Clown (Blu-ray Review)
The story of a loving father who dons a clown outfit and makeup to perform at his son’s sixth birthday, only to later discover that the costume – red nose and wig included– will not come off and his own personality changing in a horrific fashion. To break the curse of the evil outfit, the father must make grim choices with his own family facing danger.
Film 
Yes, you know the legends, and depending on your sensibilities, you either like them or are terrified by them. Clown is the latest horror produced film from Eli Roth and is directed by Jon Watts (Spiderman: Homecoming, Cop Car). Clown is the story of a father who after flaking out on his son’s birthday party decides to take it upon himself to get into the role of the clown. You see, Kent (Andy Powers) had originally planned for a clown to make an appearance at his son’s birthday party but the clown he hired flaked out at the last second.
Kent is a real estate agent and after finishing up at one of the houses he’s selling he finds a box of old belongings form what appear to be from the original owner of the house. Included are a tattered old clown costume, wig, and fake nose. Kent doesn’t want to let his boy down, so he becomes the clown that saves the day, so to speak.
Back at home Kent saves the party and everyone is happy. Kent wakes up the next, obviously dead tired form the day and night before, with the costume still on. He actually decides to go back to the house he got the outfit from and get cleaned up over there. Things heat up a bit when he’s unable to get the outfit off due to it grafting itself to his body. Even when his wife tries to help him, the plastic nose seems to be blending into his real nose and the wig seems to weave itself into his real follicles.
The gist of it is that the costume is starting to become one with Kent, which also starts to consume him with hunger. Kent the Clown becomes a cannibal of sorts and puts children on the menu. Yes, this isn’t your traditional killer clown film. The clown character seems to come from folklore and the only way to kill it is to cut its head off – even if it means killing Ken. Peter Stormare makes a creepy appearance as one of the few people that can help poor Kent try and survive.
Going into Clown I was a bit apprehensive, because I’m not a big Eli Roth fan and his name was the main selling point. Now that Jon Watts has landed a big budget coveted gig (the new upcoming Spiderman film)– the tables seem to have turned and the film is gaining steam in terms of popularity. It was shot on the low end of the budget spectrum but the quality is great and I appreciate that the clown creature was all traditional practical effects. It’s a pretty cool creation once we see it in its full demonic glory.
The film is extremely violent and does contain brutal violence towards children, so if you’re sensitive to that then be warned. I would also be careful not to watch the film while children are present due to the previously mentioned subject matter. Clown is definitely not for children. If you’re a horror fan and like creature-feature type of films then you will enjoy it. If you hate or love clowns then you will also enjoy it.
Video
Encoding: AVC/MPEG-4
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Clarity/Detail: Clown has a neat visual aesthetic. It’s never a “bright” film to begin with, which enhances the dread. Watching the film, and production values aside, one would not have guessed this was a low budget affair.
Depth: The film is muted in parts but it’s to be expected – it does not make the video presentation any less great.
Black Levels: Black levels were deep and inky and free of compression artifacts.
Color Reproduction: The color palette was a bit muted in parts but it may have had something to do with the slightly overcast weather.
Flesh Tones: Flesh tones were nice and natural.
Noise/Artifacts: Noise and artifacts were not a problem.
Audio
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Dynamics: This lossless audio track is magnificent. It would be safe to say that it’s demo-worthy – yes, even on a low budget film like this one. Money was not skimped on production and technical values while authoring this Blu-ray.
Low Frequency Extension: The subwoofer gets a terrific workout, as it highlights our demonic clown’s guttural snarls.
Surround Sound Presentation: The rear channels get a nice and balanced workout – they never cross contaminate whatever is going on in the front – channel separation is pristine.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels are impeccable.
Extras
The pickings are slim on this Blu-ray. We only get an interview with Eli Roth, as he explains his limited involvement with the film. A Digital HD copy of the film is also included.
- Making Clown Featuring Producer Eli Roth (HD)
- Digital HD Copy
Summary
Clown was a cool exercise in survival horror. Folks should not let Eli Roth’s name on the marquee deter them from checking out this brutally violent and entertaining romp of a film on Blu-ray. Speaking of the Blu-ray – the video and audio specifications are reference but I wish we had more special features as opposed to Eli Roth saying what his involvement with the film was. Jon Watts has cemented his genre film prowess with Cop Car and Clown and will be directing the upcoming Spiderman: Homecoming film for Marvel. If you want to see where it all began then I highly recommend you take a gander at Clown.
Clown is available on Blu-ray & DVD!
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