Fear of Clowns

The Details:
Directed by: Kevin Kangas
MPAA: Rated R for violence, some nudity and brief language.
Runtime: 106 min
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Color
Certification: USA:R

The Review:
I used to hate clowns beyond reason. I was so terrified of their unnaturally white faces and constant grins there was no possible way my parents could ever take me to the circus (which is fine by me at this point, I refuse to support circuses and zoos. Animals aren't here for human entertainment people!). It wasn't until I forced myself to watch Killer Klowns From Outer Space as an early teen that I was able to break myself of this fear. Yeah. Laugh at me all you want, just stating the facts.

So when I picked up Fear of Clowns, I was expecting a similar goofy, tongue in cheek flick with plenty of crazy clown antics. Instead, what I got was a serious, original thriller about one artist's extreme coulrophobia.

Lynn is an intelligent, self-sustained artist that does highly acclaimed clown paintings for a living. She's currently going through a brutal divorce with a total pencil-thin mustache douche-bag. When she begins housesitting for a friend, people in the neighborhood begin dying left and right. To make things worse, she keeps seeing a creepy clown around town (yeah, I did that on purpose), causing the police to think she is pulling some kind of publicity stunt. It isn't until she meets a suave-overly-rich-hunk, sells her most expensive painting and is offered a 20 grand commission piece that things seem to look up for her...until the killings turn from random neighbors to her closest friends.


The story is really what makes Fear of Clowns shine. Granted, it's not perfect, but it creates a suitably dark atmosphere that had me genuinely intrigued and trying to figure out what would happen next. At first, I was afraid that it was going to turn into just another tale of split-personalities, with Lynn herself being the true killer. Thankfully, I was dead wrong. The story is far beyond this now cliche plot-twist. To lighten the mood, the homicide detective played by Frank Lama makes for a fantastic comic relief. His gum-smacking wise-guy persona steals the screen every time, I hope to see more of him in the future. The lead performance by Jacky Reres is damn impressive, there were only a few minor moments with her that caused my eyes to role.

One person I really have to give props to on the crew of Fear of Clowns is Chad Seiter. His original score is absolutely haunting. Just listening to the opening credits sends chills up my spine. Unfortunately, it seems as if the editors knew how good the music was and therefore turned the music up a little too loud in certain areas, causing it to distract from some of the dialog.

If you're looking for gore, Fear of Clowns is not the choice for you. In fact, whenever someone dies you hardly ever see the actual death. The fear comes solely from the muscle-bound titan of a villain, Shivers the Clown. They couldn't have found a better person than Mark Lassise to play Shivers. He truly is a sight to behold, especially with those glossy shark-like eyes. Not to mention he wields his battle-axe (that's right, BATTLE-AXE) with a barbarian's charisma.

In the end, the only thing that truly bugs me about Fear of Clowns is that it's just too damn long. If some of the extra fat were to be shaved off, I would have given this the highest possible rating. Don't let this deter you from watching it though. As long as you don't watch it in hopes of a gore-filled-circus-freak-laugh-fest you won't be disappointed!

"That's the biggest fucking clown I've ever seen!" - Detective Peters.




STORYLINE: Much deeper than you would expect.
DETECTIVE PETERS: I love this guy!
SHIVERS THE CLOWN: A Grease-Paint Goliath!