Fails the Bechdel test
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
1988. Directed by Stephen Chiodo, written by Charles Chiodo and Stephen Chiodo and Edward Chiodo.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.
The film
When a small town is invaded by aliens from outer space who are capturing and killing the townspeople, no one takes them seriously. Why? The aliens all look like circus clowns, use weapons that look clown like, and all have painted on smiles. Only a few of the young people in the town realize the danger and of course no one believes them. Armed with an ice cream truck they try and rescue their friends.
- Released
- 27 May 1988
- Genres
- Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 43 / 100
- Awards
- 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Mike 176 lines, man
- Dave 118 lines, man
- Debbie 106 lines, woman
- Paul 31 lines, man
- Rich 29 lines, man
- Mooney 21 lines, man
- Moone Y 12 lines
- Green 10 lines, man
- Slug 10 lines, man
- Radio 6 lines
Full cast, 37 people
- Grant Cramer as Mike Tobacco
- Suzanne Snyder as Debbie Stone
- John Allen Nelson as Dave Hanson
- John Vernon as Curtis Mooney
- Royal Dano as Farmer Gene Green
- Christopher Titus as Bob McReed
- Michael S. Siegel as Rich Terenzi
- Peter Licassi as Paul Terenzi
- Irene Michaels as Stacy
- Karla Sue Krull as Tracy
- Aeron MacIntyre as Punk #1
- Danny Kovacs as Punk #2
- Adele Proom as Mrs. Franco
- Howard Malpas as Mr. Myers
- Karen Raff as Mom #1
- Kathleen Stefano as Mom #2
- Claire Bartle as Little Girl
- Sharon O'Mahoney as Waitress
- Michael Halton as Slug
- Lucinda Burgess as Sheila
- Melvin Thompson as Black Biker
- David Piel as Security Guard
- Armon Stover as State Trooper
- Jeff Yesko as State Trooper
- Steve Rockhold as Klown Performer
- Michael Harington Burris as Klown Performer
- Geno Ponza as Klown Performer
- Scott Beatty as Klown Performer
- Paul Haley as Klown Performer
- Dennis C. Walsh as Klown Performer
- Genie Houdini as Klown Performer
- Harrod Blank as Klown Performer
- Karl Shaeffer as Klown Performer
- Paul Parsons as Klown Performer
- Jimmy Locust as Klown Performer
- Mitch Bryan as Klown Performer
- Greg Sykes as Klown Performer
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 133
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 to 12 | 9 | 17 |
| 13 to 15 | 5 | 15 |
| 16 to 18 | 2 | 4 |
| 19 to 21 | 4 | 6 |
| 22 to 24 | 2 | 9 |
| 25 to 27 | 25 | 21 |
| 28 to 30 | 18 | 20 |
| 31 to 33 | 6 | 7 |
| 34 to 36 | 2 | 2 |
| 37 to 39 | 6 | 6 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 14 |
| 43 to 45 | 12 | 27 |
| 46 to 48 | 1 | 2 |
| 49 to 51 | 6 | 0 |
| 52 to 54 | 3 | 0 |
| 55 to 57 | 1 | 6 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 17 |
| 61 to 63 | 1 | 16 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 14 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 4 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 3 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 7 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 5 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 26 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 16 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 17 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 2 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 6 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 3 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 2 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 18 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 18 |
| 112 to 114 | 1 | 19 |
| 115 to 117 | 1 | 7 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 5 |
| 121 to 123 | 4 | 10 |
| 124 to 126 | 1 | 3 |
| 127 to 129 | 8 | 20 |
| 130 to 132 | 0 | 0 |
| 133 to 133 | 3 | 11 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 23 are women's.
122 lines from women, 410 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
4 women and 10 men in the cast. 6 women and 11 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 16 of 612.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 134 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 22% of the words (1,314), men 78% (4,731). Women have 23% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit D: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
0
Two men
52
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 14 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 12% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Stephen Chiodo (man)
- Written by
- Stephen Chiodo (man), Edward Chiodo (man), Charles Chiodo (man)
- Produced by
- Stephen Chiodo (man), Edward Chiodo (man), Charles Chiodo (man)
- Shot by
- Alfred Taylor (man)
- Edited by
- Christopher Roth (man)
- Music by
- John Massari (man)
- Production design by
- Charles Chiodo (man)
- Costumes by
- Darcee F. Olson (woman)
- Cast by
- Ed Mitchell (man), Alana H. Lambros (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
1 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 3 men
-
Sound
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 0 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 24 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Karla Sue Krull 23, Suzanne Snyder 25
Men
Christopher Titus 23, Grant Cramer 26, John Allen Nelson 28, John Vernon 56, Royal Dano 65
Exhibit G: the money
It made 24.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $1.8 million
- Box office
- $43.6 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 133 scenes and 612 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
