Welcome to one of the main features of 'Castle Dracula,' the movie reviews section.
The reviews placed here are from all around the world, from the USA to the UK Japan
and everything inbetween. The formats reviewed are video and DVD. I have included the
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but official screeners that I have been sent containing an as yet unreleased film to 
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- Clownhouse - US DVD -

Tagline:-

"Welcome To A Circus Of Terror!"

Synopsis:-

Three clowns + three escaped mental patients + three young boys = one killer attraction! 
Three escaped mental patients from a nearby asylum, stumble across a circus, kill three 
clowns, take their costumes and start a spree of psychotic killing! 
They find a house occupied by three young brothers, whose parents are away, and begin 
terrorizing them!

Story/plot:-

This is a very creepy movie on several levels. It has clowns, escaped mental patients, 
night time stalking and chase, creepy music, suspense, and young people alone in a house! 
What is unique about this film is that it's devoid of topless girls or raunchy sex scenes. 
Don't get me wrong, my friends know I enjoy hot scenes in movies but it's refreshing to 
not be distracted by bouncing pumpkins and gyrating female body parts (err back on topic! :)
and just get into the scary story itself. This truly is required material for horror fans 
and the sick fruitcakes of the world :)

Atmosphere:-

The story is simple and easy to follow so this is a "no think" film. The atmosphere is 
truly terrifying and really kept me glued to the screen. There's few SFX but clowns stalking 
people at night, you don't need them! 
There's not much gore. The audio is great! 
A truly eerie set of songs and 
background sound FX does great things for a horror movie, as is evident by this film.  
The camera work is excellent with a lot of dark and shadowy scenes that add to the suspense 
and mystery. The boys act well I think. The clowns do not talk at all so their performances 
are purely in their appearance, movements, and facial expressions.

Cast/characters:-

Nathan Forrest Winters ....  Casey
Brian McHugh ....  Geoffrey
Sam Rockwell ....  Randy
Michael Jerome West ....  Lunatic Cheezo (as Tree)
Bryan Weible ....  Lunatic Bippo
David C. Reinecker ....  Lunatic Dippo
Timothy Enos ....  Real Cheezo
Frank A. Damiani ....  Real Bippo
Karl-Heinz Teuber ....  Real Dippo
Viletta Skillman ....  Mother
Gloria Belsky ....  Fortune Teller
Tom Moffram ....  Ringmaster
Erika Young ....  Storekeeper
Russell Jasper Watts ....  Storekeeper's Assistant
Bobby Salem ....  Booth Barker

Final Thoughts:-

This has all of the makings of a horror masterpiece. It's not perfect but I think it's close.  
I didn't even know it was on for how long it was, that's how caught up I was with the story.
But one thing that jaded it for me is the fact that the director, Victor Salva, was molesting 
the lead boy, Nathan Forrest Winters, during the making of this film and video-taping it for 
his pleasure. He served his time after that but just knowing it happened during this movie
made me feel bad about it. If I hadn't known that, I'd have enjoyed it more.  I tried to not 
think about it while watching but it's not something I can forget. He's done "Jeepers Creepers"
and "Powder" too, both of which, like in "Clownhouse," has a mostly male cast and many scenes 
with them in their underwear. It just seems to show aspects of his sick fetish. I wish he 
wasn't a 'sexual deviate' because it's obvious that he has true talent. Sure, some say he's 
served his time and we should forget his past. I just can't shake the disgust with whenever I
see his name. I say just try not to judge the director's history as best you can and concentrate 
on the movie itself.

4/5 stars

Reviewed By Wolf By Night

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