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Published Oct 6, 2026, 12:05 AM EDT
Lloyd 'Happy Trails' Farley: the man, the myth, the legend. What can be said about this amazing - and humble - man that hasn't been said before? Or, more accurately, what can be said in public? Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Lloyd is a master of puns and a humorist, who has authored one pun book to date - Pun and Grimeish Mint - and is working on a second. His time with Collider has allowed Lloyd's passion for writing to explode, with nearly 1,000 articles to his name that have been published on the site, with his favorite articles being the ones that allow for his sense of humor to shine. Lloyd also holds fast to the belief that all of life's problems can be answered by The Simpsons, Star Wars, and/or The Lion King. You can read more about Lloyd on his website, or follow his Facebook page and join the Llama Llegion. Happy trails!
The wait is over. The biggest film of 2026 is set to be released on digital October 6th, promising to overwhelm servers across the globe. Spider-who? Never heard of him. Besides, we're talking about the other one: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence, the latest and greatest (is it? Read on . . .) in a franchise that started almost 50 years ago with Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
But after three sequels – one of which, Return of the Killer Tomatoes, launched the career of one George Clooney – and a Saturday morning cartoon, the franchise has been silent since Killer Tomatoes Eat France! in 1992. So, how does a franchise that's been in the ketchup bottle for 34 years get back on the menu? In a Collider exclusive, creators Costa Dillon and J. Stephen Peace disclose the harrowing truth.
Original Spoof Film 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes' Kicks Off the Franchise in 1978
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, released in 1978, spoofed the schlocky B-movies of the 1950s/1960s, replacing the giant ants of Them! with the absurd premise of the seemingly innocuous tomato turning against mankind. The little film, made for under $100,000, is more clever than its reputation would suggest, satirizing everything from government cover-ups to disaster movies and sensationalized news. As Dillon and Peace explain:
"Within the budget we had, I don't think anyone could have done better. We were before Airplane!, before Spaceballs . . . but you can see traces of Killer Tomatoes in those and other films that came after ours."
Its emergence as a cult classic led to 1988's Return of the Killer Tomatoes, a criminally underrated film that retained the satiric edge of the original (a brilliant product placement bit and teen sex movie parody "Big Breasted Girls Go to the Beach and Take Their Tops Off" are highlights) while providing the tomatoes a backstory involving Professor Gangreen, played by the legendary John Astin. Gangreen would factor into the next two films as well as the cartoon series. Astin, who at 96 is as animated as ever, was thrilled to continue this partnership with the new film, as were Dillon and Peace:
"When I called John and asked if he was interested in being in the new Killer Tomato movie, he jumped at it. He loved working on the other films and was thrilled to reprise his Professor Gangreen role. Though we only used his voice, it was a valuable part of the franchise legacy to have him in this film."
'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence' Is a Love Letter to the Franchise
So why bring the franchise back now? Dillon and Peace explain:
"We became increasingly concerned that people did not realize the original film was a documentary, not a comedy. We needed to get a warning out that Killer Tomatoes are among us and continue to pose a threat to humanity. Fortunately, the rights to making a Killer Tomato film recently became available to us, so we were only recently able to get this film made."
The idea that the original was a documentary (and that no one saw any of the films) is a running joke throughout Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence, with Dillon and Peace adding:
"The secret government organization - FVI (Federal Vegetable Investigations)—suppressed the reality that there are killer tomatoes among us. Not all tomatoes are dangerous; some are delicious, but Killer Tomatoes remain a threat. This film sets out to set the record straight."
In the film, a greedy teenage biotech prodigy, Kate Patel (Samantha Bailey), looks to introduce Vegintel Organics' virtual assistant device "MyTomato," operated by living, organic brain cells as opposed to digital AI, throughout the nation. Those brain cells come from – yep, you got it – tomatoes, and when they go rogue, they exact their plan against humanity. So it's up to returning heroes Wilbur Finletter (Dan Bakkedahl) and Sam Smith (Paul Bates), alongside a trio of newbies, to stop them.The plot is largely meaningless and hilariously convoluted, and wisely brings back the threat of the average-looking tomato as opposed to the toothy, mean-eyed tomatoes of the last two films. That said, those mutations do appear, and points to what makes Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence so 4-tomatoes-out-of-5 good: countless callbacks and references to the franchise.
Chad (Zachary Roozen) is seen playing the Killer Tomatoes video game (yes, it existed). The "King of Bad Movies," Eric Roberts, is a newscaster who gets a better reaction from a victim during an interview by pointing out her dead dog in the ditch nearby, a callback to a similar scene in the original. There's Fuzzy Tomato, the hero of the second film. "Puberty Love," the song that stopped the tomatoes in the original, reappears, along with the B-side of the record, "Tomato Stomps," a song that dancing soldiers sing in 1978. Add Airplane!-like visual gags (an errant set of subtitles is very funny), clever jokes (equating Fried Green Tomatoes as part of the franchise, for one), and winning performances, especially from Bakkedahl, Bates, Bailey and Myrna Velasco as new tomato fighter Irma, and you've got a film that Killer Tomato fans will love.Others? Certainly not as much, but a far better entry point than the last two films. Besides, you know you're not going to get an Oscar-calibre film, the type that Killer Tomato alum Clooney makes now. Speaking of Clooney, Dillon and Peace had this to say about the esteemed actor:
"George was a professional and it was a pleasure to have him in the film. Of course, we could not foresee how big he would become, but it was obvious that he had talent and a good nature about him that are star qualities. We only wish we could get invited to his Lake Como house!"
Now, as the franchise readies for its fiftieth anniversary, we asked Dillon and Peace if they ever envisioned the franchise reaching that milestone:
"When we made the original film, there was no franchise. Nor did we dream of a franchise. If we had, we would have created characters that would have made collectible toys, games, and action figures."
What's next? Who knows. But the International Space Station would make a great target . . .
