Klown Kamp Massacre (2010)
Studio: Troma
DVD Release: May 4, 2010
Not Rated
Review by James Klein
Today, like any other day, I woke up at 3:30 am to take my dog out, make my lunch and then jump in the shower to prepare for a drive that's an hour and 15 minutes to my workplace. I work until 4 pm and get home at close to 5:30 pm. My day now consists of four hours or so to take my dog out again, make dinner, talk to the wife a little, check e-mails and then maybe get an hour and a half to myself if I am lucky. I spent my little time watching Klown Kamp Massacre tonight. Yeah...what a shitty day.
In an ambitious attempt to make a horror/comedy with plenty of references to Friday the 13th, Philip Gunn and David Valdez's indie movie is about a clown camp where one of its students is a cold blooded killer who had previously killed a bunch of clowns at the same camp 20 years ago. Now, the over-the-hill Bonzo the clown is going to re-open the camp despite warnings of it being cursed. With a group of misfit clowns who like to drink, screw, masturbate, fart, and fight the killer clown has plenty of victims to choose from.
I will say the film makers do have best intentions on trying to make a funny film. They try to pull off some soft more humor that did make me chuckle a little and in typical Troma fashion, a lot of the jokes are mostly gross out gags. This works at times but the actors know they are making a comedy and can't seem to pull off some of the jokes, thus making the gags just really lame. It's as if they know they are in on a joke and try to overact which is just not funny at all. It doesn't help that the film is really cheap and a lot of sight gags that they could have pulled off with clown costumes and props must not have been in the budget. These clowns don't wear a lot of make-up and their costumes look mostly cheap and thrown together. It's obvious that the film was done by college age people since there is hardly anyone in the film that looks over the age of 40.
However, I will say that some of the gore effects are pretty good and slimy. There are some scalpings and disembowelments that are grisly and look half-way decent. I guess this makes up for the lack of clown costumes and props as it is obvious that the film makers wanted to focus on the nasty special effects more than anything. Their little homage's and jokes to films like Friday the 13th and Return of the Living Dead just didn't make me laugh but it seems like their heart is in the right place. But just because they tried their best doesn't make the film any better. It's cheap, not very funny, overlong and at times annoying.
The DVD is loaded with extra features such as an audio commentary by the cast and the two directors, deleted scenes, a making of featurette, trailers and a few short films by Gunn and Valdez. One of those shorts is a fake movie trailer that promises to show naked breasts every minute. That short alone is much better than anything Klown Kamp Massacre has to offer. If you are looking for a horror/comedy with clowns, stick to the cult classic Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Now I get to go to bed. Thank God.
DVD Release: May 4, 2010
Not Rated
Review by James Klein
Today, like any other day, I woke up at 3:30 am to take my dog out, make my lunch and then jump in the shower to prepare for a drive that's an hour and 15 minutes to my workplace. I work until 4 pm and get home at close to 5:30 pm. My day now consists of four hours or so to take my dog out again, make dinner, talk to the wife a little, check e-mails and then maybe get an hour and a half to myself if I am lucky. I spent my little time watching Klown Kamp Massacre tonight. Yeah...what a shitty day.
In an ambitious attempt to make a horror/comedy with plenty of references to Friday the 13th, Philip Gunn and David Valdez's indie movie is about a clown camp where one of its students is a cold blooded killer who had previously killed a bunch of clowns at the same camp 20 years ago. Now, the over-the-hill Bonzo the clown is going to re-open the camp despite warnings of it being cursed. With a group of misfit clowns who like to drink, screw, masturbate, fart, and fight the killer clown has plenty of victims to choose from.
I will say the film makers do have best intentions on trying to make a funny film. They try to pull off some soft more humor that did make me chuckle a little and in typical Troma fashion, a lot of the jokes are mostly gross out gags. This works at times but the actors know they are making a comedy and can't seem to pull off some of the jokes, thus making the gags just really lame. It's as if they know they are in on a joke and try to overact which is just not funny at all. It doesn't help that the film is really cheap and a lot of sight gags that they could have pulled off with clown costumes and props must not have been in the budget. These clowns don't wear a lot of make-up and their costumes look mostly cheap and thrown together. It's obvious that the film was done by college age people since there is hardly anyone in the film that looks over the age of 40.
However, I will say that some of the gore effects are pretty good and slimy. There are some scalpings and disembowelments that are grisly and look half-way decent. I guess this makes up for the lack of clown costumes and props as it is obvious that the film makers wanted to focus on the nasty special effects more than anything. Their little homage's and jokes to films like Friday the 13th and Return of the Living Dead just didn't make me laugh but it seems like their heart is in the right place. But just because they tried their best doesn't make the film any better. It's cheap, not very funny, overlong and at times annoying.
The DVD is loaded with extra features such as an audio commentary by the cast and the two directors, deleted scenes, a making of featurette, trailers and a few short films by Gunn and Valdez. One of those shorts is a fake movie trailer that promises to show naked breasts every minute. That short alone is much better than anything Klown Kamp Massacre has to offer. If you are looking for a horror/comedy with clowns, stick to the cult classic Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Now I get to go to bed. Thank God.
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