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Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Difference between revisions

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Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (view source)

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And they're not going to take it anymore.
 
In 1978, a film was made spoofing B monster movies, in which tomatoes mysteriously gain sentience and mobility, becoming killer tomatoes, which then attack. It was, [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|sensibly]], called ''Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!'' No genre was safe as the self-billed "Musical-Comedy-Horror Show" ripped up everything from romantic comedies to spy films, pausing long enough to take pot shots at superheroes and politics. Despite being made for less than $100,000, it's generally regarded as a failure at the box office. It, nonetheless, earned a cult following and practically became the defining film for [[So Bad It's Good]]. (If a parody can count as that, anyway.)
 
This would have been the end for the red menace (no, not '''that''' [[Dirty Communists|red menace]]), if it hadn't been for an episode of ''[[Muppet Babies]]'' using footage from the film to narrate a story called, "Attack of the Silly Tomatoes". It was a highly rated episode and New World Pictures inexplicably decided the world needed a sequel and offered the creators of the original 2 million dollars to film one.
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=== Tropes in this series: ===
 
* [[Actor Allusion]]: A few background gags reference John Astin's career as [[The Addams Family (TV)|Gomez]], such as an ice cream truck that plays the Adams Family theme in the second movie and a copy of the Adams Family board game in the torture basement of the fourth film.
** ''Killer Tomatoes Eat Paris!'' is also quite possibly the only movie to take [[Actor Allusion]] to the level of actually being a plot point. The main character, played by Mark Price, who played Skippy on Family Ties laments the fact that Michael J. Fox, who also played on Family Ties, went on to have a successful acting career while he's only been a B-Movie actor. Because of this, Marc Price's character (whose real name is only mentioned once or twice) tells everyone that he is Michael J. Fox and is referred to as such throughout the entire film.
* [[Animated Adaptation]]: It has a tomato who can take the form of a human girl but changes back to a tomato after touching salt, and returns to normal after a sprinkle of pepper.
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* [[Brown Note]]: In the first film, {{spoiler|the worst pop song of all time, "Puberty Love" is one for the tomatoes.}} It was so bad, one giant tomato, wore earmuffs to block it out... {{spoiler|that is, until the hero showed the song to it... in sheet music}}! In the second film, the tomatoes are all music-controlled, with Tara being turned back into a helpless, non-killer tomato whenever ''Beethoven's Fifth'' is played, then reverts to a human after ''Tara'' from Gone With the Wind is played. Nobody thinks to use this on the villainous tomato men.
* [[The Cameo]]: Gary Condit has an uncredited cameo in the "bar fight" scene in ''Return of the Killer Tomatoes'', years before he was more famously involved in another sort of fracas.
** Not exactly a cameo, but "Puberty Love" was sung by Matt Cameron, future drummer for Soundgarden and [[Pearl Jam (Music)|Pearl Jam]] (he is credited as "Foo" Cameron).
* [[Catch Phrase]]: "I'm not Mad! I'm ANGRY! I'm an Angry Scientist!"
* [[Coincidental Broadcast]]: Spoofed, of course.
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* [[Demoted to Extra]]: The main villain of the first movie only makes a cameo towards the end of the second. Naturally, [[Lampshade Hanging|he bemoans this lack of screentime and dialogue during said cameo]].
* [[Disney Death]]: FT is okay!
** Considering the plucky little guy survived an [[Non-Fatal Explosions|explosion]] after literally [[Jumping Onon a Grenade]]!
* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: One episode sees [[Dracula]] himself provide Doctor Gangrene with a vampire formula. Almost the entire town becomes vampires as a result, but Dracula ultimately provides the cure. Why? Because he feels the townspeople don't have the class to be vampires.
* [[Evil Is Hammy]]: Dr. Gangreen... 100%!
* [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin]]: Tomatoes that kill, attack, then return, strike back, and, one presumes, eat Paris. Poor Paris.
* [[Excited Show Title]]
* [[Expository Theme Tune]]: Loosely so in the case of the first film, the second is clearly an example of this trope, explaining that, yes, you are watching a sequel.
* [[Family-Friendly Firearms]]: Lampshaded.
{{quote| '''Gangrene:''' Blast! If this were primetime, I could use real bullets.}}
* [[The Film of the Book]]: "Based on the novel ''[[The Grapes of Wrath (Literature)|The Tomatoes of Wrath]]''"
* [[Flashback Withwith the Other Darrin]]: Jarringly averted in the second film. The flashbacks use recycled footage from the first film featuring the old actors.
* [[Follow the Bouncing Ball]]: The Opening to the Second Season cartoon.
* [[From My Own Personal Garden]]: {{spoiler|Richardson delivers this line in the first film after tossing a tomato to Mason Dixon, who he has captured.}}
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** The second season premiere also lampshades Gangrene's success at the end of the episode: "This is not a two-parter, this is a one-parter."
* [[Last-Minute Hookup]]: Complete with really bad love song.
* [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo]]: Lois has a friend named Clark. He wears glasses. He has a cape sticking out of the bottom of his jacket. [[Superman (Comic Book)|He can fly.]] Lois doesn't seem to notice.
** Of course, the actor is actually credited as Superman in the credits, so whether this is [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]] or a [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo]] is up to the viewer's interpretation.
* [[Lighter and Softer]]: Tara never once discussed oral sex, bondage, or leather whips in the animated series. There was also a distinct lack of killer tomatoes killing.
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