Gags the Clown

Okay! the story is about clowns ... déjà vu! ,,, okay ... the filming is trembling like so freaking too many of that genre ... story line is probably good thus the 3 stars versas 1 ... acting of the reporter is good ,,, rest of the cast; not bad thus 3 stars versas 2 ...

It's been a while since I saw a new found-footage/mockumentary horror flick, so "Gags the clown" was welcome on the screen this evening & I really did enjoy it, however, it's not a very good one.

A pretty fast moving found footage horror comedy (with nearly zero actual comedy) taking course over one night, put together from live news, police cameras, teens and their smartphones, cctv's, a podcast team etc. - I liked this approach, the many cameras, characters, locations really helped with the pacing and visual diversity. So the whole city is either looking for or hiding from Gags the clown. The characters involved are very simple and one-dimensional, with a concerning amount of a-hole roles. As it happens in a lot of horror movies, some characters and their actions don't always make sense. The acting is as good as the script allows. The story is pretty straight forward, trying to build up the climax, the mystery behind the clown, only to reveal what it had revealed already before - it's all a social commentary, a satire on today's media, society and other related things. Not that it's bad, it's just that somewhere "Gags the clown" falls a bit flat, not hitting the nail on the head. The scares and most of the potential for creepiness is abruptly stopped with digital glitches and the gore is weak. There were a few little, cool elements I liked, for example, the balloon shtick (You'll have to watch it if You want to know). Visually, judging by the found-footage genre standarts, it's quite alright, could've been better if the budget allowed more than a "let's cut it with a glitch".

I think "Gags the clown" has a great idea somewhere in it, but is confused within itself. The fast pacing & many faces and locations provide a level of entertainment, and if you like or, even better, are scared of clowns, you might enjoy this. My rating: 5/10.

I didn't really have high hopes for this one, as the reviews were pretty hit and miss. The premise is decent and the material was all there for a truly scary FF film but in the end it just didn't work. I get that clowns are supposed to be funny to some and scary to others but in this film the clown was just a slightly creepy character. They could have made a great film touching on the character of Gags and the surrounding copycats trying to benefit off of him but it just ended up ham-fisted. If they had not decided to put in some "dark humor" it could have worked. I'm not exactly sure if they intended to make part of it funny but that's the way it comes across. They should have ditched the cheesiness and tried to make a serious film. I fell like that would have had a much better chance at succeeding. Overall it was below average.

Gags was surprising entertaining and refreshing way of merging clown phobias and the idea of fake news. Its production values looks good and good acting. Apparently the director, Adam Krause and screenwriter, John Pata was inspired by real accounts of a person in California and another person in England who dressed as a clown walking at night, baiting for people take pics of them.

For this film, director Krause took that idea turned it into an interesting fun movie with jump scares and a bit of humor. Some of its cast create memorable characters like the ultra right/social media figure, Charles Wright (played by Aaron Christensen) who goes on a live social media event chase-hunt for Gags. It makes for its funny dialogue!

Recommended it for a fun time and of course clowns are usually creepy, Gags succeeded at being such an enigma. Other characters such as Heater Duprey (played by Lauren Ashley Carter) represent the local public media reportage and channel stations trying to get the latest news of Gaga sightings before the social media coverage does.

I have never wrote a review for a movie before, but I fell like I should for this movie. This is not a typical killer dressed as a clown movie, it has something to creep everyone out. While some of the acting was a little over the top, the plot made up for it. The visual effects were also pretty good for a smaller budget film. Overall it's a very decent movie that I thoroughly enjoyed.