Clownhouse

It spends more than half the runtime trying to convince me that a small child is scared of clowns. I believe that in less than a second with no buildup of any sort. Two true stories: 1st, I worked for a local Ronald McDonald for a year doing school shows and public appearances. Fun gig with innumerable insane moments (holding a warm large cup of clown pee? Done it). 2nd, the pastor for our wedding had an office full of hobo clowns. Not just clowns. Sad hobo clowns. Absolutely terrifying.

The only really decent acting comes from Sam Rockwell in his first film performance, and he's obviously not in his prime or given the best material to work with. The plot is just stupid. The movie itself isn't scary. In fact the only unsettling thing about this film is seeing the young boys walk around in their underpants, as the director of this film Victor Salva sexually molested the young male star of the film.

In my childhood I went through a horror movie phase, and this was one of those crappy ones that somehow stuck with me. I had a soft spot for it by the time I rewatched it as an adult. Imagine my disappointment, it was worse than I expected - though still watchable. And as another user mentioned, the director's alleged sexual molestation of one of the child actors really gives you something to think about.

Why is it that clowns are only funny when they're trying to kill people? Cheesy 80's horror, but a good one

Hmmm ... a film involving 3 escaped mental patients .. after watching this I'm sure they were the producer, director and costume designer !

Muito medo.

This deliberately slow low-budgeter sometimes recalls the atmosphere of _Phantasm_ (with a touch of _Killer Klowns from Outer Space_) but is too draggy until it just slams to a halt in a too-abrupt conclusion.

Not bad, not bad. I'm a sucker for clowns. I just like them. "Clownhouse" delivers what it advertises. Clowns. Killer clowns (not to be confused with Killer Klowns) that break into a house to terrorize some kids. It's good fun, has a good spooky soundtrack, and a young Sam Rockwell doing what he does best: having fun and making a role as good as he can. It's not great, but not terribly bad either. Give it a watch if you're bored.

46.000

you know, 42 is probably a fairly high score for this, but i found it at least inoffensively bad. i coasted through the whole thing (just like the cast and crew must have except for that whole child molestation thing) and found it for the most part inoffensively bad. it sits in that solid middle ground of not being especially cliche but not demonstrating any imagination either. oh and it wasn't scary. the brothers did behave like brothers though so you have that.

directed by a pedophile and child rapist

This is a truly inept low budget horror film that fails as a horror film and also fails at being "so bad it good". This did remind me of some of those horror anthology TV shows that were popular in the '80 & 90s.

Made on the cheap, Clownhouse is no classic, and Salva's predatory behaviour on set makes the early scenes with his victim difficult to watch, but he did show some promise here that was somewhat realised later in Jeepers Creepers 1+2. The scenes of clowns creeping around dark attics and corridors with brief flashes of light are inspired, as is a notable death scene involving a silhouette in a shed. On the downside, the acting is wildly uneven, and it ends too quickly.

To some of the other reviewers on here: it isn't "alleged" molestation when you plead guilty with a videotape of your crime and regularly apologize in your interviews. You are officially a convicted pedophile. Also, fuck Coppola

Awful music & ADR stop it working like it's supposed to, but it's clearly working as something else: the opening alone must feature the most overt fetishization of the young male form in narrative film (that other molester's BROKEN NOSES probably has it beat), with a focus on bodily functions--pissing & wanking give way to shirtless...toilet-sitting as Boy 1 bathes beside (all amply referenced in the dialogue). The stylish & resourceful if repetitive scares could counter or compound the nausea.