Clown

Clown

Starring Andy Powers, Laura Allen, Christian Distefano, Peter Stormare

Directed by Jon Watts

The Story:
Young Jack (Christian Distefano) wants a clown for his birthday party, and when the clown they hired goes to another party, his father Kent (Andy Powers) finds an old clown costume in a chest of a home he's selling.  He dons the old-fashioned costume and the party goes off without a hitch.

After the party, he tries to take the costume off, but it doesn't work.  Even with the help of his wife Meg (Laura Allen), it seems to be infusing itself to his body.  At first its more an embarrassment than anything, but soon he begins getting strange urges to eat children.  He talks to the brother (Peter Stormare) of the man who owned the house, and he tells Kent that the clown costume isn't a costume at all, but the skin of a demon that desires to eat children.  The only way to kill the demon is decapitate the host, or feed it five children, both options seem equally unpleasant.

The Synopsis:
Clowns have existed for a very long time, dating back to the 16th Century with the advent of the Commedia dell'arte, a form of Italian theater that implemented improvisation, and the clown character was often the buffoon and the lower class character.  As the decades passed, the clown became synonymous with "the fool" typecast, leading to modern American culture where they're prevalent in circuses as the comedic relief, as well as serving as the comedic fodder for countless childrens' birthday parties.

However, the image of the clown isn't always a pleasant one.  Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns, and there's reason it has a definition.  Clowns can be tricksters, but also mysterious in nature.  You don't know who's behind the makeup, and it could be something terrifying.  In cinema, there's countless number of evil clowns - from Stephen King's Pennywise to the Killer Klowns from Outer Space to that clown from "Poltergeist" - that instill fear in the hearts of the viewers.  What's even more frightening is the evil clowns in real life.  John Wayne Gacy was a clown performer who went by the name Pogo and performed for charities, fundraising events, parades and parties, but he was also a serial killer who killed at least 33 teenage boys and men between 1972 and 1978.  More recently, news reports from North and South Carolina have reported that there's people dressed as clowns who try to lure children into the woods.  Just as clowns can be vessels for child-like laughter and heart, they can also be used to serve as implements of fear.

This is the story behind "Clown," directed by relative newcomer Jon Watts (who is now set to direct the Marvel blockbuster "Spider-Man: Homecoming"), is an interesting one where it comes to film.  He had produced a mock trailer for YouTube and included a title card that said "From master of horror Eli Roth," and Eli Roth started receiving calls asking about this film, which he never knew about.  He got into contact with Watts and decided to help produce a full-length version of his vision, and "Clown" was the outcome.  Having been completed in 2014, the film received release dates in several countries - but not America.  It wasn't until 2016 where the film was released in limited theaters and on DVD, two years later.  There's no real definitive reason why it took so long, because the result was a unique, original, different tale that mixed classic film noir style with uninhibited horror.

The film is split into two different perspectives, the first being from husband Kent's point of view.  He's a realtor who finds a mysterious clown costume in time for his son's birthday, and once he puts it on he realizes he can't take it off.  For someone who's as claustrophobic as I am, I find that particularly terrifying - not being able to get something off you gives me a sense of deep dread.  As the days progress, Kent begins to turn evil and desire the blood of children, and finds out that the costume isn't a costume, but a demon skin from old Scandinavian folklore.  Here, Watts brilliantly gives clowns their own mythos, weaving a story about how clowns existed for hundreds of years as demons who lured children to caves to eat them, and one of those demons is now grafting itself with Kent.  He tries everything to get the costume off, but the demon slowly begins taking him over, resulting in something that most movies - horror or otherwise - dare not touch: the bloody, cannibalistic murder of children.  On that end, I commend Watts for going that far, and that could be a reason why it wasn't released in America until years later.

The second half of the film is Kent's wife's story.  At first she doesn't believe Kent is being possessed by a demon, but as the body count rises and her husband shows signs of turning, she begins to take things more seriously.  She investigates the story and discovers the real truth, and has to protect her son and possibly save her husband - even if it means doing the unthinkable.  This is the lesser of the two sections of the story, as Laura Allen doesn't really emote any real emotions and gives a particularly wooden performance, yet it's still interesting to see how it all plays out in the end.

While the story is rather formulaic with lots of classic horror tropes, it's still a viscerally terrifying tale of what could happen when someone comes up with a unique premise and a plan to see it through.  While Laura Allen's performance had a lot to be desired, and their son was as annoying as any horror kid could be, the standout performance was from relative newcomer Andy Powers as Kent, a man who struggles with finding a way to get past the curse and keep some sort of humanity, and you see the struggle he goes through not just with his voice but his actions as well. 

Even though it was filmed with a small budget, "Clown" isn't your typical nearly direct-to-DVD horror movie, because it's very polished and includes some downright gross effects, and they blended the good ole fashioned prosthetic work with CGI that shows there's still use for the prosthetic work in modern horror cinema.  The scene in particular that stands out is at - where else? - a Chuck E Cheese (I wonder how much they paid to have themselves included in this type of film, or why they would in the first place).  Let's just say you might not let your kids go through those small colorful tunnels again after seeing that particular scene (which I saw as an off-the-cuff homage to "Alien").  It's brilliant in its effects and tension, and serves as the highlight of a film filled with fear and terror.

The Summary:
"Clown" is one of those rare original horror films that takes on a fear faced by most and creates a unique, chilling tale that not only steps over the boundaries but leaps over them.

The Score: A-