CineNiche

CLOWN (2014) review originally published on Horror-Movies.ca Directed by: Jon Watts Written by: Jon Watts, Christopher D. Ford Produced by: Eli Roth Rated R 100 min I’m a huge fan, but regardless of how you feel about Eli Roth, Clown proves the director has a sense of humor. The production for the film began in the strangest of places, through a faux trailer. Since Grindhouse (2007) it is not that unlikely that a film’s production would begin with a fake trailer. Robert Rodriguez went on to make Machete (2010) and its sequel and Jesse Eisener adapted his award winning trailer Hobo With A Shotgun (2011) into a feature as well. What makes Clown different is that its director Jon Watts actually attached Eli Roth’s name to it without him knowing. When this happened it forced Roth to take notice. He couldn’t believe how “ballsy” Jon was and gave Clown the attention it deserved. Even with Eli Roth set to produce, Jon Watts was an unlikely candidate for a horror film...

Dear Mr. Gacey Svetozar Ristovski's adaptation of Jason Moss' superb book The Last Victim plays out like a made-for-TV movie.  Jason Moss was a young eager student who developed a theory to gain unfettered access to the mind of a serial killer by portraying himself as their perfect victim.  He wrote to Charles Manson , Jeffrey Dahmer , Henry Lee Lucas , Richard Ramirez , and of course John Wayne Gacy .  The correspondences between himself and these monsters led Moss to his darkest place.  His desire to become an FBI profiler was eventually met with open arms and his research provided a deeper understanding of the psyche of these killers.  Unfortunately this film really doesn't dive into the complete story of Jason Moss, instead it keeps to a simple plot of being driven mad by his encounters with Gacey.  William Foresyth plays Gacey extremely well and the film delivers most of Gacey's brilliance in manipulation: which did cause the real Moss ...