Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a 1978 musical black comedy horror film directed, produced, edited, scored and co-written by John DeBello and co-writer David Miller, who also starred as the lead role. The film is a spoof of B movies. Made on a budget of less than US$100,000, the story involves tomatoes becoming sentient by unknown means and revolting against humanity. Writing credits were shared by DeBello, Costa Dillon, and Stephen Peace.

The success of the film led to three sequels, all directed and co-written by DeBello.

Synopsis

The film opens with a scroll saying that when Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds (1963) was released, audiences laughed at the notion of birds revolting against humanity, but when an attack perpetrated by birds occurred in 1975, no one laughed. This is followed by a pre-credits sequence of a tomato rising out of a woman's garbage disposal unit. Her puzzlement turns into terror as the tomato draws her into a corner. Following the credits, the police investigate her death. One officer discovers that the red substance she is covered with is not blood, but tomato juice.

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