Killer Tomatoes Strike Back/Killer Tomatoes Eat France

John DeBello's Killer Tomatoes films have always had one good thing going for them: short running times. While the first two — Attack and Return (starring a young George Clooney) — were passable examples of absurd cinema, these two final (we can only hope) instalments scrape the bottom of the barrel not only in harmless bad taste but also in comedy, which overall is its main goal. Strike Back immediately brings a new facet to the tomatoes: a face. Yes, while they could kill in DeBello's first two films, it was the third where they evolve into "faceless" killers, which surprisingly lowers the film into the realm of schlock. Dr. Gangreen's (John Astin) plot for world domination heads in the direction of a talk show when he attempts to use the medium as his tool to brainwash unsuspecting viewers. The jokes are tiresome, the endless screaming is grating and Lance Boyle (Rick Rockwell), the meathead detective looking to foil Gangreen, reaches an ultimate low for these films. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, in an ironic twist, Eat France actually improves the series by continuously taking shots at itself for the trash that it is. Starring Marc Price ("Skippy" in Family Ties) as Michael — a name-stealing pastiche of his former co-star Michael J. Fox — the film moves locations to France where Gangreen and the tomatoes have run amok in gay Paris. Michael, a backpacking student, falls in love with a young French woman who gets entangled in Gangreen's plan. DeBello's improved the writing of the film, moving the jokes into the territory of extreme bad taste, taking shots at French culture in the most offensive manner. As bad as these movies are, there is something alluring about them that, unfortunately, is never really explained. Yes, they are tomatoes and they kill, but how? Maybe such a question can never be answered. It certainly hasn't been so far. (Fox)