Clown - Quirky little horror

I’ve been watching Eli Roth’s horror offerings ever since he grossed the world out with ‘Hostel.’ Granted most of his work post that little gem have been a little below par, but I still have hopes that he’ll return to form.  I wouldn’t say ‘Clown’ is exactly memorable or a classic in its genre, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

A clown due to entertain at a child’s birthday party lets the family down.  Luckily, the dad has access to a home up for sale and all of its contents.  There, he finds an old clown suit and puts it on in order to entertain the kids.  This is all well and good... until he finds that he can’t actually take the costume off.  Most people would say that it’s a pretty horrific prospect in itself to be stuck in a grubby old clown’s suit for the rest of your life.  However, what’s really bad, is that it starts affecting his mood... with murderous consequences.

Normally, there’s already some ancient monster running around, so it does make a bit of a change to see a loving father slowly changes into the monster in question.  And the transformation is slow, but worth it as he starts off as just a guy in a dirty outfit and slowly becomes one hell of a nasty creature (think Jeff Goldblum in 'The Fly').

The acting is pretty standard all round – nothing special, but nothing bad either.  Plus there is a kid in the film.  Kids can be hard to watch at the best of times, let alone in a low budget horror.  I’m pleased to say that here the boy is tolerable enough not to spoil the entire film.  There is some gore, but not much - don't expect a major 'gore fest'.  The ‘horror’ of the film is in the make-up – which is pretty nasty during the final act and it does get pretty dark towards the end and it doesn't pull any punches when it comes to who gets brutally murdered in a children's 'soft play' area!

There's also some moral questions raised when it comes to the mother figure of the film.  Should and could she kill her husband?  And what about the 'true' way to defeat the monster, i.e. sacrificing random kids to save her own?  What would you do?

‘Clown’ is nothing that special, but, if you’re a fan of the horror genre, it’s certainly watchable and different enough to raise itself – ever so slightly – above the piles of forgettable films in the genre.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that