Just when you thought the streets were safe, along comes "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Director's Cut" (Buena Vista).
Judging production values, it might not seem as if this 1978 high-concept thriller about a herd of killer vegetables - make that fruits - needed a director. But that's the point, says John DeBello, the man who still admits to being behind the camera, but who now masquerades as a strait-laced businessman running a production studio in California (his next film is an IMAX movie about solar energy).The formula is very simple, he explains: "The weird combination is part of the appeal. The script is quite funny, the acting is all across the board and the production value is that kind of '50s schlock look. People say, `This looks really stupid - why am I laughing?' "
When DeBello decided to rerelease the film on video at the end of his original distribution contract, he rounded up as many "Killer Tomato" items he could find to do re-shoots of scenes that did not translate well onto home video.
Surprisingly, he found many of the original props - including a box of steroid cereal (the breakfast of champions) and hundreds of Styrofoam tomatoes that had mysteriously disappeared from their last movie. That means new sight gags for those who are looking closely.
And for those who turn their noses up at the film - well, fine for them, says DeBello, who has gotten mixed reactions over the years when people find out about his checkered past.
"I think it takes a certain kind of mentality to like `Killer Tomatoes,' " he says. "You need to be educated on one hand, but you need to have the mindset of an 8-year-old on the other. People realize intuitively that there's no pretension."
It's not exactly as if you can recite Shakespeare dressed up as a beefsteak.
But like the bard, the film travels well. It's silly but not sophomoric. The jokes are sophisticated enough to make it work as a true parody, and rereleasing it in the current market - in which there are sometimes three video versions of the same film - makes it seem even funnier. Film nuts will surely ask about the letter-boxed edition and the black-and-white print.
The whole "Killer Tomato" phenomenon places DeBello in the category of Ed Wood, considered by many to be the worst director ever. Immortalized in last year's biopic starring Johnny Depp, Wood found his place in Hollywood history and even earned an Oscar, or at least Martin Landau did when he won for his supporting performance as Bela Lugosi.
DeBello and his cast also are looking for their place. And while it may not be decorated with any gold statues, it does include a new print.
"If `Ben Hur' and `Lawrence of Arabia' can have director's cuts, who are we not to have one?" says DeBello. "We have to join that august company and maintain our position at the forefront of cinematic expertise."
Pause.
"Or something like that," he says.
VIDEO QUESTION
Question: I have old home movies on film that I would like to convert to videotape. Can you recommend any of the transfer devices that I've seen in ads?
Answer: As a rule, it would be unfair for me to recommend a specific brand of any product over others. But some general advice about consumer "telecine" products that allow you to make video tapes of 8mm film: Be skeptical. These low-priced devices produce mediocre results because they can't compensate for the different frame rates between video and film. Consequently you will see horizontal bars rolling through the video. Film-to-tape transfers are best left to professionals with the right equipment.
- Andy Wickstrom (Knight-Ridder)
- Do you have a question you'd like answered? Send your queries to Andy Wickstrom, The Philadelphia Inquirer, P.O. Box 8263, Philadelphia, PA 19101.
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