Hot Picks
|
|
|
Circus Kane
USA 2017
produced by Gerald Webb, Christopher Ray, James Cullen Bressack, Sinjin Rosa (executive) for DeInstitutionalized, End of the Rose
directed by Christopher Ray
starring Jonathan Lipnicki, Tim Abell, Richard Moll, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Victoria Konefal, Nicole Arianna Fox, Ted Monte, Cameron Jebo, Sinjin Rosa, Erin Micklow, Bill Voorhees, Paul Logan, Weston Cage, Scott Thomas Reynolds, James Cullen Bressack, Kevin Yarbrough, Angelina Capozzoli, Jonathan Nation, Howie Walfish, Mike Capes, Mike Jerome Putnam, Rigo Obezo, Lucas Swallow, Ellen Michelle Monohan
story by Sean Sellars, screenplay by James Cullen Bressack, Zack Ward, music by Adam Oliver, special effects by Vincent Guastini, visual effects by Joseph J. Lawson
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
20 or so years ago, horror clown Balthazar Kane (Tim Abell) disappeared
after burning a man to death. Now 8 people from all walks of life
(Jonathan Lipnicki, Victoria Konefal, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Nicole
Arianna Fox, Ted Monte, Cameron Jebo, Sinjin Rosa, Erin Micklow) who only
have two things in common, they have a large social media following and
are in rather desperate need of a quarter of a million Dollars, receive a
sinister invitation to the new "Circus Kane", a haunted house
style attraction in the middle of nowhere run by no other than Balthazar
Kane. And whoever manages to spend a night in the place receives above
money. Of course, they are all quick enough to see through the
machinations of the place and are amused more than anything at first, even
when one of them (Sinjin Rosa) gets sawed in half for real, they are sure
it was only trickery and he was only a plant. Thing is, shit soon gets
real when more challenges await them, like making it through a hallway
filled with barbed wire or swinging pendulums, and they get hurt for real.
And don't forget Kane's minions, the killer clowns, who kill for real. And
soon what could have been a mildly amusing fairground attraction becomes
dead serious, as Kane isn't likely to let many of his "guests"
go ... Ok, excuse for the silly pun in advance, but Circus
Kane isn't exactly Citizen Kane - but that doesn't mean it
isn't a lot of fun, because that's exactly what it is, a very entertaining
rollercoaster ride that never tries to hide the fact that it is just that
and even at times pokes fun at it (heck, one might say the premise itself
is doing that already), plus it has everything that the genre fan might
expect from a movie like this, jump scares, inventive deaths, over-the-top
gore scenes, creepy clowns, grotesque characters and macabre details, and
it's all carried by a very fast-paced yet light-footed directorial effort.
Plus, however formulaic the plot as such might be, the ending will most
certainly surprise. In all, it's just really fun genre
entertainment!
|
|
|