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Clown (film)

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Clown
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJon Watts
Written by
  • Christopher D. Ford
  • Jon Watts
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMatthew Santo
Edited byRobert Ryang
Music byMatt Veligdan
Production
companies
Distributed byDimension Films
Release dates
  • November 13, 2014 (2014-11-13) (Italy)
  • June 17, 2016 (2016-06-17) (United States)
Running time
100 minutes[1]
CountriesUnited States
Canada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.5 million[2]
Box office$2.1 million[3]

Clown is a 2014 Canadian-American 3D supernatural horror film directed by Jon Watts, produced by Mac Cappuccino, Eli Roth and Cody Ryder, and written by Christopher D. Ford and Watts. The film stars Laura Allen, Andy Powers, and Peter Stormare. The visual effects for the clown monster were done by Alterian, Inc. and Tony Gardner. Principal photography began in November 2012, in Ottawa. The film was released in Italy on November 13, 2014,[4] and was released in the UK on the 2 March, 2015 & United States on June 17, 2016, by Dimension Films.[5]

Plot

Kent McCoy is a loving husband and father who hosts a birthday party for his son Jack complete with a clown. The clown accidentally goes to another party, but Kent discovers an old clown costume in the basement of a house he is selling and dresses himself to entertain everyone. After the party Kent falls asleep wearing the clown costume, but the next morning he is unable to take it off. The body suit, wig, and red nose are progressively adhering to his skin. When his pregnant wife Meg tries to help Kent remove the fake nose, it rips his flesh and wounds him. Kent also begins to show strange behaviour and a deep sense of hunger, with a noisy gurgling in his stomach.

Kent tries to understand what is happening to him and tracks down Herbert Karlsson, the brother of cancer treatment specialist Dr. Martin Karlsson and its previous owner. Martin tells him on the phone "stay away from the costume". Kent learns that the costume is actually the skin and hair of an ancient demon from Northern Europe now forgotten: the "Cloyne", which attracted five children (one for each coldest month of the year) to devour. Herbert Karlsson suddenly tries to kill Kent, unsuccessfully attempting to behead him.

Kent escapes and moves away from his family and into a hotel. He fights his new and growing instinct and hunger, even contemplating suicide. He shoots himself in the mouth but does not die. He attempts to behead himself with a pair of buzzsaws but falls, causing a little boy to be killed instead. Eventually giving in, Kent becomes the demon and devours his first victim and a child that had bullied his son Jack earlier. Kent's wife Meg becomes involved, trying to understand what is afflicting her husband and to help him fight against the demon that dominates his body. Desperate, she partners with Karlsson with the intent of freeing Kent from the suit, although Karlsson is prepared to kill Kent if necessary.

Meg learns from Karlsson that freedom from the clown costume can be gained by offering the demon what it wants: five children. Karlsson and his brother Martin chose to sacrifice terminally ill children from the oncology clinic that Martin worked for. Karlsson also warns Meg that the curse follows any part of it, explaining how earlier the family dog had become afflicted by the curse after eating Kent's clown "nose"; which forced him to kill it.

Kent, now almost fully lost, succumbs to the demon and begins hunting more children. He sneaks into an indoor playground and arcade and kills and devours two children. Karlsson fails to kill Kent and Meg tries to get through to her husband. Instead, the demon offers her a deal: feed it one more child and it will release Kent. Meg agonizes over the offer before finally deciding to refuse it.

The demon clown then begins searching for their son Jack to devour him, even killing Jack's grandfather and ripping off his jaw. Meg begins to fight with her husband but, being pregnant, the demon is drawn to her womb. After a long chase inside the house, Meg is forced to knock his head off with a hammer, killing the demon and her husband. In the end, the costume is packed to be analyzed by the police.

Cast

  • Laura Allen as Meg McCoy
  • Andy Powers as Kent McCoy
  • Peter Stormare as Herbert Karlsson
  • Eli Roth as Frowny the Clown
  • Elizabeth Whitmere as Denise
  • Christian Distefano as Jack McCoy
  • Chuck Shamata as Walt
  • Robert Reynolds as Dr. Martin Karlsson
  • Lucas Kelly as Colton
  • Michael Riendeau as Robbie
  • Matthew Stefiuk as Detective
  • Miller Timlin as Camper

Production

Eli Roth was the film's producer and actor.

In November 2010, Jon Watts and Christopher D. Ford uploaded a fake trailer to YouTube that announced Eli Roth would produce the film; Roth was not involved at the time. Roth spoke about the film, saying: "I loved how ballsy they were, issuing a trailer that said, 'From the Master of Horror, Eli Roth.' Some people thought I'd made the movie, or that it was another fake Grindhouse trailer…I really felt these guys deserved a shot, and that people are truly freaked out by evil clowns. It's new territory to make this a version of The Fly, where this guy can feel himself changing, blacking out only to find blood all over his clown suit. You're sympathetic toward a monster until the monster actually takes over."[6] Principal photography began in November 2012 in Ottawa. Roth joined as a producer, and Watts directed based on a screenplay co-written with Ford.[7]

Soundtrack

Matt Veligdan composed the film's score, and eight songs were featured on its soundtrack.

