Originally Published by ScreamFix
The clowns have come to engage a small town in the film
Clownface (2019). There is a legend or
myth about a serial killer that wears a clown’s face and stalks the night. Unfortunately, for roommates Jenna and Zoe
(Hannah Douglas and Dani Tonks, respectfully) they are about to learn that
there is truth to that legend. When Jenna
goes out to party one night leaving Zoe and her boyfriend Rick (Thomas Loone)
to have their own fun, she returns home to see her best friend gone and Rick’s
body mutilated. Jenna claims that the
infamous Clownface (Philip John Bailey) is responsible, but others do not
necessarily believe her.
On the one-year anniversary of Zoe’s disappearance and the murders renewed
interest brings this trauma back to light, Jenna is hounded by an old friend Charlotte
(Leah Solmaz) trying to pry the truth from her and the sudden appearance of
Owen (Richard Buck), a man with his own traumatic experience linked to
Clownface who wants to prove that the monster is real and that Jenna’s friend
Zoe may, in fact, still be alive but a captive of the serial killer. Jenna does not know what to believe but all
of this has put her on edge, and she must decide how to confront her trauma and
Clownface before it is too late.
At the same time, Zoe who has been a captive of CLownface
for the last year is trying her best to find a way to escape her prison before
Clownface makes her his next victim.
Now, first off, there are a lot of problems with the film
the first of which is the fact that since there were no witnesses to Rick’s
murder and Zoe’s disappearance how would anyone know to blame it on Clownface? This plays heavily in the fact that there are
those who believe Jenna and those who believe that she is hiding
something. Another problem with the film
is the fact that the audience never knows why Clownface does what he does. He kills some people (in horrendous ways),
captures others, and just maims still others.
There does not seem to be any consistency to his motivations or actions
which becomes frustrating to watch at times.
The pacing of the film is all over the place mainly because there are so
many flashbacks which stop the story instead of pushing it ahead as it simply
just provides needless background info.
What the film gets right is the lead performance of Douglas
who easily overshadows everyone else as you believe she was fully engaged in
the film from beginning to end. Other
than some rough spots in the end (where the focus shifts to other less
interesting characters), Douglas’s Jenna is engaging and interesting mostly due
to the actor’s commitment. She does an
amazing job lifting the film over the rough spots. I also want to give kudos to the Hans Michael
Anselmo Hess’ music score which elevates the film higher than it needs to be
but does a tremendous job with keeping the film focused on the fact that it is
still a horror film when there is so much drama contained within.
Written and directed by Alex (The House of Screaming Death)
Bourne this could have easily been a film without the killer having a clown’s
face as it doesn’t really add anything to the overall film as Clownface does
nothing other than stalk and slash. It
is a concept not fully realized, but visually makes for more of a Leatherface
type of killer. Horror fans will enjoy
the big bloodbath ending (!) and anyone with coulrophobia should make sure to
stay clear away.
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