Belsky, GloriaClownhouse (1989) [DVD]

Young Casey (Nathan Forrest Winters) has an acute case of coulrophobia (fear of clowns), so when his two older brothers suggest a trip to the visiting circus, Casey is understandably reluctant. Being aware of the young boy's fears, his brothers--especially the oldest, Randy (a young Sam Rockwell in one of his earliest film roles)--tease him a bit, and Casey eventually relents to prove to his bros that he's not a wimp.But at the circus, one of the clowns singles out Casey and tries to get him to come into the center ring to participate in a skit. Casey freaks, of course, and bolts out the nearest opening in the Big Top. "Their faces are fake," he later tells his brothers, trying to justify his behavior. "Big happy eyes; big painted smiles. They're not real. You never know what they really are." As the boys walk home, Randy, who has been put in charge of his brothers Geoffrey (Brian McHugh) and Casey while their parents are away, is hardly sympathetic and harasses Casey relentlessly about such "sissy" fears.After the circus closes for the day, three patients who recently escaped from a psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane--what other kind is there in a horror flick?--murder the clowns and assume the harlequins' identities by donning the makeup and costumes themselves. Then they demonically frolic into the night and wind up at the home of--you guessed it!--Casey and his brothers, and the young coulrophobic is forced to not only face his fears, but to defeat them.Thus runs the plot of 1989's CLOWNHOUSE. And while it takes a wee bit of effort to suspend disbelief and accept the coincidence of the evil clowns winding up at the home of young Casey, the skills of auteur Victor Salva turn this simple story with its somewhat cliche setup into a polished, well-paced horror flick that is actually quite scary. As a screenwriter, Salva has a knack for creating frightening situations and making them believable, and as a director, he is very adept at milking all the emotion he can get from a scenario without pushing it too far over the top and into parody.With the exception of the performance from a young Sam Rockwell--genre fans have seen Rockwell most recently in SF hits like GALAXY QUEST (1999) and the remake of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (2005)--the acting in the film is pretty average fare for a 1980's low-budget thriller. But the characters do have a comfortable family dynamic, mainly due to Salva's masterfully realistic, believable dialogue. (Indeed, Salva seems to have a genuine talent for writing dialogue for youngsters, as is evidenced again in his later films like 1995's critically acclaimed POWDER and 2001's boxoffice megahit JEEPERS CREEPERS.)Overall, CLOWNHOUSE is a well-done horror movie basted in slasher overtones, one of the few of the post-HALLOWEEN (1978) horror flicks of the 1980s that is able to generate scares via the threat of violence rather than through the relentless depiction of gory murders. (There is, in fact, very little by way of graphic violence or blood-and-guts gore in this flick.) And CLOWNHOUSE is actually more than just a spook show. It is also a rather interesting comment on childhood fears, the psychological legitimacy of some of those fears, and how a child's life can be negatively affected by such fears if they're not dealt with effectively.Ironically, the public perception of CLOWNHOUSE has been the victim of real-life childhood horror that took place behind the scenes during the film's production. This horror came out of the darkness and into the light in 1995, soon after the release of Salva's film POWDER, when it was revealed that the writer/director had served time for the molestation of Nathan Forrest Winters, the young star of CLOWNHOUSE. Not only did this hinder the boxoffice success of the critically revered POWDER, but it understandably placed a stigma on CLOWNHOUSE that has caused some critics and viewers to read into the film's plot and visual imagery innuendo that really isn't there.Fortunately for Salva (and for filmgoers), he was able to remove the dark cloud from over himself--if not from over his previous films--with the release of his very successful (both critically and commercially) non-genre drama RITES OF PASSAGE (1999), and he later redeemed his reputation in the horror genre with the very financially successful JEEPERS CREEPERS in 2001.But reviews should be impartial and examine the merit of the film in question ONLY, not taking into account any personal problems that the filmmakers may be struggling with. With that in mind, CLOWNHOUSE is an excellent little '80s horror flick that transcends much of the HALLOWEEN rip-offs that deluged the theaters during the decade. The DVD from MGM is a no-frills disc that contains only the theatrical trailer as an extra, but it does offer a good digital transfer of the flick at its original aspect ratio. And while the disc may be hard to get these days, it is well worth the search. Fans of horror or 1980s slasher flicks will certainly want to add this disc to their collections.

This is another great horror product of the 80's. This story hits home with me due to my home town being terrorized by a serial killer who dressed up as a clown during the late 80's. Maybe that's why I'm attacted to it, either way it's still a great movie. The acting done by the three brothers is exactly what you would expect from three real brothers of the same age. Another perfect example of how incredibly simple a well made horror movie can be and still be brilliant. This is one of the best. The DVD was originally very hard to find, but very much worth it.

