Review: Aliens, Clowns & Geeks

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

Aliens, Clowns & Geeks
Directed by Richard Elfman
Elf-Maniac Media; Fusion Features; Unfound Content; UnLTD Productions; New Island Associates; Salem Street Entertainment; MVD Visual
90 minutes, 2019 / 2022
www.hipsterfilm.com/
www.mvdentertainment.com
There are certain films that can only be described as bat-shit crazy. That’s not meant as a pejorative in any kind of way, it’s a style. For example, there is Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988), for which this film has been compared, Café Flesh (1982), Dr. Caligari (1989; a fave of mine), or The Forbidden Zone (1980). The last one is especially important in this list, because it was directed by Richard Elfman, who also helmed this ditty.

The whole Elfman family is pretty interesting, actually. Richard and his brother, Danny, formed the Techno New Wave band Oingo Boingo, and of course, Danny went on to greater things being the main soundtrack writer for Tim Burton. Then there is Richard’s son, Bodhi Elfman, who has proven himself as a solid actor, and he also stars in this film.

Bodhi Elfman, Rebecca Forsythe, and the obelisk

But let’s get the ball rolling, and put in the Blu-ray and begin the show. We start off in the world of Los Angeles out of work actors, where we meet anti-hero Eddy Pine (Bodhi). I say “anti-hero” because he’s a bit of a blow-hard jerk. But I’m sure he’ll redeem himself by the end. In this world comes a clown with a robotic voice asking for Eddy to “give birth to an obelisk.” Henh? Again, I’m sure it will come to make sense in the story.

How insane are we talking? Not too far in, Eddy has a three-way with two sisters, one of whom is Bodhi’s actual step-mom (Anastasia Elfman is married to the director). This was kind of creepy to me, but I’ll get by. This of course, leads to him giving birth to said obelisk (I won’t tell which end it comes out from), also know as the Jamtoid Key. I don’t know what that actually means yet, either, but hopefully all will become clear at some point.

Verne Troyer

Everyone seems to not only know about the object, but wants to possess it: there is the scientist who believes it could either be beneficial or destroy everything, Professor Von Scheisenberg (French Stewart; yes, that French Stewart) and his assistants, including Eddy’s love interest, Helga (Rebecca Forsythe) and her sister Inga (Angeline-Rose Troy, who also plays Eddy’s drug- and sex addicted Mom), two “Men in Black,” some Chinese gangsters, etc. But Eddy is also aided by his Trans sister, Jumbo (Steve Agee), who owns a night club. Thankfully, Jumbo is mostly treated equally and accepted by the main characters. I found that a positive. What is a woman? Whatever the hell she wants to be, and should be accepted as such. Period.

While all this madness is going on, there is another storyline that will collide with full force later on, I am sure. There are two spaceships floating around in a war over the object to either control the Earth and turn us into slaves, or just outright blow this planet up. There are some green aliens who are kind of homogeneous, and then there are the clowns, whose leader, Emperor Beezel Chugg (Verne Troyer, aka Mini-Me, in one of his last roles; d. 2018), who is a murderous authoritarian.

To be honest, I would have liked to have had more of the clowns and aliens’ storyline. And where are the geeks? If you don’t know, geeks were sideshow people who did disgusting things like bite the heads off live chickens. Perhaps I am overthinking it, and they mean the scientists, as intellectuals are sometimes called by that name. The Oxford secondary definition (noun) is “an unfashionable or socially inept person.” Well, perhaps they mean Eddy, who is a bit off when it comes to socializing.

There is a lot of sex in the film, but no nudity. The women are incredibly attractive, especially the two sets of sisters, so if you want some eye candy, you can find it here. However, with the exception of Helga, most of the female cast is secondary and there for the, well, eye candy.

I’ll say one thing about the Elfman name, it’s large enough to attract the attention of some well-known actors, such as Stewart, George Wendt (yes that George Wendt), and Troyer. And then there’s nearly the whole Elfman clan who show up at some point. And the incidental music? Well, guess…

The make-up for the aliens and clowns is pretty effective if occasionally cheesy (in a purposeful and good way), and the effects were generally CGI with lots of green screen, but only in particular scenes. This helps give the overall effect of an ‘80s film.

Forsythe, Elman, French Stewart, Angeline-Rose Troy

The version I saw was on a Blu-ray, and you know what that means: Extras. The first is “Aliens, Clowns and Geeks: Behind the Scenes” (34 min), which features Interviews with the cast and crew, including Danny Elfman (who is interview by a marionette), musician Ego Plum, Bodhi, Forsythe (sans the Swedish accent), Troy, Stewart, Wendt, Agee, among many others, including the cinematographer, Howard Wexler. Since there are some actors who play multiple roles, it is interesting to hear the perspectives on that, as well. This is mostly a series of talking heads, but the content keeps it engaging.

Next is an “Interview with Writer/Director Richard Elfman” (4 min). In his hideaway office, Elfman talks at the camera with flair and exuberance, intercut with some behind the scenes footage of him in director’s mode. Other extras include Ego Plum’s music video, the joyous “Mambo Diabolico” (Plum is the grandson of Leon Trotsky and Frida Kahlo!!). I really like the insanity of this instrumental that mixes Middle Eastern tones with Latino rhythms. Last of the biggies is the original theatrical trailer, along with a few others, including Forbidden Zone.

I don’t want to forget to add to stick around for the final credits. There is some amusing stuff going on there.

Overall, the film is quite a bit of fun. Despite the inclusion of a lot of scientific mumbo-jumbo (i.e., none of it is real), the plot is simple: get the obelisk, there is plenty of running around and action scenes (including one martial arts sequence with Helga), and it is as goofy as hell. Not as outrageous as Forbidden Zone, but a bit more coherent, narrative wise, yet remains out there in glorious WTF-ness. I enjoyed this a lot.

IMDB listing HERE