‘CLOWNTOWN’ Review

What really baffles me about being a critic is indecision. I think when a film is really good, it deserves praise. When a film is really bad, it deserves to be pointed out. But when a film lands in the middle, in the “I’m just not sure how to handle it,” it really bothers me.

Clowntown is the collaboration of first-time feature length director Tom Nagel and Axe Giant: Wrath of Paul Bunyan writer Jeff Miller. This pairing of minds might result in a rather interesting experience, especially when “Bunyan” writer Miller is concerned. I saw “Bunyan” and happened to find it hilarious. So going into this film, I think I had  different expectation that the result I got was.

I envisioned with a name like Clowntown a visceral sort of Krampus film that will end up making me laugh and creep me out at the same time. But the problem is  that the film relies far too heavily on taking itself seriously. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot to fear here. While the main cast is kinda dull and bland and the dialogue hokey, the clowns lend themselves quite well to horror. Several moments in the film I found myself uncomfortable. But while the elements are there, the overall effect is lost in the mistakes.

The fact is several elements here could have made this a great horror comedy. The characters choices are ridiculous. The dialogue is hokey, unbelievable and, frankly, the motivations of half the cast are completely hidden. And these types of drops in information can’t hurt you when the point is to make you laugh. But I just think that we took the good horror elements and built a lackluster wrapper around them. A great example of this tonal mistakes is the character Frank (Greg Violand). The ridiculous words and mannerisms of that character are downright hilarious at times. But they keep trying to make serious tones appears at the moments when he is too funny for them to shine. He overshadows the real tone, and this doesn’t bode well for the film.

That isn’t to say there isn’t something to love here. The clowns are really well done and several situations are really well done. The school bus scene is creepy as hell. The overall cinematography is extremely well done and the sound and video quality is really high end looking.

Not only that, but the soundtrack fits the tone they are trying to convey. And you can follow the story, although you may find yourself lost in a few situations. It’s not that this is a bad movie. In fact, I found it fairly enjoyable at times. The problem really is that the consistency of elements is so out of wack I don’t think I know how to feel.

So you see where my issue lies. I just don’t know what to categorize it as. It has tonal issues, but it is not a total loss. Overall, I think this film is worth a watch. It’s pretty entertaining at parts, even if it may not be in the way it was intended. If you are looking for a B-movie that won’t make you hate watching it, but you don’t need to see gold one night, give it a chance. You never know what you may think. Not to mention, if you hate it, I think you will love how much you hate it,

CLOWNTOWN will be in theaters on Sept. 30 and will be on DVD and VOD on Oct. 4, 2016.