In 1978, the killer tomatoes attacked the US! They were mutated and something went terribly wrong. Without the help of such heroes as Lt. Wilbur Finletter, the entire world may have been lost. It has been nearly a decade and the use of tomatoes in anything has been banned. This means no pizza sauce, BLTs or ketchup! Of all things, Finletter runs a pizza shop and they create pizzas with jam as sauce but keeps regular toppings. His nephew Chad works in the parlor and does the deliveries while his friend Matt works the counter. While the world is over the terrible events, Professor Gangreen has been working on a serum to make tomatoes into people. He created a woman named Tara who takes care of his every need and she has had it. She escapes from the professor and goes to Matt at the parlor. Little does she know Matt is in love with her but he doesn’t quite know how to tell her.

Back in the time when movies could be as silly as they wanted and do well, there were movie like RETURN OF THE KILLER TOMATOES. What made this a cult classic is that it never takes itself too seriously. They know this is a crazy premise and take any chance they can to make a pun, joke, or break the 4th wall. It has the same director as the original so the comedy fits in even though they were made 10 years apart. George Clooney is in the film and he is like the 80’s jokester/hustler characters like Styles in TEEN WOLF or Mike Damone in FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH. He is funny and out of control.

Cast
Anthony Starke – Chad Finletter
George Clooney – Matt Stevens
Karen Mistal – Tara Boumdeay
Steve Lundquist – Igor
John Astin – Professor Mortimer Gangreen
J. Stephen Peace – Wilbur Finletter

The video is a 1080p AVC transfer.

Arrow have taken a 2k scan of the original 35mm negatives to create the best-looking version of the film to date. The coloring in the clothing is bold and bright. They are very reminiscent of the 80’s with brilliant pastel colors and with some very bright reds. The detailing is in there but there is a heavy grain that don’t look natural. It’s possible that the decision was made to bring out the details rather than having heavy EE and waxy looking skin. There are also a few times that the hue changes from high temp to low for no rhyme or reason. There are also some artifacts in the video as well that can be a bit distracting.

The audio is an LPCM 2.0 mix.

The mix on the film sounds great. There is strong 80’s music with the keyboards and odd lyrics that do well on this stereo mix. The dialogue is clear and the sound effects are separated, making this a quality mix for the movie.

-Audio Commentary features director John De Bello with Michael Felsher.

-Hangin’ with Chad: This interview with Anthony Starke is him reminiscing about making the movie.

-Stills Gallery

-Theatrical Trailer

-TV Spot

Disc Details
1 Blu-ray disc

Running Time
98 mins

Edition Ratings
Rated PG

Region Coding
Region A

Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio Mixes
English: LPCM 2.0

Subtitles
English SDH

RETURN OF THE KILLER TOMATOES is just good fun. It has the right amount of cheese and charm that makes it a fun watch regardless of being a new fan or an old one. The release has a strong sound mix that does its job of keeping the audio dynamic. The video has a few issue but not enough to make the movie unwatchable. As for the extras, I would’ve like to see more of the insanity on set because I’m sure it was a fun experience. I would recommend this movie to fans of the series or funny cult 80’s movies.