“Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” is a wonderfully absurd comedy film that reminded me a lot of “The Kentucky Fried Movie”, “Schlock”, “Airplane!” and even a little bit of the “Monty Python” pictures. I don’t know why this movie got bad reviews back in 1978, what did people expect from a film about killer tomatoes? The film has since spawned sequels, a cartoon series and videogames.

In this film, a wave of reports of bizarre attacks involving tomatoes sparks panic. America soon finds itself plunged into chaos as tomatoes begin attacking people across the nation. Politicians, scientists and military men try to figure out the best way to tackle the problem in this crazy comedy with music numbers.

The characters in this movie are as ridiculous as t he ones in “Airplane!” or “Kentucky Fried Movie”. A specialist team is assembled including a man that tries to disguise himself as a tomato, a soldier that never goes anywhere without his parachute. In a film as juvenile as this, there is no depth to any of the characters. The tomatoes of course do not look remotely impressive but they are not meant to be. It is just so funny to watch tomatoes murdering people.

There are so many great gags in this movie. You’re unlikely to notice them all in a single viewing as this movie throws so gags at you. Even the opening credits sequence has jokes in it. If you like the other spoof films from the era then I think you will enjoy this one too. It’s not as hilarious as “Airplane!” but I found it more consistently amusing than “Kentucky Fried Movie” and “Schlock”. It’s mad to think this film led to several sequels because that means there is more than one film out that deals with the issue of killer tomatoes.