Vampire Clown was written and directed by Paul Andrich, who also shows up in a supporting role. The horror film is set in a small Canadian town in which Matt (Tyhr Trubiak) feels trapped. However, his life is not so bad, as things with his significant other, Sarah (Amy Couldwell), are going smoothly. But Matt doesn’t always feel like he’s good enough for her, despite Sarah’s constant claims to the contrary. That is why this nerdy bartender is in therapy.
One day, Matt goes to check in on his neighbors and sees someone in clown makeup racing past him near the house. He enters the dwelling and finds the neighbors dead. After giving a statement to the police, Matt and Sarah head home. But he cannot shake this strange feeling he has, which only gets worse when more people wind up dead and Matt spies the same clown around town. As if that isn’t trouble enough, Sarah’s ex, Kevin (Joshua Sarna), roams back into town after a stint in prison. Why are clowns all over town, and why are so many people winding up dead?
“Why are clowns all over town, and why are so many people winding up dead?”
The independent nature of Vampire Clown is most apparent in its lighting. The lighting is as basic as it comes, meaning most sequences lack atmosphere and mood. For example, two victims are a married couple bickering at home. The wife walks off in frustration, and the husband is ranting to the air. After a beat, he receives no response from her and goes to find her. In the next scene, the camera is positioned low to the ground, and the man cautiously pokes around, searching for his wife. The lighting here is just the use of the house’s lamps and ceiling fixtures, causing little visual tension or sense of dread to build up.
That is too bad, as the film is a lot of fun in several respects, particularly in its casting. Trubiak is a muscle-bound titan of a man, but he plays the part as nebbish. The actor mines a lot of humor from this while selling the paranoia and fear experience believably. He shares good chemistry with Couldwell, who is also quite funny. Sarna is charismatic enough to be appealing but also irritating enough to justify Matt’s perspective on him. The vampire victims who are not completely drained take on a monotone speaking style that adds menace when heard from an already introduced person for the first time. The music is also a cool mix of creepy circus songs and jazz.
Andrich also amps up the action in a logical yet fun way. This allows for some fun dramatic irony to play out while Matt appears to be crazy for a while. There are few vampire attacks on screen for the first half, but once things come to a head, the fighting against the undead is entertaining. Overall, Vampire Clown is an enjoyable comedic horror tale that would benefit from a bigger budget to truly soar.
See the movie now streaming on Flix Fling and for more information visit the Vampire Clown Facebook page.
"…an enjoyable comedic horror tale..."
