Movie Releases. "Night of the Clowns": A Horror Film Lacking Originality
A gang of screaming teenagers against murderous clowns: Night of the Clowns , in theaters this Wednesday, piles on the horror clichés before shaking them up a bit in its final section. But only a little.
Frendo the Clown is ready to cause a massacre. Photo RLJE Films/Shudder/SND
1991, in Kettle Spring, a small country town lost in the American Midwest. While frolicking in a cornfield, a teenage couple is massacred. The killer? A sinister individual taking on the appearance of Frendo the Clown, the local mascot. In the present day, Quinn (Katie Douglas) moves in with her father (Aaron Abrams) in Kettle Spring, and quickly meets a group of slightly lost teenagers, whose main pastime is making fake horror videos about the 1991 tragedy to alleviate boredom. But when their latest video causes a stir during the town's big party, the sinister figure of Frendo resurfaces. And he's not alone...
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If the summary of Night of the Clowns sounds like a huge cliché about horror films, it's intentional: from the teenagers, each more stereotypical than the last, to Frendo's actions, all the narrative figures of the genre are ticked off, almost mechanically. And then the film wakes up a little in its last part, sending some of its clichés flying: one of the teenagers reveals his true nature and thus shatters his image, or even Frendo's, when we discover the reasons for his actions.
But Night of the Clowns does too little, and too late, to truly break through this sense of déjà vu. The film is enjoyable to watch, and offers a few thrilling moments. But it's all too routine for the film's good.
Eli Craig's Night of the Clowns , in theaters this Wednesday, August 20. Running time: 1 hour 37 minutes. Not recommended for children under 12.
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