Clown (R)
Dread Central; FilmNation; iHorror; IMDb; Modern Horrors; PopHorror; Rotten Tomatoes; TV Tropes; Wikipedia
streaming sites: Amazon (IMDb); Google Play; iTunes; Vudu; YouTube

Caution: potential spoilers.

This was made in 2012, and it was released in a couple of countries in 2014 and 2015, but I believe the first I heard of it was probably in March 2016, when I watched a trailer on YouTube. (It wasn't released in the US until June of 2016.) I suppose I should mention that the movie is touted as being "from master of terror Eli Roth," though in fact he's just a producer, and didn't even become involved until after a fake trailer in 2010 (which I didn't watch until after watching the movie in 2016) falsely claimed that he'd be producing it. (I suppose since that's still two years before the film was actually made, it's not a huge stretch to say he was involved from the start, but... I dunno. Whatever.) Anyway, his involvement (whenever it started) isn't a draw for me, since I am unfamiliar with his other work. But what I can say made me want to see the movie (aside from the trailer I watched in March), is the fact that for several months in 2016, there was a nationwide clown panic hoax. So I really didn't want to miss such an apropos year to see the movie, and I bought it on DVD in October. (The movie has nothing to do with the hoaxes, but still...)

Anyway. It begins with Meg McCoy having a birthday party for her seven-year-old son, Jack. Her husband, Kent, is still at work (he's a realtor), so he'll be a bit late to his son's party. Meanwhile, Meg learns that the clown they'd hired has been double booked, so he won't be showing up. She calls Kent to tell him that, and as luck would have it, he discovers a clown costume in a trunk at a house he's trying to sell. So he puts it on, and goes to Jack's party as "Dummo the clown." That goes well enough, until after the party, Kent falls asleep on the couch, and the next morning discovers he can't get the costume off. At first it's basically just embarrassing, having to drive Jack to school and then go to work dressed as a clown. But it gets progressively more worrisome as he tries harder to get the costume off, and finds he really can't.

Eventually he tracks down Herbert Karlsson, the brother of the late owner of the house where he'd found the clown suit. Karlsson says he can help get the costume off, but instead he tries to behead Kent, after telling him about some old European demonic creatures called Cloynes, which he claims were the original basis for clowns. And the clown costume Kent is wearing is made from the skin and hair of one of these cloynes, so now he's turning into one. And that means that like the cloynes of old, Kent will wind up trying to eat five children.

Of course Kent doesn't believe him, and just thinks Karlsson is crazy. But Kent ends up seeming pretty crazy, himself, when he tries to tell this to Meg (and her father, and some other people who I guess were her family or friends or something). Anyway, Kent goes on the lam, and Karlsson's warnings start coming true, though Kent does his best to try and avoid his child-killing fate. And eventually Meg accepts that all this is real, and tries to find a way to help her husband. And that includes her trying to get help from Karlsson (while also trying to prevent him from killing Kent, and trying to prevent Kent from killing any more kids, especially Jack). And all the while, Kent is slowly transforming into an ever more horrific-looking clown/cloyne, as well as losing control of his actions.

So... hmmm. I guess I don't want to divulge any more details of the plot. I will say it takes awhile for things to really get scary, but scary they do get. However, the actual killing and cannibalism and whatnot... I mean, I guess that's kind of scary, but I think what's really scary about the movie are its psychological aspects. Like, holy shit, can you even imagine what it would be like to find yourself stuck in a costume and realize you're going to turn into a monster that might even kill your own child, and not being able to do anything about it? That is pretty damned horrific. What's also horrific is seeing that happen to someone you love, and fearing for them, but also fearing for your child, whom you also love. And on top of that, fearing that you yourself could become an entirely human monster, potentially willing to sacrifice someone else's child to save your own. And on top of all that, there's the knowledge that no one other than the main characters (Kent, Meg, Jack, and Karlsson) could ever possibly believe any of this is really happening. At best, they'll just think Kent has gone insane; at worst, they'll think all of them are insane. So, there's just so much psychological horror at work in this movie. And while the initial premise may be kind of absurd, that doesn't change the drama and horror of all that happens, both internally and externally, because of that premise. (And luckily, I found the acting to be good enough all around that a story which is meant to be serious didn't end up becoming campy, or anything.)

Oh, and of course over the end credits there are a couple of innocent, generally upbeat songs about clowns, which become amusingly ironic because of... you know, everything.