoon giant tomato with teeth, surfing & attacking a group of people with its green tentacles.
And like most B-movies/Z- budget flicks the poster is most misleading; yes you get an appearance of large prop tomatoes in the later of the film, but these are very low-grade, unconvincing & teeth-less. So if you are coming into this looking for great effects & lots of gruesome ‘attacks’- you’ll be sorely disappointed. But if you’re after a campy, stupid & at times downright ridiculous parody, with the odd silly musical number you’ll enjoy what’s on offer here.
The film focuses in on parodying old 50’s/ 60’s Sci-fi & monster movies- with a few playful swipes at 70's when-animals-attack movies- for example, we get a scene set in the sea when a family are been attacked by a band of floating tomatoes, with comic mumbling monster sounds overdubbed- clearly sending up Spielberg’s Jaws in the ridiculous manner. The films humour is a blend of silly dialogue, sight gags, slap-stick tomato attacks, and just plan silly-ness & ridiculous set-ups. And if ones in the right mood/ frame of mind, it can be a lot of fun- with from time-to-time some general laugh-out-loud moments.
On both discs you get the same good selection of extras-these take in a commentary by the director, writer, and producer/ actor- this is chatty, and fairly amusing- though there are not any huge insights. We get a selection of seven featurettes- these take in interviews with cast, crew, and critics- and in total these last around half-an-hour. We get two early version of the film- the first of these is Gone with the Babusuland', which comes in at thirty-two minutes, and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes the original 8mm short- that comes in at around the seventeen-minute mark. Each of these also feature commentary tracks. On top of this you get three deleted scenes, radio spots, and production design photo gallery. So it’s a pretty comprehensive reissue of the film really.
This is the second release from Rewind Collection line-which focuses in on reissuing cult classics & VHS favs from back in the day. And I must say they’ve done a really nice job. So if you’re a fan of parody films- you really need to pick this up, as it was one of the first( if not the first), a lot of fun, and this new reissue has a classy presentation & a good selection of extras. Roger Batty
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