The Clown at Midnight (1998)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

A group of kids are methodically stalked by a killer in clown makeup while they are cleaning up an old opera house. Who lives? Who dies? Who cares?Say what you will, but clowns are just inherently frightening for some reason. Furthermore, it takes some serious talent to make a killer clown that's not scary in any way, sense, or from. Not one iota. This robs the viewer of even silently cheering while the group of stereotypical, asinine, unlikable characters get slashed. A real chore to sit through.Eye Candy: Liz Crawford as Ashley gets briefly topless

The emergence of Wes Craven's Scream in 1996 had a similar effect on cinema as John Carpenter's Halloween did back in 1978. Once again video-store top shelves were filled with endless low budget knock-offs, so many so in fact that Blockbuster Video reported that it was receiving four times the amount of Horror films from 1998 to 2004 that it had since the organisation's birth in 1985. Although this was also due to the huge popularity of high-grossing titles such as The Blair Witch Project, The Sixth Sense and The Ring; Craven's opus should be credited for its hand in the re-birth of the genre as a bankable medium.The slasher cycle is still thriving on the Direct-to-Video market mainly due to the fact that it has become a much simpler task to shoot an independent feature and find reasonable distribution than it was some twenty years earlier. But the biggest notable difference between the two periods of slasher-indulgence is the levels of quality. Whilst there certainly were awfully poor entries released during the eighties ('Don't go in the Woods'/'The Forest'), their comical lack of credibility was perhaps saved by the likes of 'Halloween' and 'My Bloody Valentine', which were eminently superior. But this time around, we have not had as many audacious offerings to shield the brunt of the criticism from the numerous mediocre efforts.The Clown at Midnight was released hot on the heels of Craven's Scream, taking the favoured approach of enthusiasts by incorporating a killer clown into its synopsis. It tells the tale of seven drama students that are forced as part of their course work to clean and prepare a dilapidated theatre for re-opening. It had been closed for many years since a leading actress was brutally butchered by a maniac who escaped the scene without trial. The victim's daughter, Kate Williams (Sarah Lassez), is among the eager group and upon her arrival she begins suffering flashbacks and visions of the fate of her mother. Before long, the group are locked in and the psychopathic clown makes an inevitable reappearance for his swan song performance.If there is any credit to be given to this scarcely popular new-age slasher, it has to be for the ambitious effort from Jean Pellerin, the junior director. Some of the camera work was neatly planned and his energetic method managed to prevent the movie from slipping into the clutches of complete tedium. However with that said, it feels woefully uninspired and that must be an underlining factor to its lack of a DVD release. Considering the fact that this was first circulated in 1998 by a relatively large studio, its lack of an appearance on digital format is a huge snub in itself.The main problem with The Clown at Midnight is that it feels half-hearted. The characters are horrendously portrayed by a cast that have proved that they can do better and despite the inclusion of various so-called 'stars of the future', the dramatics remain distinctly sub-par throughout. It's left up to Christopher Plummer to inject some class into a leisurely paced group of performers, but even he's slumming it here.The mystery is excellently constructed and in fairness, you'll never guess who it is that's sporting the creepy clown attire. But the lack of any thorough cast credibility leaves the twists somewhat redundant. The characters are completely unlikeable and even the stereotypical final girl is unapproachable. Never have I watched a slasher film and disliked the entire cast, which proved to be short-sighted character development from the script-writers. The plot closes with a corny 'light-hearted' ending, which was an unnecessary sugar-sweet topping to a surprisingly un-palatable cake.I read somewhere that The Clown at Midnight has become renowned as the best killer clown movie since the psychological 'Clownhouse'. That statement says more about the lack of quality in that sector of horror than it does about the credibility of this muddled effort. I watched this movie many years back as a young student at Carlos III University de Madrid. The young lady I was dating at the time was a huge fan of 'Scream' and was the kind of girl that would flinch at every jolt in the soundtrack of a scary movie. After watching her reaction, I remember feeling that The Clown at Midnight must have been good to have that kind of effect on her, even if she was something of a vulnerable viewer. Unfortunately after watching the film again seven years later, I was disappointed with not only its mediocre quality, but also with my ability at that time to judge a decent performance. It's surprising how our attitudes and levels of awareness can change isn't it? There are reports of an uncut copy somewhere in existence, although these have neither been confirmed nor denied. But a huge amount of gore would not subtract from the poor level of performances on display in The Clown at Midnight and with the finances that Pellerin had at his disposal, this really should have been better. It does have its share of ambitious moments (The opening killing marks an excellent use of suspense and creativity), but overall it doesn't have enough of them to warrant a purchase. I agree, there are not enough killer clown movies in existence, but the excellent 'The House on Sorority Row' deserves to be seen over this.

My best friend got this from the dollar store in a really small town. It sucks so wonderfully. The acting is wooden, the death scenes are cheesy, and the attempts at 'deep, psychological' shots are laughably bad. The premise itself is stupid- a girl finds out she is adopted after her mother was murdered and has visions of her in the place she died, an abandoned theatre. By the end none of this makes sense, least of all how they figured out that a clown was killing people. If you're a fan of bad horror movies, check it out. You won't be disappointed.

A fun movie. Although the last 20 minutes left me bored, the rest was very well done. Sarah Lassez does very well in the lead, she reminds me a lot of Julia Roberts. I enjoy movie's with clowns in them and this one might get under your skin. Decent acting and plot but as I stated before, the ending could have used a little more work.