The Clown Murders

The only reason why this dud of a film hasn't disappeared into complete obscurity just yet is because it features an early role of John Candy; - the proudly Canadian actor/comedian who would become very popular throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, and die at the far too young age of 43. Fans of John Candy shouldn't bother to track down "The Clown Murders", though. In fact, nobody should bother to track it down, because it's one of the single most boring, uneventful and inept thrillers of the entire 70s decade. Four pathetic losers, including Candy, joke about kidnapping their attractive friend Alisson, simply because they can't accept that she's now married to a successful businessman and busy selling the farming estate where they all played whilst growing up. They execute their plan during a Halloween party, dressed as clowns, and lock her up in her own farm. The opening sequences and character introductions were already tedious, but the actual kidnapping and hostage situation are downright dreadful. Absolutely nothing happens, except for arguing between the four losers mutually and shots of John Candy shoving fast-food down his throat. The plot promised another mysterious clown killer coming after them, but he only pops up during the finale and doesn't do a lot of murdering, neither. One to avoid at all costs, that's the only sane and righteous recommendation I can make.

Canadian horror icon Stephen Young stars alongside John Candy, in this 70's slasher flick.

Where a group of friends plan to stop one of their more douchey brethren, from exploiting his wife, in order to cash in on a lucrative land deal.

Knowing that she owns the property, and must sign over the deed...they plan to dress up like clowns, and kidnap her, until the deadline passes at midnight, on Halloween.

However, none of them expected that what starts off as a joke will end up progressing to murder.

One mistake leads to another, they all start turning against each other.

Just as the cops are beginning to hone in on them.

Because on top of the scuffed kidnapping...a nefarious actor is hiding amongst them...trying to kill them off one-by-one...

While the woman they've kidnapped is doing whatever she can, in order to survive.

Things go from bad to worse as paranoia sets in amongst the group.

Will any of them make it out alive?

Or has this sick joke gone too far already?

Either way, it looks like they've stopped the land deal from going through...

It's certainly not your average slasher flick.

Because, while the motives of each character are pretty clear...the way the plot plays out is really quite bizarre, and slightly confusing.

Because even though the end game of each player is effectively the same...it becomes a kind of proxy war to control- even possess- the victim.

As they've all desired her, at one point, or another.

Luckily for her, she is clearly more grounded than any of them.

And, having realized this, she uses it to her advantage...to play them against one another.

So, while the men all end up bruised and broken...if not dead...she walks out of the whole ordeal generally unscathed...arguably, even stronger than she was before.

Thus, hidden beneath the layers of drama is a moral tale with an underlying feminist message.

A very interesting little flick, indeed.

5.5 out of 10.

A revenge plot which was supposed to be a prank turns deadly in 'The Clown Murders', a film that saw the debut of legendary John Candy.

A group of young professionals decide to play a practical joke on one of their ex-grilfriends named Alison who ended up marrying a rich man instead of him (Alex). The professionals learn that the rich guy is a about to close a major real estate deal. In order to mess up the deal, they come up with a plan to kidnap Alison. As the kidnapping prank turns unexpectedly violent, the men are forced to deal with the fallout of their actions ... and forced to deal with someone in a clown costume stalking them.

'The Clown Murders' is a very silly film with very little direction. It doesn't make a lot of sense as to why three of the four men would want to kidnap Alison, and the movie never does it's job to explain why either. The dialogue is also very simple and generic, with tons of fat jokes being slung the way of John Candy's character for example. The only parts of the movie that were enjoyable were about 5-10 minutes when they first kidnapped Alison and the mysterious clown showed up. It looked like the movie was heading somewhere, and then bam - nothing. The ending made very little sense on top of all that as well.

I would skip this one despite the cool VHS cover art and intriguing movie title. Those are the only redeeming things about the film.

3/10.

John Candy does not do an extremely good job here. This film is one that was made to be forgotten. It is dull and slow. It takes about a half hour to finally get into the main theme of the film and it is still very slow until the final half hour. That is mainly when the horror elements and murders begin to take place. The only reason to see this film is because it stars John Candy. He does an okay job of acting, I guess, but the story itself does little to hold your interest. It bores you and indulges you with a hard to follow story of characters that all seem to turn on each other for no apparent reason in the end. Now, this film is really, really slow and could put the world's biggest insomniac to sleep. But, the final parts of the movie are worth waiting for. See this film if you are a John Candy fan. THE CLOWN MURDERS: 3/5.

This movie is really quite pathetic. It is a movie about a murderer. The plot is confusing and jumps around so much it is hard to follow. The only reason to actually watch this movie is because John Candy is in it. It is his first of only two dramatic roles that he ever did. There is an embarrassing scene where John's character has a nervous breakdown, and he is seen rolling in the mud in his underwear, blubbering like a baby. The movie aside, I thought John pulled that scene off quite well.

At any rate, if you are a real John Candy fan, then you have probably already seen this movie. If you are not a fan, don't waste your time.