Picked this up in the bargain section of my local supermarket. A scary clown on the cover with a red balloon & the word IT suggested an unoriginal film in the vein of Stephen King's book come movie. However it has no resemblance to that whatsoever.
A group of strangers can win 250,000 dollars if they can survive the creepy home of one infamous clown called Kane. Needless to say they start getting bumped off, one by one.
There's plenty of clown creepiness going on here and its reasonably well done. There's also a fair bit of gore. However it is let down by a poor script and unconvincing characters, including Kane. It felt like a wannabe Rob Zombie movie, but just lacking his talent or budget. Wouldn't watch it again.
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Stevieboy6663 August 2018
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TheLittleSongbird26 March 2018Saw 'Circus Kane' as someone with an appreciation for horror and who found the premise oddly interesting. Despite it not being a unique one and one that could have gone either way in execution, it sounded pretty decent and if done right could have made a guilty pleasure sort of film.
What 'Circus Kane' was instead was a very lame, if not irredeemable, film that did very little with its premise and its setting. The setting is the best thing about the film, to me also the only good thing, and is pretty creepy. Even that feels wasted, a shame because it was the one thing that was done pretty well and deserved better than what the rest of 'Circus Kane' turned out to be. Didn't get the sense as such that it didn't even try, other low-budget films seen recently have done a far worse job at that, but did get the sense that it didn't do what to do with itself.
The setting apart, 'Circus Kane' looks cheap. Photography was drab and the editing, while not incoherent as such, was sloppy. Faring worst were the special effects, their ineptitude and intelligence insulting cheapness being an assault on the senses.
'Circus Kane's' villain was not menacing or threatening, actually veering on the goofy side of things. In all fairness the material was cheesy and lacking in suspense, and the action was not disturbing, brutal or scary no matter how much gratuitous and cheap-looking gore or supposedly creepy but actually laughable imagery there was.
Its obvious and over-bearing sound really annoys and hinders the impact of any scares or suspense when they are telegraphed when being built up that they become predictable.
Script constantly sounds stilted and even cheesier than a large cheeseburger. The story is dull, lacking in any kind of atmosphere, tension or suspense and insults the intelligence by how ridiculous and confused it tends to be.
No better news about the characters or acting, the latter being one of the worst assets of 'Circus Kane'. The characters are bland and obnoxious, either or and in a few cases both, with truly dumb illogical decision making that makes them and even the viewer stupid and make one endear to them even less (and you don't even like them in the first place). The acting is a bad mix of over-compensating and disinterested. Jonathan Lipnicki with this film has fallen such a long way since his adorable child actor days.
Overall, very lame and does nothing with something that could have worked. 2/10 Bethany Cox -
darksyde-6350830 November 2017With a DVD cover that makes you think it would just be another rip off in the new wave of killer clown movies that appeared in the wake of the "IT" remake, this is really not what you'd expect. Coming off as the bastard child of "Saw" and Rob Zombies "31", this movie is extremely slow moving.all eight victims are extremely annoying and unlikeable, especially the fanboy store owner. There is very little in the way of gore, which you'd expect more of since as I said before, this is kind of a "Saw" rip off. And there are, what I am assuming are unintentionally hilarious moments, when the victims underreact considerably to the injuries and deaths that are happening right in front of them.
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ploski10 February 2018Terrible story, dreadful and pointless script, appaling cast, constant ramblings of a completely un-scary archvillain make this schlock painful to watch.
Don't waste an hour and a half of your life, go watch a Mexican or a Turkish telenovel instead. -
Gunnar_R_Ingibjargarson28 February 2018A Socialmedia stars are invided by a circus master to spend the night in his horror house and get a bunch of money for it. Just typical B-horror crap (Even though there a bunch of good B-movies out there.)
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eggbp-378-54455717 September 2017If you are looking for a horror film to watch, then leave this and go to your back catalogue for 2 reasons: 1) You know you will enjoy whatever you choose 2) You will not waste you time and still be unsatisfied
The only thing that stands out is the location for the filming. Everything else - the acting, the "special effects", the dreadful story, the acting (so bad it's worth noting twice), the character development is all nothing special. Like it came out of the 1980's.
