Clownhouse (1989)

Plot Outline: Left alone in a big house when their parents are away, three young brothers are menaced by three escaped mental patients who have killed three clowns at the local circus before assuming their identities.

The Review: Those with a fear of clowns stay well clear, in fact anyone who ever thought clowns were weird in some way had better stay away because Clownhouse is going to seriously make you wonder just who or what is behind the face paint next time you see one of these guys at the circus. Made with a similar style and approach to Halloween, Clownhouse avoids going down the Friday the 13th route by just being a dumb slasher with lots of teenagers getting sliced to pieces. It goes for the surreal horror approach with lots of effective imagery and some excellent scenes. Victor Salva certainly has an eye for the camera and manages to combine the main character's fear of clowns with simple paranoia. We get plenty of moments where he sees the clowns playing in the garden with a noose or walking down the dark path behind him but no one else sees them. Is it just a figment of his imagination because he's that scared of clowns? Well we know they're not but the way in which the other characters react to his apparent paranoia cranks up their eventual acceptance of the clowns to be real even more dramatic. The clowns themselves look freaky as hell it has to be said. There's no fancy Killer Klowns from Outer Space make-up effects here. These are just ordinary clowns with sadistic people wearing the paint. The main clown is arguably the scariest-looking clown I've ever seen on film. There's lots of moments with the clowns lurking around in the background of the shot as characters are talking. There's plenty of scenes with them half-illuminated and creeping up behind someone (including an awesome shot of one clown hiding behind a clothes rack as a light flickers in front of him). Salva over-uses this a bit much in the last half and I lost count of the amount of times a clown was creeping behind someone but it still makes for unsettling viewing. Those looking for a gore fest had better look elsewhere too because this isn't about showing the violence, it's about suggesting it. There's also pretty much no plot to the film, except that of three clowns terrorising three brothers in a big house. And I honestly can't finish a review of this film without mentioning that Victor Salva was convicted of child molestation with the lead actor in this film a few years later. It adds a more sinister dimension to the entire thing with the close-ups of boys' crotches, the brothers walking around in their underwear and taking baths.

Final Verdict: Considering so many people are scared of them, it's hard to find a decent horror film with clowns. Well look no further because Clownhouse is here to take that mantle.  Lots of chills and unsettling moments with nasty clowns make for an interesting horror film.

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