It seems that you should never assume that a horror franchise will be dead forever.
Bloody Disgusting have just announced that Syfy is planning to resurrect the long-dormant cult classics Killer Klowns from Outer Space and Critters. These aren’t exactly top flight franchises, but they’re both hits among horror fans, who’ll be at minimum curious to see what the network does with the properties.
Of the two, Critters is perhaps the most understandable choice. After all, it’s already seen four installments, with 1991’s Critters 3 even boasting a ‘before-they-were-famous’ turn from a young Leonardo DiCaprio. Essentially a more violent take on Gremlins, the films are dark horror-comedies about a species of malevolent furry aliens from space who cause mayhem across various locations (with the fourth one heading into space).
But it’s Killer Klowns from Outer Space that’s the real surprise. Though the film’s well-known to VHS fans of a certain era, few would have expected that the long in-development sequel would ever see the light of day. Directed by the Chiodo Brothers (their sole directorial credit), it features an attack on Earth by evil aliens who all look like circus clowns. Their plan’s to take over a small town in order to farm the human inhabitants as food. On its 1988 release, it was actually fairly well received and has gone on to be low-key classic of the genre.
What exactly Syfy will do with each of these franchises remains to be seen, but we should have an idea of their quality when their first major franchise reboot lands in March 2019. That’s Leprechaun Returns, which will be the mind-boggling eighth film in a series where an evil shoe-obsessed leprechaun murders people. I guess there’s still some mileage in this concept yet.