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Movie Review: “Clowntergeist” Is A Fun & Entertaining Movie That Takes The Killer Clown Subgenre By Surprise

[yasr_overall_rating]
 

Emma, a college student with a crippling fear of clowns, must come face to face with her worst fear when an evil spirit in the body of a clown is summoned terrorizing the town she calls home.

The best way to describe “Clowntergeist” is by calling it what it is, a watchable mess. The film was not as terrible as I figured it would be so I will condemn the director for that. The plot is quite simple. Red balloons appear in the victim’s house, and one has the date and time of when the demonic clown, Ribcage, will visit you and murder you. The movie doesn’t really take you into the mythos or origin of the killer clown but nor should it take itself that seriously. The acting was not the best, but there were some scenes that felt believable between Emma (Brittany Belland), Ribcage’s victim, and her best friend Heather (Monica Baker). Writer-director Aaron Mirtes creates a tone that is perfect for an 80 minute, demonic killer clown film. He knows when to make moments serious, and knows when to lighten scenes up with subtle humor. He was smart to not make this a very serious horror/thriller, or a balls-to-the-wall horror/comedy.

The visuals were, all-in-all, interesting to watch. The lighting helped make the movie feel more bombastic and candy-colored. The ice cream parlor setting was a cool and refreshing set piece, especially in the final 15 minutes of the film. The clown costume looked pretty cheap and ordinary. Once the clown character was fully shown it took the scare factor away completely. The movements of the clown also made the horror effect of the character less scary. The reason why Ribcage wants to kill people really does not make a whole lot of sense, but why should in a movie like this?

At the end of the film, the morals of the clown don’t necessarily matter. You can totally see what the director was trying to accomplish, and he did just that. He made an entertaining clown horror movie. Films like this need to deliver on the scare and gore elements, as well as the extreme weirdness throughout, and “Clowntergeist” definitely does both. I never wanted to turn the movie off despite a story that really doesn’t have a whole lot of substance. Overall, it was fun enough for me to one day maybe re-visit it again. It definitely gets me excited to see Pennywise the Clown in the upcoming Andy Muschietti-directed “It.”

In theaters September 12th

 

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