Director: Tom Nagel
Writer: Jeff Miller
Stars: Brian Nagel, Lauren Compton, Andrew Staton
Why clowns have proliferated pop culture (again) is a topic for another day, but the bridging between what is real and what is sick fantasy (or is it the other way around?) makes the new film ClownTown even more compelling than its title suggests. You may think this film is a campy satire or exploitation film – at times, it is – but quickly we see clowns that are not joking around. Surprisingly, ClownTown is able to use familiar horror tropes and take us on a wild survival chase that is both entertaining and terrifying.
Or the moment in the film when the group is lured into an abandoned town (bye bye cell service), only to have their car engine tampered with and disabled after a quick stroll in aforementioned town to search for…well…anyone?
Yes, that’s all here.
But let that not dissuade you. Even the safest of plot devices are worthy of surprise. And the surprise here is how, for example, the potty-mouthed dialogue of characters like Mike (Andrew Staton) devolve to screams and sobs by him and his friends Brad, Sarah, and Jill (respectively, Brian Nagel, Lauren Elise, and Katie Keene). The irony of the killer clown, after all, is that the clown is no longer funny. And when the clowns show up, our group is not laughing. And neither are we.
For the pleasant surprise of ClownTown is the compelling performances of our leads, who turn their naïveté into genuine fear. The clowns themselves are indeed as creepy as they come, but they are surprisingly violent and agile, forcing our characters to fight back in heart-stopping sequences.
There is a backstory to why these clowns are terrorizing our leads, but I will not spoil that here. One clue: It’s not seemingly as random as the frightful encounters happening in rural America today. But the connection is uncanny: For all the fright and irony of the killer clown in this film and real life, the joke is no laughing matter. When a clown shows up with a machete, you better run or fight.
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