Untitled
  • Benjamin Dickinson – "Frowny the Clown"
  • Brian McKenna – "Mexican Lindo"
  • Jared Gutstadt – "Taste of Mexico"
  • Gods of Fire – "The Long Walk"
  • Matt Veligdan – "Sonata La Squarzona"
  • Neil Sedaka – "King of Clowns"
  • Matt Veligdan – "Hardship"
  • Nirvana – "Everybody Loves a Clown"

Release

In September 2012, Dimension Films and FilmNation Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film.[8] The film was released on November 13, 2014 in Italy.[9] The UK premiere was February 27, 2015, in Scotland at FrightFest Glasgow 2015, followed by the DVD and Blu-ray release March 2, 2015.[10] The film was also released in the Philippines on March 25, 2015 and in Mexico on May 22, 2015. After being delayed, the film was released in the United States on June 17, 2016.[11]

Critical response

Dominic Cuthbert of Starburst rated it 7/10 stars and wrote, "Clown may be formulaic and filled up to the guts with familiar tropes, but it is tremendous fun and an effective body horror."[12] Howard Gorman of Scream magazine rated it 5/5 stars and wrote, "With Clown the filmmakers have created an all-new monster of demonic proportions and it's a concept that certainly deserves to spawn a sequel or two as the sky really is the limit."[13] Jeremy Aspinall of the Radio Times rated it 2/5 stars and described it as "efficiently put together if a little sedate in pace".[14] Anton Bitel of Little White Lies wrote that the film doubles as an equally harrowing story of "a family man's losing struggle with his own paedophiliac impulses".[15] Brad Miska of Bloody Disgusting rated it 3/5 stars and wrote, "Even though it's mostly a bore, there's still some really cool and fun stuff scattered throughout."[16] Keri O'Shea of Brutal as Hell wrote, "Neither frightening nor funny, here's another lesson to prove that fake trailers are often fine just as they are."[17] Joel Harley of HorrorTalk rated it 2/5 stars and wrote, "What could have been one of the few great killer clown movies winds up as yet another disappointment, being too uneven in tone and pace to be considered a success."[18] Nav Qateel of Influx Magazine rated it B− and wrote, "While the film may be lacking gore, something the desensitized fans of today may find difficult to reconcile, it makes it up in other ways."[19] Clown currently has 63% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Awards

Award Category Nominee Result
Young Artist Award and Audience Award Best Horror Clown Movie Eli Roth Won
Best Performance in a Horror Movie - Leading Actor Eli Roth Nominated

References

  1. ^ "CLOWN (18)". British Board of Film Classification. January 12, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  2. ^ "Eli Roth Talks 'Clown', Piracy And The Comic Book Movie He Wants To Make". Forbes. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  3. ^ "Clown (2015)". The-Numbers. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  4. ^ Riggi, Erika (November 13, 2014). "Al cinema Clown, horror psicologico prodotto da Eli Roth. Clip in esclusiva". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  5. ^ Alessandro, Anthony D' (March 22, 2016). "Weinstein Co./Dimension's 'Clown' Set To Haunt This June". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  6. ^ "Eli Roth Producing 'Clown,' Based on Fake Eli Roth Movie Trailer - /Film". Slashfilm. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  7. ^ Kit, Borys. "Shooting Underway for Eli Roth's Horror Movie 'Clown' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  8. ^ "Toronto: Dimension Scores Big Deal For Eli Roth Pics 'Aftershock' And 'Clown'". Deadline. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  9. ^ "This Poster For Eli Roth's New Movie Was Just Banned In Italy". Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  10. ^ "Eli Roth's 'Clown' Gets Massive Image Gallery!". Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  11. ^ Miska, Brad (March 22, 2016). "Eli Roth's 'Clown' Hitting Theaters This June!". BloodyDisgusting.com. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  12. ^ Cuthbert, Dominic. "Clown". Starburst. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  13. ^ Gorman, Howard (January 22, 2015). "CLOWN: Film Review". Scream. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  14. ^ Aspinall, Jeremy. "Clown". Radio Times. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  15. ^ Bitel, Anton (February 3, 2015). "Glasgow FrightFest 2015: New Horror Round-up". Little White Lies. Retrieved April 13, 2015. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  16. ^ Miska, Brad (March 4, 2015). "[Review] 'Clown' Delivers All Sorts of Juicy Surprises". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  17. ^ O'Shea, Keri (February 28, 2015). "DVD Review: Clown (2014)". Brutal as Hell. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  18. ^ Harley, Joel (March 6, 2015). "Clown Movie Review". HorrorTalk. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  19. ^ Qateel, Nav (March 1, 2015). "This creepy clown is no laughing matter!". Influx Magazine. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
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