Movie Review: “Clown” (R)
Usually, when a film sits on a shelf for two years and is then unceremoniously dumped in theaters, it isn’t a good sign. Of course, there are exceptions to that rule. “Cabin in the Woods” and “Limitless” both spring to mind. As far as I’m concerned, you can add the low-budget independent horror flick “Clown” to that list, too! A word of warning though: If you have a perpetual fear of clowns, this movie will do nothing to cure you of that fear.
In “Clown,” loving father Kent (Andy Powers) comes to the rescue after a hired clown fails to show up at his son’s birthday party. Refusing to have his boy’s big day ruined, Kent springs into action. After doing some house searching, he comes across a clown costume locked away in a dingy attic. Quickly, he decks himself out in Bozo attire, makes an appearance at the party, and ultimately saves the day. Unfortunately for Kent, though, this is no ordinary clown costume. No, this particular costume becomes one with whoever puts it on and shortly after said party, Kent gradually begins to transform into something quite a bit less than human. In addition to obvious physical and psychological changes, this loving father eventually develops a craving for something no clown should ever have a craving for.
“Clown” was written and directed by Jon Watts, a movie maker who would eventually go on to make “Cop Car,” a film fest favorite starring Kevin Bacon (for the record, I wasn’t a fan of that particular movie.) He would then land the gig of a lifetime with “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” which he’s currently making for Sony pictures. Not bad for a guy who just a few short years ago could barely scrape together enough money to make a two-minute faux trailer for a potential movie about a family-man-turned-murderous-clown. Watts’ end goal, of course, was to complete that trailer and share it with industry types in hopes that he could drum up enough interest that might allow him the opportunity to turn “Clown” into a feature. Lucky for Watts, horror-meister Eli Roth saw the completed faux trailer and liked what he saw. The rest, as they say, is history.
Sort of.
After managing to develop “Clown” into a feature-length movie with Roth as his shepherd, things didn’t quite go as planned. The film basically sat on a shelf for what felt like an eternity. In fact, “Clown” sat on a shelf long enough that Watts was able to make another movie and land one of the hottest superhero properties on the planet, all before his freshman effort even saw the light of day.
The story behind this flick is all the more odd when you take into consideration that, for the kind of movie this is, “Clown” is pretty damn good! Obviously, this is a film designed to appeal to a niche audience. It’s a throwback to ’80s horror but without that sort of winking, precious sensibility you might be expecting. Rather than referencing ’80s genre films directly, this one almost feels like a product of that time. “Clown” has a sort of campy, mean streak that might remind one of something like “Killer Klowns From Outer Space,” but its fusion of horror, drama, dark humor, and seriousness also brings to mind ’80s masterworks like “The Fly” and “An American Werewolf in London,” particularly where Kent’s strange metamorphosis is concerned. This film’s breakdown of clown mythology also does for clowns what last year’s underappreciated “Krampus” and the little-seen 2010 gem “Rare Exports” did for Santa Claus.
Beyond the tone of “Clown,” it should be noted that this movie looks and sounds great, particularly for what was quite clearly a low-budget production. “Clown” is beautifully shot and extremely well-lit, most notably the final act in which a popular but purposely unnamed pizza place serves as an undeniably perfect backdrop for gobs of evil clown carnage. The sound design is equally impressive. Multiple scenes in which we can hear Kent’s stomach rumbling due to uncontrollable cravings are both hilarious and unnerving. Adding to these notable attributes are surprisingly solid performances (a grizzled Peter Stormare of “Fargo” fame is particularly entertaining) and a plethora of impressive practical make-up effects, the likes of which we rarely see in horror movies these days.
“Clown” doesn’t reinvent the wheel. It’s well-paced, and Kent is wearing the clown suit within the first 10 minutes of the film. But in limiting the setup, there isn’t a whole lot of time for us to develop sympathy for this character before he loses control. Furthermore, “Clown” doesn’t quite stick the landing. Still, by and large this is an effective little horror flick that more than manages to get the job done. In fact, this is one of those entertaining horror films that has just the right number of “I can’t believe they went there” moments, and I suspect that 10 years from now this might be one of those cult-status gems that has a lot of us questioning why a crafty low-budget horror flick this clever and diabolical sat on the shelf for so damn long.
Sidenote: For those of you who reside in southern Utah, “Clown” is currently showing at Megaplex’s Main Street Cinema, but if you’re interested in seeing it, see it quick. It’s not likely to stay in town very long.
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