the clown murders (1976)

the "is it worth watching this for lawrence dane" rating: 2.5/5
it's not the worst movie he's been in, and there's no offensive humor that we're expected to find entertaining. the offensive statements/behavior in this come from people who are very clearly supposed to be unsympathetic characters, so it's not as painful as, say, the other john candy movies dane was in, or the almost surreal experience that is watching "nothing personal". he's in prime form here, unsurprising since this was filmed right before his work in rituals, and he gives a good enough performance - it feels authentic and honestly it'd belong better in a more traditional or better-written drama (like rituals.........) but he makes it worth watching this all the way through. ymmv tho, lol

the plot: this is a strange movie in that nobody's a clear contender for the viewer's sympathy - dane's character, philip, is arguably the best of the male cast because we never see him doing anything that's obviously an interpersonal dick move. sure, he's a developer/responsible for wrecking landscapes with architectural eyesores and he "took" someone's girl but it sounds as though his wife, alison, made the decision to marry him rather than stay with the ostensible protagonist of the film (who is frankly a douchebag). i'd say philip doesn't deserve what happens to him any more than your average land trader does, but really he doesn't have to go through much. it's alison that gets the brunt of it because, well, she's the one who's kidnapped and subjected to the threat of sexual assault. i think this movie would have been a lot better if she'd had more development, especially towards the end when she decides to sleep with john candy's character for completely unexplained reasons or when she's finally reunited with philip. this is a great example of a movie that absolutely fails the bechdel test, lol, and that's already a low bar - there isn't even another named female character in the whole thing! it's all about these very well-off cis white men and their heterosexual man pain.

i read this review before watching and i think it has some interesting lines (especially when discussing the aesthetics of the film).

Horror may pivot on ugliness and the monstrous, but the dull, beige-drenched vulgarity of The Clown Murders and the repugnance of its spoiled, petty characters is not such an exploration of the monstrous.

 

that said, i think the review's just a little more harsh than the movie warrants since it doesn't acknowledge the efforts of any of the actors at all. this movie had potential to be an interesting character study, i think, but it drops the ball with alison and when the whole story revolves around her, well.... that's not great.

side note: gary reineke is fun in this - he's good at playing sleazeballs. a very different character from dj in rituals, though; while dj's just an opportunist, rosie is a real piece of shit. thoroughly unlikable. but reineke brings enough swagger to the role that he's not unpleasant to watch.

highlight: i could be crass and post a gif of his tits bouncing when he runs in one scene, but i won't because i respect him. and his tits. anyway he was in a suit of armor at one point for a halloween party and i love the romantic fantasy potential of it. handsome bastard
 

 ( this is the best resolution available for the movie unfortunately )