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...
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...
Velvet Buzzsaw is a satire of the contemporary art scene, in the form of a gory horror movie. It's not merely unrealistic but surrealistic. When the works of a reclusive misanthropic painter are discovered are put on sale, against his posthumous wishes, they empower other artworks to take revenge on the art world types who are insincerely capitalizing on the late artist's tragedy. Rhetorical question: has Toni Collette ever played anyone nice or even just... normal? It's got high production values and a stacked cast (Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, John Malkovitch, Tom Sturridge, Daveed Diggs). It even has one of my favorite pieces: "Death of a Mauve Bat" (1967). The kills are bizarre and imaginative and delightfully ironic (as are the victims). All good art is dangerous, it seems to say, so be careful when treating it simply as a commodity. It's a film with no villains... but no heroes, either. So thought it was too campy to be scary and too s...
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