I am not surprised that so many horror fans are hating on this movie. They don't know what to make of it, because it doesn't do everything it expects them to. Oh, sure, it has its share of clichés, and it doesn't really add anything new in any area of its production. But I did appreciate a few small touches.
The story starts out with six unlikeable teens indulging in sex and drugs making the bad decision to trespass in some abandoned property, in this case, a fun park. Movie buffs who liked The Funhouse and/or Dark Ride will probably check this out, hoping for more of what they liked about those films. (Another similar film is Neverland, which is an updated version of Peter Pan set in the underground of a dingy amusement park). They get captured and killed one at a time by a clown and his son. The sequence in which the clown tortures and kills the kids stood out because there was no dialog. It seemed to last for 30 to 40 minutes. I thought this was effective, and I think that more horror movies could do with less talking. However, the sound effects were at least as annoying as bad dialog, with the clanking of chains sounding like they had just put it on a loop on the audio track.
The other thing that this movie does is play around with time a little bit, jumping back and forth between flashbacks, narration, interview accounts, and different points of view. It's not as well done as 21 Grams or anything, but it changes things up. I also like the almost sweet ending, in which the therapist who stayed with the case to its resolution took the surviving teen in to care for her as she healed.
The narration that closes the movie tries to continue the "based on real events" angle. Not sure if it really was, but it ended up being slightly better than expected. Dark Ride had a more amazing set piece and The Funhouse had more memorable villains, but this movie tried to be a little bit different, so I'll give it credit. I can't give it higher than a 5, because it still wasn't that great a story, but it's nice to see the effort.
The story starts out with six unlikeable teens indulging in sex and drugs making the bad decision to trespass in some abandoned property, in this case, a fun park. Movie buffs who liked The Funhouse and/or Dark Ride will probably check this out, hoping for more of what they liked about those films. (Another similar film is Neverland, which is an updated version of Peter Pan set in the underground of a dingy amusement park). They get captured and killed one at a time by a clown and his son. The sequence in which the clown tortures and kills the kids stood out because there was no dialog. It seemed to last for 30 to 40 minutes. I thought this was effective, and I think that more horror movies could do with less talking. However, the sound effects were at least as annoying as bad dialog, with the clanking of chains sounding like they had just put it on a loop on the audio track.
The other thing that this movie does is play around with time a little bit, jumping back and forth between flashbacks, narration, interview accounts, and different points of view. It's not as well done as 21 Grams or anything, but it changes things up. I also like the almost sweet ending, in which the therapist who stayed with the case to its resolution took the surviving teen in to care for her as she healed.
The narration that closes the movie tries to continue the "based on real events" angle. Not sure if it really was, but it ended up being slightly better than expected. Dark Ride had a more amazing set piece and The Funhouse had more memorable villains, but this movie tried to be a little bit different, so I'll give it credit. I can't give it higher than a 5, because it still wasn't that great a story, but it's nice to see the effort.