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Tuesday 9 October 2012

Clownhouse ( 1989 ) .



I remember seeing this video in my local Plazza video store when I was younger. The cover intrigued me and I remember the first time I saw the trailer, I really wanted to see the movie. But before I had the chance, my local video store became Blockbuster and they got rid of most of the horror movies which was incredibly disappointing.

Having watched the film a few years ago, I wasn't missing out on much. The movie has very little onscreen violence and is more akin to John Carpenter's Halloween in it's use of lighting and atmosphere as opposed to blood and gore.

Another thing, I just didn't think this movie was in the slightest bit scary and found myself looking at the clock a number of times whilst viewing. Admittedly there are some creepy scenes and a couple of jump scares, but the movie just falls flat. It really doesn't seem to go anywhere.

Now I guess if I had a fear of clowns, then this would definitely be the scariest movie I would have the pleasure of viewing. Maybe that's another reason I didn't enjoy the movie.

The movie tells the story of Casey, who suffers from Coulrophobia (a fear of clowns). He is left with his two older brothers one night, and they decide to visit the local circus despite knowing about Casey's phobia.

The camerawork in the circus is amazing at showing Casey's fear and the music when a clown grabs Casey's arm speaks more than any script could.

As the boys make their way home, three escaped mental patients murder three circus clowns and dress up as clowns themselves, and then they begin stalking the three boys, following them home and terrorizing them.

I was left rather disappointed with this movie. It just didn't do anything for me and left me wanting so much more. It wasn't even the fact there was very little violence, I just didn't feel the scares were effective enough for the regular viewer and the film really seemed to drag.

It was another case of the trailer making the movie look amazing but the movie itself not living up to the trailers promise. Maybe if the movie was better paced and didn't spend so much time on the set up, it might have been a much better movie.

Darkest regards......Dani.

6 comments:

  1. A friend of mine recommended this movie to me, knowing I'm a huge fan of the genre, but oh boy, was I disappointed?! I found it uninteresting and terribly un-scary. Shouldn't have wasted my time on it. Solid review though!

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  3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-VQKXOmA5Y for the fat prick above.

    "Clownhouse" is OOP and worth a small fortune on VHS or DVD if you have a copy and didn't just download it illegally.

    Not a brilliant film but fairly decent for the time, and, of course, it's infamous for what occurred behind the scenes with Victor Salva. I used to have it in the "Video Vault" section on my blog but moved it to "Just Average" recently. As you get older, it's not at all scary.

    I deleted my previous reply due to a typo. :)

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  4. I do happen to have a vhs copy.i went to my local blockbuster one day,and a guy who owned a local video shop was closing his store down.he sold me alot of good stuff(well,good to me anyway,the majority of horror fans dont enjoy what i like,and thats fine).I would never download any movie illegally.No matter how much i want to see it.And i couldnt call anyone who did so a true horror fan,because they are doing nothing to support their supposedly beloved genre

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    1. The VHS tape is currently worth around $30-50. Not a big deal in UK terms. About 20 quid, but still good for a used VHS tape.

      The DVD is now ridiculous in the States where it sells for between $80-100.

      I also have the VHS version and a VHS rip on my computer in case the tape snaps or degrades further. It's bound to be re-released eventually on a compilation pack which is the thing now in America. Until then I'm only a semi-pirate. Harrr!

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  5. This is one I've been meaning to get to! I'm so backed up with shit to watch that I forget half the stuff I'm supposed to watch. I'l go through this next week. I have this weeks movies lined up already. My review for Smiley is next.

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