Lord the characters, nothing about them was endearing and one in particular, shortly after meeting him I was already waiting for him to die - sooooo annoying. The acting was possibly what you would expect from fresh young faces who will do any job for experience and the script writing really didn't help them. The special effects, were like someone was given a bunch of plasticine and bright coloured paints, unconvincing and cheap.
As a film in it's own right it's bad, very bad but for a film trying to cash in on how popular the new IT is then it's REALLY bad.
Leave well alone. -
michaelchandler459 September 2017The character Kane tried to look and sound like Rob and his circus ring leader vibe. The story rips off the murder world vibe and last man standing plot of Zombies new movie "31" (which was his worst cinematic effort yet.) Even with this it could have at least been mildly entertaining but it flat out sucked. There was no attempt to thrill with cheap gore or jump scares. Nothing at all entertaining. Just a lot of standing around and listening to bad actors try and talk us to sleep. The dialogue sounded like it was from a third graders play. Whoever was responsible for the script certainly didn't do the non talented actors any favors. It was just a flop all around. Nothing positive to say about it at all. I give it three out of ten.
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paul_haakonsen31 December 2018When I picked up "Circus Kane", I must admit that I didn't really have much of any expectations of being in for a massive treat in terms of an entertaining movie. Why? Well, this being a clown horror movie and all, as they have a tendency of being rather bad most of the time.
But still, I decided to give the movie a chance on the offbeat chance that it would actually turn out to be a hidden gem in the horror genre. Well, let's just state for the record that it wasn't a gem.
The storyline told in "Circus Kane" was actually fairly adequate, and I must admit that I hadn't figured out the twist to the plot, so when that was revealed it was a genuine surprise to me. I liked that part of the movie.
It was the execution of the storyline and the whole bringing it to life on the screen that seemed to stagger and not really work well in favor of the movie. I must admit that throughout the entire course of the movie, I sat with a feeling of 'is this really it?' And the movie sort of felt flaccid, because while it attempted to achieve a lot, everything in the movie just seemed pointless and random. It was as if they made everything up as they went along, driving without an aim.
The characters in the movie were fair, some of them more detailed than others. But in overall it wasn't a grand character gallery, especially because most of them didn't feel like they were properly fleshed out - pardon the pun. I must admit that some of the behavior from some of the characters was just ludicrous and it really dumbed down the entire feel of the movie.
The entire haunted house, circus act, whatever you wish to call it had some interesting enough aspects to it. But again it just felt random and as if the director went without a plot and planned script.
I endured the movie to the end, though it wasn't a particularly thrilling or overly entertaining experience. And I can honestly say that I am not returning to watch "Circus Kane" a second time. -
Coventry6 September 2021"Circus Kane", not to be confused with "Citizen Kane" (joking; of course), is a mundane and derivative piece of slasher/clown-horror, but it nevertheless features a number of effective gross moments and creepy set-pieces, as well as one genuinely nasty clown and an eerie jester. At least that's more than what I saw in many other recently released and lousy horror movies revolving around clowns ("Clowntergeist", "Clown Town", ...).
Like several fellow reviewers righteously pointed out already, the makers of this film have an unhealthy obsession with the style and persona of Rob Zombie. The lead villain Balthasar Kane, as depicted by Tim Abell, even bears a strong physical resemblance to Zombie, especially during his Hellbilly Deluxe period. The plot of "Circus Kane" also feels somewhat like a crossover between "House of 1,000 Corpses" and the more recent "Escape Room" thrillers. A bunch of annoying and disposable persons, horror cinema influencers of some sort in this case, must escape from the titular circus (which is actually a house) in order to win $250.000, but naturally the whole place is one giant death trap with swinging pendulums, barb-wired labyrinths, and axe-wielding clowns.
Everything about "Circus Kane" is predictable, and the characters are hopelessly dumb (they deliberately run into barbwire, for crying out loud!), but admittedly the sequences inside the house are quite atmospheric and the make-up effects are deliciously gory. The flashback sequences and Kane's endless monologues, on the other hand, are extremely boring. All his screen time should have been replaced with extra footage starring the clown, the jester, and the doorman who looks a lot like Angus Scrimm from "Phanstasm". The "twist" - if you can even call it that - at the end is lame, and won't surprise anyone who ever watched a horror movie before.
