Here Art will write about Art. This is not intended as an endorsement of supernatural clown murderers, but it will function as the same.

Art the clown is great! Those odd homunculi that accompany him are also awesome! It is a real achievement to have your monster on screen as much as this series does without them losing their pop. It’s to this series’ credit they pulled that off. The entire series’ success is hung on that look and the performance of Art in particular. There were two different actors that played the role and they should get props. This was a character that appeared before the movies played by Mike Giannelli, but in the films he’s played by David Howard Thornton. The character was created by Damien Leone.

General aesthetics are really choice. A+ honestly in those regards. 1 was boring and I’m disregarding it except in relation to the superior sequels. I think I said here before the film’s focus is on facial and leg mutilation. And that makes sense from a horror movie perspective. It fits a narrative purpose and a psychological purpose. I’m a birb that has watched autopsy videos so I’m not really moved by gore for gore’s sake. But on the other hand you can still feel your hind brain squirm under those circumstances. It’s just inevitable.

One thing I found “interesting” if that’s the word is the willingness to put children in pain. That might be a serious turnoff for some and I get it. I questioned what the process was for allowing these kids to do the performances they gave. To be generous on the other end I guess one could argue it fits within the taboo breaking philosophy. I personally didn’t feel it was earned or necessary and just was another example of the series’ attempt to shock at all costs.

I didn’t like the turn into magic. It muddied the waters and felt too abstracted. Obviously the movies fully tilted that way and the narrative (such as it was) couldn’t exist without it. But that always breaks engagement in my mind. I enjoyed 2 and thought it was genuinely funny at parts. 3 was fine, aping the last one. I understand there’s a 4th on the way and I wish more power to them.

There needs to be a space carved out for gross out stuff and these fit the bill. In the end, I heartily recommend this series. Keep in mind you need to be okay with over the top gore, which is the stock in trade here. But 2-3 have a solid protagonist (but seriously people need to learn the rule of 3–two in the chest one in the head you know they’re dead) and Art the clown and his homunculi are top rate scary images.