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Clownhouse
(Clown/Children) 8********skulls
*Blood* *Extremely Violent* *Strong Language* *No Nudity* *No Sexual Situations* *Not Particularly Gory*
1987/Color/81 Min./RCA Columbia Pictures Home Video & Commercial Pictures/Rated R
Director..........Victor Salva
Screenplay.....Victor Salva
Music.............Michael Becker & Thomas Richardson
Producer........Michael Danty & Robin Mortarotti & Vicror Salva
Executive Producer....
Effects Makeup Chief..Steven Fink
Dramatis Personae
Casey............Nathan Forest Winters (Best Actor?)
Geoffrey.........Brian McHugh
Randy............Sam Rockwell (supporting?)
Mother...........Villetta Skillman
Real Bippo.......Timmothy Enos
Real Dippo.......Frank Diamanti
Lunatic Cheezo...Tree/ (Best Monster?)
Lunatic Bippo....Byron Weible
Lunatic Dippo....David C. Reinecker
Fortune Teller...Gloria Belsky
Storekeeper......Erika Young
Store assistant..Russell Jasper Watts
Marci............Anne Tomin
Melissa..........Sondra Utterback
Critique: There really is something frightening about clowns. Randy's exasperation with his brothers is quite believable. Perhaps the most frightening scene in the film is when they arrive back at the house after the popcorn run and find the dummy is back in the noose. Casey insists that Jeffrey wouldn't try to scare him. Not with Jeffrey's clothes. This problem recurs later in the film. The viewer is never certain whether one of the brothers won't be hanging from the noose. The fact that these are brothers, in spite of their squabbling, makes it horrifying that one or two will die. The undercurrent of a troubled family is subtly and wonderfully played. The chase scenes on Old Jones road have a dreamlike quality that makes them striking, Casey keeping just out of the clown's reach. When Casey calls the police and gets hold of officer Friendly, he does what just what he shouldn't: Casey says clowns are trying to get him. The officer suggests that if he hangs up and goes back to bed everything will be fine. He is sufficiently unsure of the distinction between imagination and reality that he hangs up, thinking the officer might be right. If there's one thing as bad as clowns it's their weirder familiar, scary calliope music, and it is chillingly effective in this film. The exchange between the fortune-teller and Casey works beautifully. The balloon bending scene too is enrapturing. Watch this one with your siblings, watch it with a cop, but don't watch it alone. You'll be certain that every sound is a clown in the attic!
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