Howdy there, Scream Freaks! Halloween’s just ’round the bend, and we’re burstin’ with excitement at what all this holiday season has in store. From revisitin’ Salem with the Sanderson Sisters to reimagining Hellraiser, we’re pumped to go into this spooky shindig with jack-o-lanterns blazin’, but it won’t all be monster movie marathons and stuffin’ our pie holes with Halloween Oreos (which we swear taste better than regular ol’ Oreos). No, in fact, we’re continuin’ to keep our noses to the grindstone and work diligently to churn out one helluva of a retrospective spotlightin’ one of our favorite franchises of all time . . . Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!
Now, we’ve already been teasin’ y’all fer what to expect from this passion project of ours, but as we draw closer to wrappin’ this puppy up, the more freely we’re willin’ to share more ’bout it. As mentioned ‘fore, this ain’t gonna be yer everyday talkin’ head review. No, siree. Inspired by documentaries like Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, Pennywise: The Story of It, and In Search of Darkness, we wanted to go all in on this sucker and dig up as much behind the scenes trivia as possible.
That’s why the first folks we looked up to satisfy our appetite fer factoids were the creators themselves, Four Square Productions. Director John DeBello, Writer Costa Dillon, Actor/Producer Steve Peace, and even the elusive Michael Grant from the Tomatoes’ initial inception durin’ Four Square’s college origins all lend their stories to what made this San Diego born idea into a pop culture phenomenon. These fellas are just as funny today as they were 30 years ago, and have been a blast to talk with. They told us all ’bout the infamous helicopter crash, their invasion on France, their dealin’s with big league studios, and goin’ from cult hit to Saturday Mornin’ fodder.
But we didn’t stop there. Bein’ the sticklers fer information we are, we wanted more than mere milestones in the Tomatoes’ history, and sought out juicy details from every one of the movies’ cast and crew member willin’ to talk to us — which it turns out — was a lot of ’em! From leadin’ comic hero Rick Rockwell and Miss Universe’s Angela Visser to the puppeteers and composers, we managed to chat it up with ’bout every talent behind and in front of the camera and collected ourselves a shoppin’ cart worth of stories worth sharin’. Malfunctionin’ puppets, alternate R-Rated cuts, sleazy fan letters — it hurts not bein’ able to share it all yet! Oh, and did we mention John Astin and Steve Lundquist are in the retrospective too?
We’re coverin’ Killer Tomato topics related to the toys, Elvira, Four Square’s flick Sour Grapes aka Happy Hour — hell, we even do a deep dive into the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes cartoon series featurin’ interviews with its head writer, Richard Mueller, and Maurice LaMarche, the voice of Zoltan! How cool is that?!
Anyway, we have to get back to it if yer ever gonna see this thing released. Keep yer eyes peeled!
Other than that, please show your support for our show with donations through Patreon, Buy Me A Coffee, and Ko-fi, catch up on all past Screaming Soup! Seasons, check out this week’s Howl’n Hottie, read recent reviews for the newer horror films and comics we’re checkin’ out in our blogs, R-Rated Reviews and Sequential Slime, and help us get the word out about the web’s #1 animated horror host show! Please use our social buttons in the upper right corner of the site and follow our tweets, subscribe to our video channels, like our Facebook, watch and share all our vids, and keep that fan mail comin’. You can also warm up some Screaming Soup! leftovers with reruns currently playin’ on Beta Max TV, Sluggo’s The Vortexx, and Mr. Lobo‘s OSI 74 .
See ya later, Scream Freaks!
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