Nearly 50 years after tomatoes first attacked cinema screens, Costa Dillon looks back at the accidents, absurdity, George Clooney and unlikely cult legacy that turned Killer Tomatoes into unforgettable movie history.
Almost 50 years after tomatoes first terrorised cinema audiences, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! remains one of the strangest cult movie success stories ever put on film. Movieland caught up with writer, producer and Killer Tomatoes co-creator Costa Dillon to rewind to where it all began, the infamous helicopter crash, working with a young George Clooney and the franchise’s long-awaited fifth film.
Dillon’s filmmaking journey began alongside friends Steve Peace and John DeBello when they were still in eighth grade, shooting silent Super 8 movies starring family and friends. They would screen the films and charge audiences a dollar, mostly to recover the processing costs. Eventually, the group decided it was time to attempt something bigger: a feature film.
The inspiration came from the low-budget Japanese monster movies Dillon watched on television as a child. He wanted to parody those films but needed a suitably ridiculous monster.
“I don’t know why I picked tomatoes,” Dillon admits. “I think it was the first thing I thought of as something that was so ridiculously innocuous that you couldn’t possibly be afraid of it.”
With approximately US$70,000 to make the movie, creativity became essential. Most of the budget went towards shooting and processing 35mm film, leaving very little for everything else. One memorable example involved a scene requiring a drummer. Unable to afford an actual drum, Dillon visited an ice cream shop and asked for an empty tub.
“People think, ‘Well, that’s pretty funny… that’s pretty clever.’ It’s like, no, that’s all we could afford. I wanted a real drum!”
Even creating the film’s famous tomato splat required experimentation. When tomatoes thrown onto glass simply bounced, Dillon discovered that partially boiling them first produced the perfect cinematic splatter.
Nothing, however, compares with the film’s infamous helicopter accident. During filming, an experienced pilot came in too steeply and clipped the tail rotor. The helicopter lost stability and crashed, with the terrifying accident captured by the cameras. Thankfully, the pilot and actors escaped with only minor injuries.
“The helicopter cost more than the whole movie,” Dillon remembers. “Fortunately, we didn’t have to pay for it.”
One cameraman immediately abandoned his camera to help, while Steve Peace kept his rolling. The footage ultimately remained in the movie, although Dillon stresses it never would have been used had somebody been seriously injured.
Despite its tiny budget, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! refused to disappear. Dillon believes its unforgettable title, theme song and early arrival on home video all contributed to its extraordinary longevity.
“It’s a stunning surprise. I still can’t believe it to this day. How many $70,000 movies has anybody ever heard of?”
The franchise grew, and Return of the Killer Tomatoes! later introduced audiences to a young George Clooney. Dillon remembers Clooney as exceptionally professional, even early in his career. During their restaurant scene together, Dillon repeatedly altered his own dialogue between takes until Clooney finally asked him to stop because he had memorised his cues around Dillon’s lines.
“He was making sure that he got his lines right the way it was written in the script,” Dillon recalls. “I appreciated him giving me that feedback.”
Now the tomatoes have returned for a fifth adventure. The wonderfully absurd premise this time is that the original Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! wasn’t actually a comedy at all, but a documentary warning humanity about an intelligent tomato threat that the government subsequently covered up.
The new film also welcomes back The Addams Family legend John Astin, while a larger budget finally allows the filmmakers something Dillon couldn’t afford nearly five decades ago: lots more tomato splatter.
Ultimately, Dillon isn’t looking for audiences to uncover some profound hidden meaning. He simply wants them laughing.
“The idea is to have fun and just enjoy the movie,” he says. “When you leave the theatre, we want you to say, ‘That was fun. I had a good time.’”
For Dillon, that laughter remains the greatest reward of a franchise that began with friends, Super 8 cameras and an absurd idea that somehow became cult movie history.
Catch the latest addition, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence, on digital very soon in Australia.
Interview by Adam H & James J