The most horrifying film ever made. Clown House does the impossible, simultaneously pedestrian and brilliant, classic and clichéd, innovative and banal, dull and horrifying, with depressively wooden performances that upon Platonic examination are agonizingly electrifying. It is as trite as an Olsen Twins montage, and as grave as a snuff film. This movie is an abomination.And yet it must be viewed twice. Once with the innocent eyes of an esthete video aficionado, beer and popcorn at hand, watching a horror movie with its usual familiar devices. This is the first level of text, for which critical engagement is not uncalled for. And yet, the more compelling text is beneath this surface, and points to the final aporia. For this is not fictive horror, this is documentary horror.The script takes its inspiration from Lon Chaney's assertion that "There is nothing scarier than a clown after midnight," and follows Casey, an eleven-year-old boy with an unexplained fear of clowns. Against his conscience, he joins his two unsympathetic brothers on an excursion to the circus with a partial agenda to confront his fears. That same night three psychopathic killers escape a local mental hospital and appropriate the accoutrements and twisted guise of the circus's clowns, and proceed to the boys' house to "unhinge a jack-in-the-box of nightmares for Casey and his brothers!" This formula is not without charm.And now for the subtext. In the horror genre, there is a visual device of using "the killer's point of view." This cliché is absent from Clown House, but the predator is indeed behind the camera, for director Victor Salva's degenerate weltanschauung is the true iniquity that has been recorded. For during the entire filming of Clown House Salva was raping the child star Nathan Forrest Winters, scarring him forever, smothering his spirit, and debasing him as a piece of meat. Winters' leaden acting is a direct result, for he could no longer invoke his art through the depression. This film, therefore, is not even child pornography, for it is far worse, it is the coded diary of a monster who disguises himself and his art in the innocent thrills of a horror movie. Almost like a clown, yes? Superficially innocent fun, yet underneath a monster, unknown and disguised. John Wayne Salva: Victor Gacy.And this is the horror from which we cannot turn away. This is the "fascination of the abomination," this is Ricoeur's archetypes of sin, defilement, and guilt all incarnate in digital images, for this is evil. All engraved in a 1:33.1 aspect ratio for your convenient viewing pleasure.Yet there is another text at work here: Salva recorded the whole thing. It is almost as if he wanted to be caught, wanted a parent to burst in and chase the monsters away. "Look at me! See what horrible thing I am doing! I'm getting away with it!" the twisted child cries into the night, and grows to complete the circle himself.On first viewing there is a pointlessly long shot of Winters undressing to his underwear, which only marginally contributes to the tension of vulnerability. But on second viewing, when we know that we are watching the film through the eyes of Winter's rapist, it becomes the most horrifying shot in the film, and is in fact the probably method of Salva's seduction. Is that Salva's voice calling to Winters "Let's rehearse this scene [and then I'll rape you]?"Only Paolo Pasolini's "Salo: One Hundred Days of Sodom" approaches the debasement of this film, yet Pasolini's painful sadomasochistic abuse of children was all faked. In "Clown House," Salva's off-camera rape of Nathan Forrest Winters is real, and as the narrative unfolds we witness the light extinguished from his eyes and his depression set in. For Winters, the film's "jack-in-the-box of nightmares" was in Salva's pants. How happy Winters must originally have been to think he was going to be a movie star when Salva cast him. How abandoned Winters must of felt when Salva returned that happy trust with daily rape and depraved self-gratification at Winters expense. All this psychological horror for this young actor is captured here on film.Dante Alighieri lacked the vision to construct an appropriate circle of Hell for director Salva. But for this film and his abuse of Winters, he is surely going there. That should give us some comfort.

I have been trying for YEARS to find this "Clownhouse" movie. It is such a hoot to watch, but also has some really creepy scenes that make your hair stand on end. Clowns have always given me the creeps, my entire life, and this movie can really scare someone like me! I watched it with a group of people, and all of us would jump at parts here and there. No sci fi or special effects in this movie, just a good "really could happen" horror movie. What fun!!! This is one of those old movies that you know you will watch over and over for years.

I watched this movie pushing the fact that Victor Salvo is sick out of my head---although it was suspensefull- the way the clows were defeated were sort of silly--as i was watching- I really didnt have my mind on the director and his sick past---but indeed that incident is in the past--he'll have to live with the thought he is sick-- this movie did not have blood, it was really not neccesary--if anyone cares- the man on the radiowhen the oldest brother is in the kitchen cleaning IS VICTOR SALVA--

I know this film is not as popular following the scandal.It's low budget but a fantastic film and very realistic.It's about three brothers,home alone who are stalked by three psychopaths dressed as clowns.People who have a phobia of clowns should avoid this.This is so much more than just a horror.This will stay with you.

ClownHouse is great movie bit slow starting off but when the story line kicks in it's a kick ass movie!! I really recommend that you should buy this movie.