Movie Review : Clown (2015)

 Clown is silly but scary.

Director : Jon Watts
Starring : Laura Allen, Andy Powers, Peter Stormare
Studio : Cross Creek Pictures, PS 260, Vertebra Films, Zed Filmworks
Distributed by Dimension Films
Release Date : November 13, 2014 (Italy)
February 27, 2015 (UK)
March 25, 2015 (Philippines)


Plot: A loving father finds an old clown suit for his son's birthday party, only to discover that it turns it's wearer into a monster hungry for children's flesh.



This film actually started out as a fake movie trailer by Jon Watts that he posted online, using Eli Roth's name in it. The fake trailer became viral, until Eli Roth himself showed interest in producing it as a feature length movie.
The movie itself turned out to be totally entertaining, and unapologetic in scares, violence and gore.

A silly story
Yes. I must admit that the story itself is silly. It became more unbelievable once you watch the film and hears what the origin of the suit itself. But the film is aware of that. It doesn't care if the story is somewhat hilarious to some. Instead, it focuses on taking you deeper into the life of the protagonist, and how he handles his transformation into a bloodthirsty monster.





Amazing cast
Honestly, I don't know any of the cast members of the film aside from Peter Stormare, who appeared in the 2013 action horror film Hansel and Gretel : Witch Hunters, as the power-hungry and brutal sheriff of Augsburg. Aside from him, the rest of the film's cast were'nt really that well-known. But they proved themselves and showcased amazing talent in this film.
Andy Powers proved his great acting skills as the loving father who transforms into a monster craving for children's flesh. He was funny at times, especially during the part where he was trying to find ways of killing himself. But he definitely was terrifying once the evil in the suit has already taken over him.


The humor
The film has a lot of dark humor sprinkled all over it which I really loved. One of my favorite was when Kent (Andy Powers) was about to commit suicide by decapitating himself using a homemade device made from a chainsaw. He was supposed to sit on a chair and push himself backwards, falling into the chainsaw pinned on the floor, beheading him. But when he fell into the floow, he found out that his position was short from the distance of the chainsaw.
Then, once he became a monster already, every time he would bleed, his blood would shine like a colorful rainbow.


Unapologetic Killing
One of the best things that I love in this film is it's unapologetic killing of children. This is one of the main things that makes the film more disturbing.
One of my most favorite scenes in the film was when Kent wandered off into the woods where a group of boys were camping out. One of these boys found him and offered him some food, but he bites off his fingers out of hunger.
I was literally biting off my fingers while watching this scene because I really felt bad for Kent because he don't want to be a monster and kill children that's why he's doing his best to stop it from taking over his body. But I also feel scared for that boy who was giving him some food. I was so scared that Kent might attack him at that point.
There were other kills here that really hit me hard. One of which is when he was accidentally killed a nosy, little boy while he was trying to commit suicide. He eventually falls into the hunger and eats up the boy's body.


The Playground Mayhem

My most favorite part of the film happens in an indoor adventure playground where dozens of kids playing around are terrorized by Kent after the monster in the suit has already taken over his body. The most suspenseful scene int he whole follows a young boy looking for his little brother inside a jungle gym. The claustrophobic space of the interior of the jungle gym which makes it hard for someone to crawl back and escape adds up to the tension in this scene. At the end of the tunnel, he finds his little brother being while being attacked by the now-monstrous looking Kent. He distracts the killer clown, aloowing his little brother to escape. Unfortunately, he ended up being caught and eaten by the monster. Outside, mothers watching their children are horrified as they witness blood gushing down from inside the jungle gym. This sends everyone in the indoor playground screaming and running for their lives.


Final Verdict
I really loved the whole film despite the simple and laughable storyline. The movie itself is silly and funny at times, but totally scary all throughout. Director Jon Watts was able to generate large amounts of dread all throughtout the film. He was also good in throwing in some really surprising jump scares here and there, interspersed with ample amount of violence and gore.

This is sure to be a must see for any horror fans who are looking for a fucking scary flick. Definitely one of my favorite horror movies for this year. Highly recommended!

I'm giving this film a perfect 5 out of 5 star rating.

CLOWN Horror Movie by teasertrailer