Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a 1978 American parody film produced by J. Stephen Peace and John DeBello, and directed by John DeBello based upon an original idea by Costa Dillon. The screenplay was written by Dillon, Peace, and DeBello. The film spoofs B movies and was made on a budget of less than US$ 100,000. The story involves tomatoes becoming sentient by unknown means and revolting against humanity. Critical reception of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes was mostly negative. The box office success of the film led to three sequels, all co-written by the same three writers and directed by DeBello. Plot 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. 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 with which she is covered is not blood, but tomato juice. A series of attacks perpetrated by tomatoes occurs (including a man dying by drinking tomato juice made from a killer tomato, a boy heard being gobbled up by a killer tomato, and a sequence where the tomatoes attack innocent swimmers, in a parody of Jaws). While the President's press secretary Jim Richardson tries to convince the public that no credible threat exists, the President puts together a team of specialists to stop the tomatoes, led by a man named Mason Dixon. Dixon's team includes Sam Smith, a disguise expert who is seen at various points dressed as, among other things, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Adolf Hitler; scuba diver Greg Colburn; Olympic swimmer Gretta Attenbaum; and parachute-toting soldier Wilbur Finletter. Smith is sent out to infiltrate the tomatoes at a campfire, eventually blowing his cover while eating a hotdog and asking if anyone could "pass the ketchup." Colburn and Gretta are sent to sectors, while Finletter stays with Mason. Meanwhile, the President sends Richardson to the fictitious ad agency Mind Makers, where executive Ted Swan spends vast amounts of money to develop virtually worthless ploys, including a bumper sticker with "STP" for "Stop Tomato Program" on it, a satirical reference