Evening Jesters and Harlequins
It’s your host who’s decomposed, ZombieRedNeck, and I am here to talk to you today about a movie by the writer and director of Jeepers Creepers Victor Salva. The movie I am referring to is 1989’s “Clown House”. Now I am not the biggest Salva fan, and didn’t expect much going into it, but by the end I will admit I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. However, for those who may not like clowns, or houses, I suggest you turn away from the painted smile that is “Clown House”:
Genre: This movie was rather hard to give a genre to, as it is considered a slasher, but there is more tense and creepy moments that would make it more of a thriller. Honestly, this movie is one for those who enjoy a creepy atmosphere and a simple boogieman concept.

Basic Plot: Just before Halloween, three brothers (Randy, Casey, and Geoffrey) find themselves alone in their big house while they are being stalked and harassed by three escaped mental patients. Casey, who is the main character, has a rather severe fear of clowns as is seen in the first few minutes of the movie. The worst part of this is that the patients have murdered 3 clowns from a traveling circus and now have taken their costumes to disguise themselves. Can these brothers survive the night?

Level of Gore and Blood: Honestly there is very little blood in this movie and no gore what so ever from my own viewing of the movie. The little blood we do see is equivalent to that of a Simpsons Halloween special. That is to say, yes there is blood. However, don’t let the lack of excessive blood or the presence of gore put you off this movie, unless you’re a splatter fan, in which case, maybe skip over this one. Die-hard fans of blood and guts should avoid this one, as you will only disappoint yourself.

Kills: There is little kills in this movie, which isn’t very surprising for a horror movie really. Usually we have a set number of characters and we know one or two will survive, but in this movie there are the three main characters of the three young brothers. Now I am not sure when kids started dying in horror films, probably Pet Cemetery (slight spoiler if you haven’t seen it), but I was unsure of what was going to happen to the brothers in this. The majority of the kills(of which including the clowns themselves is a total of 7) are simple at best, going from falling down the stairs to a man’s head being spun all the way around (you only see this via his shadow).

Setting: The setting is, like most of the movie, rather simple and predictable. The majority of the movie takes place in, you guessed it, the house that the kids live in. However, this movie takes place all in one night, with the brothers going to the circus, the store, running down a dark patch of road near a farmhouse, and the varying floors of the house. The dark atmosphere and the bright makeup of the clowns make a nice parallel, which only adds to an even more unsettling atmosphere and setting.

How it Racks up: Honestly, when I started this film I had very low expectations for a movie that called itself “Clown House”, but while it is nothing special by any stretch there is a lot of good in this movie that make it watchable. The three brothers Casey (the youngest), Geoffrey (the middle child) and Randy (the oldest) actually have a lot of chemistry together and I found it pretty easy to believe that they were related to one another. Randy, happens to be played a young Sam Rockwell in his first ever role on the big screen.  All of them play a rather nice 80’s brother stereotype group, that has Randy being the most sexually interested in women and aggressive, Geoffrey being the most protective of his younger brother, and Casey who is young naïve and growing up. The three plays off each other very well, with certain jokes that only adults would get being thrown around. For example, in the opening Randy is caught by his brother taking care of something and while we don’t see what it is he is “taking care of”, Geoffrey warns him that if he keeps it up it will “Fall off”. I wonder what he meant by that hehe. The brothers aside, the clowns are really unsettling in this movie, particularly due to the fact none of them say anything. They are all silent throughout the movie, and act as if they were preforming in a circus, which actually adds to the creepy factor. Does it hole up well to modern horror? In all honesty, the story is a lot better and the atmosphere is a lot creepy than some of the movies you may see today, the acting is also better than you would see today as well, at least in some cases. I would say if you want a movie you can sit down and find unsettling, but doesn’t have a lot of gore or blood in it, I would say watch Clown House. It is, in my opinion, a good horror movie to start with if your just starting out and don’t want to be hit with way too much too fast in the way of blood and gore, but still keep the horror element.

Overall Mark: 5.5/10

This movie is enjoyable, and may surprise you with just how decent a movie called “Clown House” is when it comes to the horror Genre. However, I know some people probably won’t like it because of the lack of blood and guts, and others won’t like it because there’s clowns involved. And to be honest, the reason this is scored low in my opinion is because it cant be rated on creepiness alone. It feels more like a home invasion story at times, if the patients were not so damn unsettling with their childish mannerisms.

If you have a movie you want me to review, mention it below and I will check it out and credit you as the person pointed it out towards me.