"Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence" is a Love Letter to the Franchise

“A long time ago – okay, 1978 – four young filmmakers exposed the world of Killer Tomatoes. People laughed. Some people laughed. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth.” – George Orwell, 1984

This is the opening scroll for Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence. It’s not merely the fourth sequel in a cult classic film about a delicious vegetable apocalypse: it’s a love letter to slapstick, sight gags, and the original 1978 film. It’s also a meta-comedy, spy-thriller parody taking place in a world where the original film series was a documentary about the horrors of the Tomato War that the government covered up by convincing everyone it was a comedy. Taking place in 2026, Organic Intelligence sees genetically modified tomatoes grown out of control and rising up to attack humanity again – luckily, Agent Maria Sifuentes (Myrna Velasco) of the Federal Vegetable Investigation Bureau is there to uncover the corporate conspiracy behind it, and she won’t take no for an answer.

The film opens on a classic horror movie attack on sorority girls by rogue tomatoes – but not just any tomatoes. Instead of just ordinary murderous vegetables, by Organic Intelligence the delicious villains are part of an attack on humanity coordinated by MyTomato, the AI Amazon Alexa-style genetically modified tomato that speaks, Googles, and manages home security. MyTomato is the creation of unhinged child prodigy Kate Patelle (Samantha Bailey), who terrifies her employees with her braces and riding crop while conspiring with the government to put MyTomato devices in every American home. Meanwhile she’s dismissing the evidence that her hydroponically farmed tomatoes are quietly rebelling.

However, Kate Patelle and her cronies are no match for Maria Sifuentes and her team of allies. The film features a delightful ensemble cast of characters like FVI bigwig Admiral Simon Grant (Daniel Roebuck), unscrupulous presidential press secretary Jim Richardson (David Koechner), Wilbur Finletter (Dan Bakkedahl) of the secret anti-tomato strike force, and Kate’s unwitting underlings, Angela (Noor Razooky) and Chad (Zachary Roozen), who soon join Agent Sifuentes.

Organic Intelligence is a send-up of the AI bubble and corporate malfeasance, filled with jokes and homages to the original film. Though it may be bursting to the brim with side characters and a just-too-complicated espionage plot, Organic Intelligence’s powerful barrage of jokes keeps it going. From opening credits that imply the involvement of Killer Tomatoes in every disaster from the Hindenburg to the Titanic, use of an obnoxious TikTok star (Joshua Poon) as a framing device communicating the news of imminent tomato attacks, and gags like Agent Sifuentes having to communicate with her Spanish-speaking grandmother through onscreen subtitles, Organic Intelligence is a laugh-a-minute feature that fans of The Naked Gun and Airplane are sure to enjoy. All these jokes are expertly topped off by the ending – in the 1978 “documentary,” the tomatoes recoiled after hearing Matt Cameron’s rendition of “Puberty Love” – in Organic Intelligence, the heroes discover that this new, genetically modified batch of tomatoes can be just as easily defeated by playing the B-Side.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence releases October 6th on VOD.