It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

"Clownhouse" is a film that takes me back to my childhood. For me "Clownhouse" is a great 80's horror film. If you can put all the behind the scenes issues out of your head then the film itself is very enjoyable. It has a certain creepy feel all over it making you feel slightly uneasy the whole way through. The atmosphere really puts this one over the edge for me. Yes it looks old when watching it but that's part of the charm. The grainy look just adds an extra element of horror making this one very underrated in my opinion.Clowns have always been an interest of mine, and lately I've become even more interested. So, as a horror buff, I figured "Clownhouse" had to be the perfect flick for my evilly kooky taste. Well, while there are a few parts of the film that are certainly less than genius, I was quite impressed. Most B-movies have to take themselves lightly, or they will be a wreck. But there are a few of them that try to be full-on horror and suspense and accomplish their goal. "Clownhouse" wasn't particularly scary to me, but I thought for it's lack of comedic approach that it was executed very well. The acting isn't all that great, but it's not too distracting either. Once the psycho clowns start doing their business, you forget all about any underlying flaws. I think the atmosphere was what this was all about. Not to mention the fact that it was mostly believable. Almost every scene took a fairly realistic approach to the story. This sometimes causes a little boredom here and there, but for the most part makes the movie much more entertaining.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

It's not often that I find it near impossible to sit through a mainstream film, but this one was an exception. Obviously made to cash in on the scary clown phase of the late '80s (Stephen King's IT was doing the rounds at this time as well) the film is so tame in its approach, I'm surprised it was even rewarded the 15 certificate that it got. It is just so goddamn boring.The plot (if you can even remotely call it that) is about three maniacs who escape from a mental institute, dress up as clowns at a local circus and then terrorise three children in their homes. I've heard people say about how scary this one is, but I have to ask...where are the chills? Guys in white greasepaint can be scary, I'm sure, but these clowns don't even serve up chuckles, let alone screams. Two of the kids die but then, at the end, we find them all alive and well. I venomously hate it when they bring victims back to life again. It's just so unnecessary and feel-good and sugary that it makes me want to vomit.American child actors are possibly the only thing that will make me get up and switch off the TV (that and real-life operations...can't stand 'em). These kids are annoyingly no exception. The director of this trash was involved in a child sex scandal with the main actor before going on to direct films like POWDER, and I would try and forget this film if I was him.

Clownhouse (1989) * 1/2 (out of 4) Three brothers are left home alone when their mother must go out of town. That night they go to the circus even though the youngest brother has a major fear of clowns. Later that night the three brothers and especially the youngest must face their fears when three mental patients escape from a local hospital, put on clown make-up and come after them.Written and directed by Victor Salva, I'm pretty sure everyone knows the incident that happened behind the cameras so I'm not going to go into any other details about that. Outside of that, I had always heard terrific things about CLOWNHOUSE but I've obviously missed something because I found the film to be a real chore to sit through. I've heard people call this movie terrifying but perhaps that will depend on whether or not you're afraid of clowns? This movie has a good cult following to it but I will gladly admit that I'm confused as to why because I didn't find too much entertaining here.I guess the best thing that could be said about the film is that Salva manages to build up an atmosphere and make the film look quite professional when you consider the budget. I'd also say that the three young actors were good in their roles. Outside of that, as I said, I obviously missed something as I didn't find a single scare anywhere in the picture. There were some mildly effective scenes of the clowns chasing the boy down a dark road but not once did I ever feel that he was really in trouble.

In an era of disappointingly trashy horror flicks the unusual director Salva comes up with a movie that may lack a proper plot, but compensates in some of the nastiest horror moments that I can recall of.The technique would perhaps be referred to as "brief glimpsing": someone senses that he's not alone and looks at the door opening and then actually sees someone teasingly showing for a mere second. It's menacing, it's creepy, and it's definitely foul play. If anyone has noticed this technique elsewhere, please inform me of the movie, as I never saw it before! Besides this, this movie mainly deals with three mental patients on the run that killed three clowns, dressed up as them, and then started terrorizing three teenage boys who were home alone.