miscellanium (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
miscellanium) wrote2022-06-12 05:50 pm
miscellanium) wrote2022-06-12 05:50 pm
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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.
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
mr. fancy pants with a phone in his car.... if we're supposed to find him off-putting then they shouldn't have picked such a cute actor. checkmate
it is SO sad this movie wasnt preserved in higher resolution because he's gorgeous here
i know i know smoking kills etc etc. but he plays with the cig between his teeth a little and it's very endearing. once dane matured as an actor he figured out how to give his characters little physical quirks to develop them instead of acting with his body and not his face.
*licks his fingies*
the clowns are just me and the friends i've convinced to fawn over dane
god i wish the film were clearer. i want to see him in fancy dress and with a dog.... at least we get the concept of it
*pinches his cheeks*
overall this is a very mediocre movie, which is good in the sense that it wasn't excruciating for me to watch but bad in the sense that there really isn't much to say about it. maybe after i let it percolate some more i'll think of other things to say, but, shrugs. remind me to upload the subtitle file somewhere so it's publicly available for anyone else who wants it.
mr. fancy pants with a phone in his car.... if we're supposed to find him off-putting then they shouldn't have picked such a cute actor. checkmate
it is SO sad this movie wasnt preserved in higher resolution because he's gorgeous here
i know i know smoking kills etc etc. but he plays with the cig between his teeth a little and it's very endearing. once dane matured as an actor he figured out how to give his characters little physical quirks to develop them instead of acting with his body and not his face.
*licks his fingies*
god i wish the film were clearer. i want to see him in fancy dress and with a dog.... at least we get the concept of it
*pinches his cheeks*
overall this is a very mediocre movie, which is good in the sense that it wasn't excruciating for me to watch but bad in the sense that there really isn't much to say about it. maybe after i let it percolate some more i'll think of other things to say, but, shrugs. remind me to upload the subtitle file somewhere so it's publicly available for anyone else who wants it.
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