O Palhaço Assassino

Those who have followed Margot Kidder's career know that she got her start in low-budget horror flicks(BLACK CHRISTMAS, SISTERS, AMITYVILLE HORROR)and have undoubtably been pining for her return to the genre. Well, wait no more! Ms. Kidder returns in this flick, a rather undistinguished slasher flick concerning a group of college students conscripted by drama teacher Kidder to clean up a previously long-closed theater, owned by Christopher Plummer. The kids are the usual stock cliches(jock, tramp, gay guy, plain fat girl, loner), and their presence angers a pyscho in a clown costume who lives in the theater. Lots of killings in creative ways, which is about all you can say about this movie, except that Margot Kidder and Chris Plummer are in it.

This is a sophisticated slasher film. Christopher Plummer is fantastic! If your idea of horror is teenagers being chopped up while reciting urban legends, then this may not be for you. But, if you are a fan of "The Phantom of the Opera" or "Theater of Blood", then you will enjoy this slight but entertaining thriller. All the performances are exceptional for a made for video film and the directing is just plain creepy; especially on the dream sequences. Although some may find this slow, I liked it for what it was. Yes, there are plot holes. Yes, there is excessive gore. Yes, most of the characters are cliched. This is what horror film buffs like. Not innovation, not recreating the genre, not satirizing popular films. Just good old fashioned scares, gore, and campy performances.

For Fangoria readers, a 10.

Just a re-hash of 80's slasher movies with a "Phantom of the Opera" twist--and not much of a twist at that. Acting is terrible, script writing is terrible. It's too bad all the goofy characters weren't killed. Rent something else.

A group of students are reopening a theater soon, so during Christmas vacation they volunteer to stay and get it into shape, but the theather was plagued with the horrible murder of its star attraction. And one of the students is that star's daughter. Will history repeat itself?

Creepy and eerie from start to finish with a nice setting for the action to take place and featuring compenent direction and good performances. What makes it work so well though is the strong characterization of its central character and the appealing supporting characters.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

A fun movie. Although the last 20 minutes left me bored, the rest was very well done. Sarah Lassez does very well in the lead, she reminds me a lot of Julia Roberts. I enjoy movie's with clowns in them and this one might get under your skin. Decent acting and plot but as I stated before, the ending could have used a little more work.