After spending almost thirty years in the Hollywood circuit, Sam Rockwell finally won his first Academy Award in acting at the 90th installment. Reaching that pinnacle had to begin somewhere. This pathetic piece of cinematic rubbish known as "Clownhouse" served as Rockwell's first stepping stone on his way to an Oscar win. Granted, I have not seen all of Rockwell's performances. But I have seen enough to know that he's an ideal candidate for the role of a cocky alpha bully, revealed here in his earliest cinematic effort. However, despite Rockwell's competence, Clownhouse is a sad failure. Everyone else onscreen seemed like they were at a casting audition which led me to think that the producers must have chosen the performers on a first-come, first-cast basis. Director Victor Salva failed in coaching the performers to be more natural, less robotic and overall complementary to the film's best actor. The music was well composed, but needed to be performed by an arrangement of instruments and not on a synthesizer. Also, I was let down by the clowns themselves as the idea of coulrophobia, or the fear of clowns, was built up so much. Furthermore, the jump scenes were not surprising. The violence content was rather mild and lacked much blood for a horror title. I guess that the R-rating was awarded for the generous amount of profanity, spewed mostly from Rockwell's mouth. Otherwise this would have garnered a PG-13 or softer rating.This could have been a much better production and would undoubtedly do good as a remake. As stated above, Sam Rockwell was a solid character in this particular selection which is the only reason I recommend sitting through it.

Casey has a big fear of clowns that seems to consume him at the worst times. The night before Halloween, three brothers are trapped all alone in the house by a bunch of mental patients dressed up as clowns. Casey can see them, but the other two brothers don't believe him, leaving Casey to wonder if he is crazy. I'm not as scared by clowns as others seem to be. That being said, they are definitely eerie when used correctly. This one is all about psychology. The first hour is mostly buildup and atmosphere. Victor Salva does a nice job of adding solid tension throughout, and making the clowns genuinely terrifying at times. Whether they are lurking outside the house, hiding in a closet, it doesn't matter. Their mind games are fun to watch, and add to the tension. The teasing of the "are they real or not" does get a bit redundant after a while, though. The creepy score is effective as well. I also enjoyed the horror homages that are thrown in! Salva clearly did his homework. Don't expect any gore! It's not that kind of movie. The acting is solid. Sam Rockwell shows off his zany style that got him so beloved. His character is a narcissistic bully, but he's a lot of fun to watch. Many people will be begging to see him get his comeuppance. It was a flamboyant showcase for him. Nathan Forrest Winters is excellent as young Casey. It's just a shame his performance is overshadowed by the alleged molestation from Salva. There is a scene where Casey pee's his pants! He may be a talented director, but Salva is a sick puppy. Brian McHugh plays the voice of reason well. Credit to the clowns for being creepyIt begins to peter out after a while, but this is an above average horror film that deserves your time. If you want a suspenseful and thoughtful horror film, this one is for you. 6.7/10

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.

Many people who were kids during the 80s and enjoyed horror have those movies that they "almost" watched: it was up there in the VHS shelf, but you decided not rent unless you could have some friends watching with you. This is one of them for me. Nowadays, they are only slightly scaring, but attractive for the nostalgia. Many of those films complete garbage, most are forgettable (and forgotten) while a few are little gems of the genre. This is one of them: there is plenty of tension and scares, and a creepy premise. Almost no gore, apparently due to budgetary reasons, but the director makes a good job of not making it missed. I don't have to say too much about the lack of production values and sub-par acting, since they are pretty standard and the audience for this movie surely is not too demanding in that area. I prefer the horror/supernatural films from that period, but the slashers are OK. If you like the Friday 13th series and other stuff that scared you back when you were 11, this is definitely an above average flick that deserves a look. (I don't like giving star ratings - they're stupid)