<p>Fear of Clowns </p>
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<p>A review by Jason Pitt </p>
<p>For Critical-Film.com </p>
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<p>The thought of a hulking clown, slaying people with an axe, is an intriguing premise. I believe nearly 50% of the American population suffer from coulrophobia (That's fear of clowns… in case you couldn't figure it out.). I'll be the first to admit, clowns even make me uneasy. Don't ask me to explain why, they just do. So I was damn excited for “Fear of Clowns”, I should have known it was too good to be true. </p>
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<p>“Fear of Clowns” is not a good movie. There is very little to recommend here, besides a cleverly developed villain. The clown is appropriately nicknamed Shivers. I guess Shakes the Clown was taken. Damn you Bobcat Goldthwait. Anyway, Shivers the Clown is a shirtless hulk, who carries an axe to dispatch his victims. The design itself is cool, and appropriate within the context of the film. The clown wears makeup only on his face, a jagged grin drawn over his mouth. His pupils are a solid black. While he doesn't wear a shirt, he has the appropriate white gloves and parachute pants to compliment the makeup. You have to see it to appreciate it, but trust me it's the lone spark of creativity, in an otherwise completely unoriginal and nonsensical void of celluloid. </p>
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<p>Nearly every aspect of production is amateurish. The acting is terrible on all parts, with few of the actors having more than two career roles. Director Kangas is unable to coax a single line of believable dialogue from his actors. Nearly every line spoken sounds either stilted or is delivered completely out of context. The work done in post production is no better. The editing is quite poor, with scenes of dialogue edited together so rapidly it's hard to follow. Some scenes use changes in frame rate, speeding up or slowing down in accordance to the desired effect. It is used from time to time, not often enough to establish a distinct purpose, however, yet it does add a certain element of style that would otherwise be lacking. The camerawork is what you would expect from a direct to video feature of this sort. The single exception is one very cool shot, delivered with precise timing, when one character is killed. </p>
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<p>The most significant limitation is “Fear of Clowns” script, which is substantially underdeveloped. I appreciate Kangas' desire to bring more to the table with a few subplots which may have added more depth to the picture had they been elaborated on further. Instead, plot developments are revealed and discarded shortly thereafter with little to no explanation of the events that occurred. It creates the impression that characters are introduced through subplots only to provide more fodder for the murderous clown. </p>
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<p>The films climax is another animal, altogether. It provides an amount of intensity unlike anything we've seen in the previous 80 minutes, with the clown stalking his victims through an abandoned movie theatre. Kangas uses strong camera angles, and the sequence is edited together far better than the rest of the film. It makes me wonder what the hell I was watching before. It displays Kevin Kangas' skill as a director, and maybe, just maybe, will be enough for me to seek out his next film. Then again maybe not. </p>
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<p>While the clown does look cool, something's missing. Shivers the Clown doesn't call to the surface those hidden feelings we have about clowns. The feelings which tell us that maybe we should be scared of what we're seeing. Shivers intentions are well-known from the beginning, leaving nothing for us to question. He doesn't particularly resemble a clown either, so the fear we may or may not have of clowns doesn't really come into play either. </p>
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<p>I can't give Fear of Clowns a recommendation due to its amateurish production, however, those who are curious could do worse than to check it out. There are few rewarding moments scattered throughout here, and anyone looking forward to a good horror film involving a homicidal clown or two, may find the experience rewarding. Just don't take your clowns too seriously. </p>
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