Clown (2014) – Deserves More Credit

Not to sound like a Youtube video Essay video, but Clown (directed by Jon Watts, 2014) should be talked about more.

The premise of the movie, granted, may not sound great to some: a man, Kent McCoy (Andy Powers) becomes trapped in a clown suit after stepping in to perform at his son’s birthday party. As time progresses, the suit begins to merge with him, turning him into the child-hunting Cloyne.

However, if you have a hatred of clowns (like myself), and perhaps a little vain, getting stuck in a clown costume does sound pretty nasty. Child-hunting aside, getting stuck with a nylon-y rainbow afro and a rubber red nose makes the caulrophobic cringe. Not to mention the fabric of McCoy’s costume. This is a material you know and hate the feel of and it’s not pleasant to see it gradually getting tighter and tighter the longer McCoy is trapped.

And that’s where this film gets interesting – it runs like a werewolf-esque transformation horror. It knows that its got a specific premise, and it plays on that with a wink and a nudge. The moment that most sticks in my mind is seeing McCoy’s feet burst from his shoes (because clowns have big feet) – are we meant to laugh or shudder? That’s where this movie shines – it sits alongside that disturbing transformation scene at the beginning of A Goofy Movie in body horror you wouldn't think would be so disturbing.

Unfortunately, the movie takes a different turn after the (without spoiling anything) rainbow blood scene. It becomes a standard kind of hunt-down-and-kill kind of horror and the more that the clown transforms, the less I felt disturbed by it. In that – the more the clown transforms into the demon-like cloyne, the more it becomes like every other demon you’ve seen, just with a bloody nose and mouth. (The scarier the clown tries to be, the less it relates to what makes clowns scary.) The transformation becomes something of a mess of ideas and in the last scenes of the film, my brain couldn’t quite take in all of the details of what I was looking at. The CGI turns him into a generic horror monster. That’s a shame, because the detailing of the cloyne’s ruff becoming a frill (similar to a frill necked lizard) is inspired and makes you believe a little bit more in the movie’s folklore. Indeed, the practical effects of this movie are great, but when McCoy becomes completely unrecognisable, you lose the empathy that had you squirming in your seat for him in the first place.

That being said, the film picks up again when it steps away from the clown himself, and instead focuses on his wife – Meg (Laura Allen). There’s a truly tense scene that questions just how far you would go to save someone you love. By focusing on Meg and giving her agency and choice in the plot, she breaks through the stereotype of ‘wife in a horror movie’ and becomes a Character. She’s well-written and steps up to the role, saving the second half of the film.

One other thing that niggled at me was the need to get the dog involved. Because, (without spoiling anything) I’m sure they could have worked something out with Shadow. (A sturdy pen and raw meat, for instance.)

All in all this film is competently shot and made well, which isn’t surprising considering director Jon Watts went on to tackle Spiderman: Homecoming and its sequels. When it has its tongue firmly in its cheek it deserves to be examined as a parody of monster transformation. It is taking it the monster a step too far that ultimately leads the film to fall back into the average horror flick.

Well worth a watch for the caulrophobe – don’t let this movie slip into obscurity.