Simply A Masterpiece

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Blistering performances.

Look, we all know about Victor Salva's past by now. I don't know about you, but I have a huge disconnect in my mind between a creator's personal life and their work. I still think Jeepers Creepers is a good movie even if I'd probably spit in Victor Salva's face if I met him in real life. Clownhouse is NOT a good movie though. It's just a typical piece of 80's straight to video trash where almost nothing happens for the majority of the film and by the time things finally get moving the payoff is pathetic and just not worth it. The kids are annoying and the killers are boring and have no personality whatsoever. They're just sad, silent Michael Meyers types, but minus all the supernatural ability and creative kills. I've seen much worse, but it's just a forgettable snoozefest at best. It gets REALLY hard to maintain that previously mentioned disconnect with some of the content in this movie too. The only creepy thing that happens in Clownhouse is how many completely unnecessary scenes there are with the young boys taking off all their clothes. It really stands out because there was no need for there to be so many scenes like this that didn't even have any relation to the story at all. Looking back on it, it's actually pretty weird that no one saw this and thought something was wrong with this guy. Hell, how did the people working on the set not think something really wrong was going on too? It's certainly an unfortunate and disturbing set of circumstances and yet another good reason to not waste your time on this poor excuse for a film.

First saw this on a VHS in the early 90s. Found it to be creepy. Saw this recently on you tube. It hasn't aged well. But there is something creepy bah the clowns n their masks. The story is bah 3 brothers who r alone since their parents r away. The youngest one has coulrophobia. The eldest one, a very young Sam Rockwell takes the middle n the youngest brothers to a circus. Meanwhile 3 escaped mental patients r on the loose. Made on a shoe string budget, Salva did some good job. The body count is low n the gore/violence is minimum but the movie plays more on the fear. Clownhouse does show that Salva actually has talent when it comes to putting together an effective horror movie. The movie has lingering shots of the young actors in their underwear, shirtless, and even changing clothes. N aft knowing Salvas child molestation history, i found those scenes disgusting. What Salva did is truly unforgivable and despicable. People may relate this film to Stephen kings IT n Alone in the dark.

The basic premise is this, three mental patients escape at night (when else), kill three clowns and don their disguises and go on a killing spree.Meanwhile, Sam Rockwell and his two brothers stay at home on their own and get stalked by the clowns.Because they would rather stay around than escape somewhere.....This is one of those movies that was really popular in the eighties, and is fondly remembered by lots of people, but sadly, I never saw this movie until yesterday, and seeing it as a 34 year old rather than a twelve year old really makes the film mundane and pretty uneventful.One of the boys has a phobia of clowns, so they take him to the circus, great idea. After the token outburst, they all go home and get stalked, for the rest of the film. But it's not stalking, it's a bunch of people in clown suits, standing in the dark and having a torch shone in their face.Maybe if i saw the film when I were younger I would have appreciated he cheapness and relate do the children, but now, I just see a young Sam Rockwell and two other kids not doing much else but hide and be horrible to one another.Not scary, and I doubt it's not that bad for people with a real phobia of clowns.They should watch IT instead...

Childhood fears belong to anyone who has grown up frightened by shapes, shadows or stories. Most of us have outgrown those fears. In our adult lives, we have discovered that reality of life is so much more terrifying. However, despite our courage and our rational explanations for the myths, monsters and things that go Bump in the night, there always remains that tiny voice which give credence to our doubts. But then our own powers kick in with the knowledge that 'only the fearful can know the true value of courage.' That is so true in this film called " Clownhouse. " Three boys, indeed brothers, Randy (Sammy Rockwell), Geoffrey (Brian McHugh) and Casey Collins (Nathan Winters)are growing up with the usual baggage accrued when raised together. When they become aware of their all too real peril, must put away their squabbling, bickering and petty animosities to deal with actual fears. Three violent, mentally deranged escape inmates from a Mental Insane asylum escape, murder some clowns, assume their identities. When the boys are left alone by their parents, they encounter these murderous fiends and realize they are like black phantoms out to kill them. Despite Randy's superficial bravado and Geoffery's convincing mental prowess, the audience soon realizes, it's Casey who has the greatest fear of all, due to his adolescent fear of Clowns. Famed for his other slasher films of the past, writer/director, Victor Salva establishes groundbreaking techniques with this offering. With a haunting theme work by Michael Becker, this movie holds itself together with suspense and drama. The three young actors do a fine job in their own right. So much so, it's safe to predict this film will become a Classic. ****