Clowntergeist

Due to the extremely low rating, the almost exclusively negative user comments, and the simple fact that a film can carry an utterly ludicrous title such as "Clowntergeist", my expectations for this cheap piece of clown-horror were set low. But hey, I reckon the best way to approach a film like this is without any expectations whatsoever, because now I can say I was pleasantly surprised. The plot is obviously pure and preposterous nonsense, but at least writer/director Aaron Mirtes clearly watched a lot of horror classics and knows a thing or two about generating suspense. "Clowntergeist" contains a handful of moments that are atmospheric, intense and very well built up. The sequences with the car full of balloons is quite good, for instance, and also the part where a character named Jonah gets attacked in his house is effectively suspenseful. The clown itself, oddly named Ribcage which is a horrendous name even for a killer clown, is menacing but not used well. The cute Brittany Belland gives a more than decent performance as the teen heroine with a phobia for clowns. I just read via the site that she took her own life shortly after the release of this film. She was only 28 years old; - most unfortunate.

Sometimes we read a review in IMDb and find it unfair and believe we may like the film. However, this is not the case of "Clowntergeist", one of the worst low-budget movies ever made. The screenplay is illogical and the direction is terrible. The performances, cinematography, special effects, locations, music score, everything is awful. In the end, "Clowntergeist" is really a very bad movie and not worthwhile watching. Only the art on the DVD cover released in Brasil by Vynix distributor is worthwhile, attracting the attention of fans of horror genre. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "Clowntergeist"

Killer clown films are not done quite as often as ones centred around sharks and zombies. Those that do exist are wildly variable, for every 2017 film version of 'IT' there is also 'Killjoy'. When featured clowns are scary, they are the stuff of nightmares, a prime example being Tim Curry's Pennywise.

Whether 'Clowntergeist' is a parody or rip-off of Stephen King's 'IT' is irrelevant and even if it was (it certainly isn't blatant but a few elements are reasonably similar) that is the least of its problems. Likewise with how misleading it is in its title and advertising, with this clown being far from ghostly. Demon/killer clown films don't get much worse than 'Clowntergeist', don't mind that it was low budget but do mind if it looked as though it didn't even try. The latter seemed to be the case with 'Clowntergeist'.

Anybody's fear of clowns will not stay let alone increase, because it is so un-scary and how laughable any fears are likely to be cured. Ribcage is as non-intimidating, non-frightening as one can get for a villainous clown. What is actually more scary is how lazy and unintentionally goofy he is, Killjoy is scarier and he is not terrifying at all. Instead Ribcage doesn't convince at all as a demon/killer clown and if he was meant to be a ghost clown the film failed catastrophically on that count, all he is is a quite annoying Eric Corbin lumbering and wheezing around in a cheap clown suit and make-up (or that's what it seemed).

'Clowntergeist' completely lacks tension, suspense, terror or thrills. Instead it is very dull, unintentionally funny, cheap and predictable. There is nothing surprising or scary in sight, what was meant to be scary was obvious well in advance and hampered even further by the annoying sound effects and over-bearing music that try too hard to make one feel it should be creepy. It completely takes away the surprises and suspense too as a result, as do the very cheap (sloppily edited, drab and amateurishly shot) production values.

Pacing drags badly and the story is far too dragged out and padded to seemingly hide that the story is far too thin, very thin paper is thicker in comparison. The dialogue is stilted and filled with cheese to fill a large cheeseburger when it's comprehensible. The sound and music are far too loud and obvious.

No characters to care for or be interested in either. They are all bland and obnoxious, often given very little to do and with few logical or un-dumb thoughts. The direction has no competence and the acting is weak all round at best, especially from Corbin.

Overall, a terrible film that will do nothing to make one even more scared of clowns. 1/10 Bethany Cox

Warning, this review is more of a rant.

This movie is clearly a Mockbuster that is coinciding with the release of the new Stephen King It movie. Watching the trailer itself plainly displays the directors lack of creativity and originality, and like many wannabe directors/writers, he chooses instead to piggyback off of higher budget movies. This makes the director/creators, by it's very definition, a parasite. And quite honestly, I don't understand the logic. You want to be a director/writer and make movies, but you can't think of and create your own content? Clearly, this movie serves more along the lines as a cry for help than anything else. This entire situation would be different if the movie served as a sort of parody of the "It" franchise, but it's clear that it doesn't; the movie tries to take itself very seriously, thus infringing on copyright and intellectual property.

I rated this movie a 1/10, and I highly suggest that if you appreciate movies and respect the art that they inherently stand for, that you also do the same.

A Young girl who's dangerously afraid of clowns get's her worst nightmare to reality when a clown serial killer comes to town. Clowntergeist is one of the worst of 2017, with some of the worst acting I've seen in some time and a horrible script and direction.