Clown

The world's greatest dad does not want to disappoint his kid on his birthday, so when the b-day clown cancels, he goes through the closets of a home whose owner just past and finds a clown costume to wear. Only now he can't take it off.

The movie kind of reminds me of Kevin Smith's Tusk (not as good, however). It's the same odd disturb feeling. This guy has to live his life in a clown costume. It's seems funny at first with his fellow co workers laughing at him and his father-in-law now having the best visual reason as to why he's not good enough for his little girl, but then you don't know how to feel as he attempts to take it off and the only thing that's happening is that he's hurting himself.

Than it takes a turn for the more disturbing with this whole back story how evil real clowns are and what it will take to get out of the costume, and how far this clown's wife will go to get him out. It does mess with your head.

Eli Roth produced or executive produced the move and it does have his style all over it. Clown, tends to poke fun at the cheesy horror clichés, almost banging us over the head with the Stereotypes and Archetypes of the horror genre, but I have to admit those moments do make the movie more fun during slow paces when you realized that some one made a feature length movie about a guy stuck in a clown suit.

It's not scary, but a little distributing, and it works just enough to leave a bad taste in your mouth that makes you feel that you did not waste your time watching it

Clown is definitely a better than average lower budget horror film. The concept is kind of ridiculous and simple but it's also horrifying and unique. A costume that is more than a costume, it's skin. Skin that slowly changes Kent into a demonic clown who eats children. It was definitely scary and gross but I also think the blood and gore could have been amped up a bit. Also the story line itself was a little rushed but ultimately I enjoyed it. I wouldn't mind a sequel here to perfect some of the imperfections from this one. Worth the watch if you like dark and beyond messed up horror like I do.

An interesting film about a man slowly turning into John C. Reilly.

Why when the man was in A&E for his clown nose did he not think to ask the doctor to try and remove his outfit? He would've become a medical marvel.

There was an awful lot of children approaching adults. Like the small boy rapping at the door with a bag of lucky charms.

I enjoyed it.

This hurts to say – Eli Roth is no longer a 'go-to' name for me in horror. Ouch. Go back a decade ago and I didn't think that possible. I was present when he brought Cabin Fever (2002) to Toronto and again in 2005 when he introduced his Canadian audience to Hostel. I met Eli a few times since and I think his knowledge and enthusiasm for horror is outstanding.

But since 2007, Eli has focused himself more on acting (Inglorious Basterds) and producing (The Last Exorcism). Since then, the quality of the projects that bear his name on the film's one sheet has been sub-par. The Man With the Iron Fists (2012), The Last Exorcism II (2013) and The Sacrament (2013) were all throwaway entries on an ever expanding filmography. And don't even get us started on Netflix's timewaster series Hemlock Grove.

So when I saw the DVD cover for Clown with Eli Roth's name above the title, it was hardly the seven letters in the actor/producer's name that had me walking out of the market with the disc under my forearm.

Clown has an intriguing premise. A demon possesses a clown suit and morphs anyone who dons the outfit into killer that preys particularly, yet not exclusively, on children. Andy Powers plays Kent, the unlucky son-of-a-bitch that adorns the found garment to appease his son Jack who is awaiting a cancelled clown at his backyard birthday party. But after applying the suit and make-up, Kent finds the outfit impossible to remove. He also finds an increasing appetite that is appeased when a child is devoured while straying from his campgrounds.

Kent attempts to remove himself from his family life and seclude himself to where he may be a lesser threat to those around him. But as the demon begins to take hold, Kent's cravings for violence extended outside his given will and even the help of someone who has history with the suit, Karlsson played by the always reliable Peter Stormare, might not be enough to help stop the demon's rampage on the youth of his stalked community.

I was intrigued by the idea behind Christopher D. Ford and Jon Watts' screenplay and the idea did feel fresh and at times inspired. Jon Watts does double duty behind the camera and executes the fine line of dealing with a serial killer of children with diplomacy. But it's the diplomacy that grounds the film from really taking flight. Unfortunately, the kills are largely off-screen with only the bloody after affects represented after the deed is completed. I am sure this was done to keep censors edit happy but if the gore was to match say, Eli Roth's Hostel II, in this format, we might be talking about Clown being the horror movie to see if 2015. A particular chapter where our morphing demon ends up at a ChuckeCheese was a particular waste of a fantastic opportunity to showcase unmuted violence in an extraordinary setting.

Still, Clown was an above average horror film for its ilk. It follows some of the horror film handbook 'To Do's' that are as aggravating as they are accepted, but there is enough freshness and commitment to the overall goal to keep Clown's head above the recommendation waters.

And now back to Mr. Roth. Although Clown is hardly Silence of the Lambs it does provide a definite upswing on the Roth career chart that was beginning to resemble my investments circa 2009. Let's hope the momentum continues and I can update the first sentence of this review in short time.

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I was really looking forward to Clown after seeing the trailer, the concept seemed pretty original and interesting and I liked what I saw. If you felt the same way, I would highly recommend that you give this film a watch. In the end it surpassed my expectations and left me feeling pretty disturbed.

The acting from the leads is solid, Andy Powers especially is fantastic as Kent and carries the earlier parts of the film with a really good performance. Laura Allen is also very good as Kent's wife Meg whose journey through the film is in some ways as interesting to witness as his own. Some of the supporting cast are admittedly not fantastic, but that doesn't detract from the movie as a whole.

The film is generally well-paced but suffers a little during the middle where it seems to stall, don't worry if you feel this way because it soon gets going again and when it does, it really does. Some of the scenes towards the end will stay with me for a long time.

Clown is dark, disturbing, original and striking. One of the best horror films of recent years.