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The Clown Murders

  • 1976
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 36m
IMDb RATING
3.6/10
533
YOUR RATING
The Clown Murders (1976)
DramaHorrorMysteryThriller

Four men kidnap an old girlfriend on Halloween night as a joke to ruin a real estate deal, only to have a very real clown-masked killer stalk them seeking revenge.Four men kidnap an old girlfriend on Halloween night as a joke to ruin a real estate deal, only to have a very real clown-masked killer stalk them seeking revenge.Four men kidnap an old girlfriend on Halloween night as a joke to ruin a real estate deal, only to have a very real clown-masked killer stalk them seeking revenge.

  • Director
    • Martyn Burke
  • Writer
    • Martyn Burke
  • Stars
    • Stephen Young
    • Susan Keller
    • Lawrence Dane
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    3.6/10
    533
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Martyn Burke
    • Writer
      • Martyn Burke
    • Stars
      • Stephen Young
      • Susan Keller
      • Lawrence Dane
    • 17User reviews
    • 14Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos41

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    Top cast27

    Edit
    Stephen Young
    Stephen Young
    • Charlie
    Susan Keller
    • Alison
    Lawrence Dane
    Lawrence Dane
    • Philip
    John Candy
    John Candy
    • Ollie
    Gary Reineke
    Gary Reineke
    • Rosie
    John Bayliss
    • Peter
    Al Waxman
    Al Waxman
    • Police Sergeant
    Michael Magee
    • Compton
    Cec Linder
    Cec Linder
    • The Developer
    William Osler
    William Osler
    • Harrison
    Philip Craig
    Philip Craig
    • Tom
    Dan Boltman
    • Polo Player
    Peter Calverley
    • Polo Player
    Glenn Ferrier
    • Polo Player
    Tom Offen
    • Polo Player
    Kenny Phillips
    • Polo Player
    Paul Sage
    • Polo Player
    Lou Scott
    • Polo Player
    • Director
      • Martyn Burke
    • Writer
      • Martyn Burke
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews17

    3.6533
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    Featured reviews

    5HumanoidOfFlesh

    The rising of boredom.

    A group of young professionals decides to play a practical joke on one of their ex-girlfriends who married a rich man who is about to close a major real estate deal.They will kidnap her and mess up the deal.But the joke becomes deadly serious when someone gets killed."The Clown Murders" is a boring thriller with John Candy and Lawrence Dane of "Rituals" fame.It's basically a hostage drama with 10 minutes of slasher in the finale.The killer wears clown costume and the scene in the barn is pretty eerie,but the action is slow and dull.If you liked "Straw Dogs" or "Death Weekend" you may give this one a look,but don't expect too much.5 clowns out of 10.
    5meddlecore

    A Feminist Slasher From Canada Featuring John Candy.

    Canadian horror icon Stephen Young stars alongside John Candy, in this 70's slasher flick.

    Where a group of friends plan to stop one of their more douchey brethren, from exploiting his wife, in order to cash in on a lucrative land deal.

    Knowing that she owns the property, and must sign over the deed...they plan to dress up like clowns, and kidnap her, until the deadline passes at midnight, on Halloween.

    However, none of them expected that what starts off as a joke will end up progressing to murder.

    One mistake leads to another, they all start turning against each other.

    Just as the cops are beginning to hone in on them.

    Because on top of the scuffed kidnapping...a nefarious actor is hiding amongst them...trying to kill them off one-by-one...

    While the woman they've kidnapped is doing whatever she can, in order to survive.

    Things go from bad to worse as paranoia sets in amongst the group.

    Will any of them make it out alive?

    Or has this sick joke gone too far already?

    Either way, it looks like they've stopped the land deal from going through...

    It's certainly not your average slasher flick.

    Because, while the motives of each character are pretty clear...the way the plot plays out is really quite bizarre, and slightly confusing.

    Because even though the end game of each player is effectively the same...it becomes a kind of proxy war to control- even possess- the victim.

    As they've all desired her, at one point, or another.

    Luckily for her, she is clearly more grounded than any of them.

    And, having realized this, she uses it to her advantage...to play them against one another.

    So, while the men all end up bruised and broken...if not dead...she walks out of the whole ordeal generally unscathed...arguably, even stronger than she was before.

    Thus, hidden beneath the layers of drama is a moral tale with an underlying feminist message.

    A very interesting little flick, indeed.

    5.5 out of 10.
    Dethcharm

    "It's A Donut, A Plain Donut!"...

    In THE CLOWN MURDERS, a prank goes wrong, resulting in madness and death.

    While this may sound exciting, don't get your hopes up. This is an unexciting, non-entertaining, and fairly silly movie. Worst of all, it commits the unpardonable sin of being extremely boring. The viewer will wait, pray, beg for something, anything even remotely interesting to happen. All for naught.

    It takes until the midway point of the movie for the maniac to -finally- put on the clown mask and get down to business. By the time anyone meets their maker, you'll be ready for death yourself!

    Astonishingly, the final 10 minutes are pretty intense. If only the other 86 minutes had been this good it might have been endurable!

    Co-stars John Candy as Otis. Beware the Otis "love scene"!...
    6abbazabakyleman-98834

    John Candy as You've Never Seen Him Before

    Another early film role for a then-unknown John Candy in this psychological drama/horror film about a kidnapping prank gone horribly wrong. If you're expecting Candy to be funny, look elsewhere. His character is a pathetic wuss who is caught in the middle of the situation, but his acting is pretty good in a non-comedic role. The film itself is decent, but goes in several directions, throughout.
    3HorrorFan1984

    The Clown Murders

    A revenge plot which was supposed to be a prank turns deadly in 'The Clown Murders', a film that saw the debut of legendary John Candy.

    A group of young professionals decide to play a practical joke on one of their ex-grilfriends named Alison who ended up marrying a rich man instead of him (Alex). The professionals learn that the rich guy is a about to close a major real estate deal. In order to mess up the deal, they come up with a plan to kidnap Alison. As the kidnapping prank turns unexpectedly violent, the men are forced to deal with the fallout of their actions ... and forced to deal with someone in a clown costume stalking them.

    'The Clown Murders' is a very silly film with very little direction. It doesn't make a lot of sense as to why three of the four men would want to kidnap Alison, and the movie never does it's job to explain why either. The dialogue is also very simple and generic, with tons of fat jokes being slung the way of John Candy's character for example. The only parts of the movie that were enjoyable were about 5-10 minutes when they first kidnapped Alison and the mysterious clown showed up. It looked like the movie was heading somewhere, and then bam - nothing. The ending made very little sense on top of all that as well.

    I would skip this one despite the cool VHS cover art and intriguing movie title. Those are the only redeeming things about the film.

    3/10.

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby (1968)
    Horror
    Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)
    Mystery
    Cho Yeo-jeong in Parasite (2019)
    Thriller

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      An early role for John Candy, many contemporary releases hype up his role in the film.
    • Connections
      Referenced in Found (2012)

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    FAQ15

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 17, 1976 (Canada)
    • Country of origin
      • Canada
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The clown murders
    • Filming locations
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • Production companies
      • Magnum Pictures
      • Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • CA$135,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 36m(96 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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