PS: I just learned, via this website - of course, that the director Christopher Ray is the son of the infamous 80s/90s low-budget trash director Fred Olen Ray. This surely explains why one of the characters wears a "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers" shirt, and it is further proof of a well-known expression involving a tree and an apple. -
emmacandyapple4 August 2019The ending was spoiled right in the first scene, at the police station. It made the rest of the movie an unenjoyable experience, as the overlaying of shots and epileptic occasional frames of Kane in between scenes. The characters are completely idiotic, and make it more of an agitation toward the decisions that they make. It had an intriguing premise, but was most certainly not worth the watch.
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JoeytheBrit3 July 2020Balthazar Kane makes a memorable monster in this otherwise routine B-movie horror which sees the usual group of disagreeable characters lured into visiting Kane's remote mansion so that he and his bloodthirsty clowns can pick them off one-by-one in mostly unimaginative ways. Ted Monte's character stands out amongst the interchangeable stereotypes, but otherwise it's all extremely ordinary.
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jmbovan-47-16017326 January 2021Standard plotline of different characters enter a house of horrors to win big money. But, there is a real.killer behind this. And people start to die. Nothing special, production is okay, but plotline lame. Acting is decent, but this film does nothing new and adds nothing to the genre. Including the final twist that just sits there unpolished and un-shocking.
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nogodnomasters16 September 2017Balthazar Kane (Tim Abell) ran a side show of horrors and magic. We pick up years later as he has invited 8 people to come to his home and if they make it all the way through, they win $250,000. The story is told by Tracy (Victoria Konefal) the final girl as she talks to the police. She includes all the stuff that happened when she wasn't there. The group goes through a series of puzzle rooms, trying to figure out the deadly clues and proceed.
The characters were good, but not exceptional. I liked the puzzle room scenes, but when that ended and it came to the chase, I lost interest. Nice twist, although the clues for it didn't click with me as clues. It appears they were going to do something with seven of the eight contestants such as make them into the 7 deadly sins. I think the similarity was more of a coincidence than by design. If you name a film "Circus Kane" you at least need a Rosebud.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity. -
Personal opinion: The settings are bad. The effects are bad. The acting sucks. The storyline doesn't create any tension, and the ending is such cliche and predictable. It's a Saw wannabe horror film but the horror part doesn't deliver. Plus I really can't stand the Robert Downey Jr wannabe guy, he tries too hard.
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dulmagechrysler20 June 2021The special effects in this movie were poor quality and the script kind of sucked. It was obviously low budget. The movie had a weird twist ending, the movie wasn't even that great and the ending only made it worse. If you're a fan of horror movies like me, I wouldn't recommend wasting your time on this movie.
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jessiewalkerr6 November 2019This should be listed as a comedy.
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laurahippensteel30 April 2019I really don't know what the disgruntled clown and the social media celebrities had to do with one another, but in terms of a group of people going through a house of horrors, it was pretty entertaining. Good if you want and easy to watch horror flick that just get straight to the point.
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missraziel22 September 2017This was an okay movie considering I went in expecting very little.
I won't give any spoilers but I will say it does deliver on its promises, it's gory, psychotic, twisted, nice creepy and thought out sets and visuals, then it has a little surprise thrown in for good measure.
Yeah we enjoyed this one, maybe not one to watch twice but worth a look once. -
A slasher movie about some young people who are lured into a house of horror filled with deadly booby-traps, designed by an evil circus-manager with some obscure grudge, assisted by a bunch of horror-clowns. Well, when putting it like this, it doesn't sound like anything worth of winning an Oscar and that is putting it mildly. But when you have lowered your expectations accordingly, you're in for some pleasant surprises. In between a rather incomprehensible introductory sequence and an even more incomprehensible closing sequence (where a major story-twist is revealed with a way too elaborate explanation for my simple brain) there is actually a lot to enjoy, especially when you are into gore-horror. Because the makers of this one did not hold back, no sir, they really go all the way and for the middle hour of the movie they throw in tons of blood, slime, body-parts, jump-scares and a continuously amounting body-count, while exposing the youngsters, who have to find their way out of the maze, to all kinds of (fairly original) horrifying contraptions, up until the proverbial Final Girl can at last escape into the day-light. I'm no professional, but to me it seemed that most of the gore was not CGI but handcrafted, so compliments to the special effects designers!
