Review of Dead Clowns

Dead Clowns (2004)
7/10
Dead Clowns should stay dead
1 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
here is my question: Why do clowns always get a bad rap in horror movies.

I'm now 3 for 3. Fun Park, Tormanted and now Dead Clowns. I've yet to see a good Clown horror movie that doesn't look like it cost $5.00 to make. I'm pretty sure both Brinke and Debbie split $2.50 between each other and bought a taco after filming.LOL!

The premise goes as follows. A train wreck filled with Circus personal falls off a bridge during one of the town's most devastating hurricanes ever. The cab where the clowns resided is never recovered and thought to be lost underwater. Some years later ,the clowns rise form the dead and go on a killing spree throughout the town on a really bad stormy night. Great idea and the clowns themselves don't look half bad. Aside from the spotless and may I add;very dry clown suits, they actually resemble Zombie clowns. Actually even taking a history page from Lucio Fulci's Italian zombies. Sounds like the ingredients for a pretty decent horror film ,right? Wrong. Dead wrong!

Here is the thing, you cast two scream queens like Debbie Rochon and Brinke Strevens and you expect at least some screaming. I've never seen the actresses so uninterested in acting as this time around. At least Brinke gets to tell the premise of the story and dies in the first half hour. Debbie doesn't even get one line. Not even a character name. She is billed as tormented woman and spends half the movie under the stairs.

The rest of the cast is just thrown in for story sake. Four synchronized story lines to be exact. Brinke and her husband, Debbie, wheelchair guy , druggie security guard and fugitive couple who have just killed a priest or something.

Al four stories are are totally inane and ridiculous. Not one of the actors shows and emotion or horror as they are chased around their houses by Zombie Clowns. It's almost as if they are playing hide go seek with their nephews. Did I mention that 3 out of the four story lines don't even contain dialog. This would make Tarrantino throw up.LOL! The one good thing is the gore. I've seen reviews complaining about little to no gore, but the version I watched had some pretty gory scenes. Cheesy, but gory. One of the victims provides a ten minute buffet for the Clowns. Again done in Italian Fulci fashion with a little Ruggero Deadoto cannibalism thrown in. This saves the movie from total abomination, but still could have been so much much better.

Final thoughts. Directors and producers, don't be afraid to spend a little when making a horror movie. Lighting, sound, script and for Pete's sake a little dialog, especially when you manage to cast Debbie Rochon in your flick. She is a certified SCream Queen!
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