Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Birds

According to the information scrolling down across the screen, 1963 audiences laughed at the idea that birds could attack people, but an actual bird attack in 1975 made them change their tune. I don't remember the original reception of Hitchcock's classic that way at all! It builds a truly ominous sense that those beady-eyed little bundles of feathers are a lot more clever and vindictive that we had realized, in our blithe ignorance.

'Empire of the Ants' (1977) was directed by Bert Gordon; 'Jurassic Park' (1993) was directed by Steven Spielberg; 'Piranha' (2010) was directed by Alexandra Aja.

Answer: Tomato juice

We see the tomato trap the woman, whose surprise has quickly turned into screaming terror, in a corner of the kitchen. After the credits, the film returns to the scene of the crime, where an investigating officer sticks his fingers in the red liquid and tastes it, to discover that it is indeed tomato juice. One has to wonder if that is standard investigative procedure for all domestic deaths - I would have thought that the red liquid was likely to be a much less palatable substance than tomato juice!

Answer: Jaws

Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws' kept swimmers out of the water in droves - now there was a movie that convinced viewers that there was real danger lurking out there. (I personally never swim in the ocean, even where they say it is netted and safe. Wading in water that reaches my knees is just fine for me.) As well as the swimmers, we see tomatoes poisoning people, and devouring children and small dogs.

These incidents provide the background for a later quote from Ted Swan, whose advertising agency is employed to help reduce the public panic: "We have to convince the little housewife out there that the tomato that ate the family pet is not dangerous!"

Answer: Mason Dixon

Mason Dixon will end up with the girl, in the love story that is an obligatory sideshow in this genre of films. He is appointed to be the leader of a team which includes Gretta Attenbaum, an Olympic swimmer; Greg Colburn, a Navy diver who wears his scuba gear at all times; Wilbur Finletter, a soldier who drags his parachute behind him at all times; and Stan Smith, a master of disguise.

It is far from clear why anyone thought this motley group would form an effective anti-tomato task force. We find out later that it is all part of Presidential Press Secretary Jim Richardson's plot to rule the world via tomato power.

Answer: 'Hey, can somebody please pass the ketchup?'

As he is eating a hamburger, Stan foolishly asks for ketchup, a condiment primarily composed of tomatoes - cooked, crushed, juiced, pulped tomatoes. He realizes his error when he sees the reaction of the tomatoes around him, and escapes to safety with a half-eaten hamburger.

The tomato disguise is only one of those in which we see Stan; others include George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Adolf Hitler. Since he is African-American, it takes a bit of suspended imagination, but most people on the screen seem to find them very convincing disguises.

Answer: Stop Tomato Program

While STP could refer to any of the options, in this movie it is short for the slogan "Stop Tomato Program", an effort to get people all excited at the prospect of being part of a national effort. It has been suggested that the campaign was intended to parody the real-life "Whip Inflation Now" campaign, which produced WIN bumper stickers.

The movie campaign produces no more substantial results than had the real one.

Answer: The song 'Puberty Love' is played on the radio.

The song 'Puberty Love' is the musical highlight (or lowlight) of the movie. We hear it a number of times, before it becomes apparent that the sound of "the worst pop song ever written" strikes fear into the hearts of the killer tomatoes. Or maybe their taste is overwhelmingly offended - in either case, they certainly run. The secret weapon that can be used to repel their attack has been discovered!

'Puberty Love' is performed in the movie by Matt Cameron (credited as Foo Cameron), a 16-year-old at the time the movie was released, who has since moved on to being the drummer for grunge bands Soundgarden (1986-1997) and Pearl Jam (starting in 1998).

Answer: San Diego Stadium

Everyone takes shelter in San Diego Stadium (you can see the name on the scoreboard when the call is sent out to start the record players), where the tomatoes arrive to attack them. Once the music starts, the tomatoes are rendered helpless, and the infuriated crowd starts stomping them into oblivion. The tide has turned, and humanity seems to have been saved once again.

The closing credits include a number of jokes, one of which is crediting the crowd in the stadium as 'Every Screwball in San Diego County'. One of my personal favorites in the credits is the assertion that the movie was based on the best-selling novel 'The Tomatoes of Wrath', a reference to John Steinbeck's classic 'The Grapes of Wrath'.

Answer: It is wearing giant earmuffs.

The giant earmuffs (actually two green toilet seat covers) protect this particular tomato from the assault of 'Puberty Love'. This is one clever tomato, to have recognized the major weakness of its species, and then to have prepared a defense in case humanity were also to discover it and use the appropriate weapon. Unfortunately for it, Mason Dixon picks up the sheet music for 'Puberty Love', and waves it at the tomato, who finds even that exposure to the song overwhelming. Don't ask how it learned to read music, please. Mason Dixon and Lois Fairchild express their love for each other in song, in the grand old tradition of musicals, and we are done with the killer tomatoes.

Answer: Killer carrots

The ending of this film has been altered slightly in different cuts. In some versions, it ends with a carrot sneaking up from out of the ground and saying "All right, you guys. They're gone now." In others, there is only a message during the closing credits advising audiences that they can expect a sequel, 'Attack of the Killer Carrots', to be appearing shortly. That sequel never got made (thank goodness for small mercies), but 'Return of the Killer Tomatoes' was released in 1988.