In short: ignore the incoherent story, the amateurish acting of the youngsters and the exaggerated over-acting of the circus-director, and just enjoy (as far as it's your cup of tea) the inventive gore-fest. -
master_darkboy9 September 2017I just watched the movie because I'm really into clown-based horror movies like It. "Circus Kane" is a bloody horror about a group of teenagers invited to a game to gain 250Ks. I really enjoyed the bloody atmosphere of the movie . Definitely a lot of effort was put into making the decoration of that house . the performances are acceptable considering the amateur cast . it's actually hard to get believable performances from an amateur young cast for an horror movie like this but Christopher Ray made it happen . I counted. There were about 1000 subtitle lines (dialogues) which is a bit too much for an 88min horror movie but the script was well written and dialogues makes you think twice . the end was a bit downer . there was no need to make that unnecessary twist in the end but overall Circus Kane is definitely a bloody flick that worth watching in this famine of horror days.
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SamUnfiltered197912 September 2017I at first did not think was gonna be any good. The first time I saw it. I was confused at the end and thought, it was not worth a re-watch. However, like 10,000 Maniacs and even The Shining (Kubrick version), which I turned out to love, but hated first viewing. I thought, give this a chance. I am glad I did. I caught so many nuances I missed the first go round, that made me confused on the ending. But the second viewing cleared all that up. First of all, clowns are scary. But even more scarier? The watcher who sees all but you never see pulling the strings of said clown. THAT is what makes this so scary. Give this a go, make a night of it, invite friends over, crack open a 12 pack and enjoy. I promise, The Director nor actors will let you down.
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dy3849331 January 2020Good movie to watch for especially the horror scenes created by the artists and good acting from all the characters set in circus.
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therealjenmac22 July 2023It's a bad-in-a-good-way movie. Acting isn't terrible in that its consistent, and who really cares about the characters. You get a bit of backstory with each one - not a lot of detail but just enough - and that is the important bit because with these kind of movies who cares. You know why their lives suck in five minutes or less - why they are willing to go for the random 'you're invited to spend the night in the haunted house for cash' trope thing. There is a decent amount of gore, desperation, a bit of humour, and a decent ending. So grab a couple cans and be entertained for an hour and half.
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I seen this last night and was expecting a very low budget uninspired attempt at a survival style horror movie but to my surprise it turned out to be actually interesting keeping me glued to the screen in anticipation of what was going to become of the group trapped in the fun house,a bunch of horror fans receive emails I believe for a chance at winning $250 000 all they have to do is be the last one standing at the end in the clown/circus house little did they know that their lives would be on the line.
The cast while not veteran hollywood material still fit the role well and I especially liked the scene where the one guy in the group is sawed in half meanwhile the rest of the group is behind a plate glass window witnessing this and when its over half of the group are shocked and not sure if what just happened was real and the black man in the group tries to reasure everyone that most likely the victim was a plant even though his blood is splattered all over the glass window very amusing attempt at trying to downplay what had just occurred.
All in all very entertaining for being a B horror flick and gives Saw a run for its money the evil clown character Kane is actually a solid villain that should be picked up developed further so if you come by this I suggest giving it a chance. -
destroyerwod16 September 2021I don't watch a lot of horror movies during the year but during Halloween season i watch a bunch of them in a semi-marathon. I kick this off on September 15 til roughly November 15 and this was the first movie i watched this year.
I had fun with it. Yes i seen better, but i seen way worst. Some kills were pretty nice, the haunted house set up was well done, there was a few mischaps plot wise that could had be done way better, but for a low budget horror movie i think it does the job.
This is pretty much what i look for in this time of the year.