Ho-hum! Scary clowns. Pennywise, The Killer Klowns From Outer Space, Art the Clown, the Jester, Jack in the Box, Punch, the Joker... I'm sure you've seen it all, so that the idea of a "killer clown" no longer holds any prospect of new kinds of fear. Except, of course, for Mervo the Marvelous, who frightens all who yet live. But you haven't seen... Clown (2014). When the entertainer for a little boy's birthday party cancels, the boy's father dons a clown costume of mysterious origin to take over the duties himself and it turns out pretty well. At first. Unfortunately, the "costume" has further plans and hopes to make itself the father's permanent role. Ha, but I'm joking, certainly! I mean, snort, THIS guy? Surely this guy isn't the scary thing in a horror movie? It is to laugh. Yeah. Well. Just go ahead and watch "Clown". I'm sure it won't scare you. Let alone disturb so deeply that you curse me for recommending i...
I love this movie, because it's a great PG-13 movie, and don't let anyone tell you any different. Like many modern horror films (such as "Lights Out"; "Saw"; "The Jester"; "Terrifier") it's based on a previous short. The structure is a familiar one. A group of high schoolers encounter a Cursed Object (in this case, a polaroid camera) which leaves them marked for death, one by one. Who, if anyone, will survive and how? In fact, this is pretty much the same plot as an episode of "Are You Afraid of The Dark?" and one of "Goosebumps". But, really, can't that be said of almost ANY horror plot? Where "Polaroid" distinguishes itself is the incredible APTNESS of the Scary Entity that is the threat and the "rules" of how the cursed camera works. The polaroid isn't just some throwaway plot device (as it was in, say, "Back to the Future"); it is really IS the heart of the schtick and o...
When Wrong Turn (2021) came out it was the wrong time. Specifically, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was supposed to have debuted in 3000 cinemas nationwide, but the fact that all the cinemas were CLOSED put a severe damper on its release. It was also not helped by the fact that it was written by the person who wrote the original Wrong Turn (2003). The remake took a different tack from the original hillbilly cannibal film (and its FIVE sequels). A bit like the Buckner's, the Zombie Redneck Torture Family, in "Cabin in the Woods", or the characters of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", both of which you are more like to have heard of. That's what the fans of the original film(s) were expecting of this remake. But it wasn't what they got and so those were quite publicly vocal about their disappointment. If you can imagine such a thing. Their loss! Because remake is very clever inversion of expectations. It's focused on a self-sufficient commun...
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