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Clowns (2020) delivers a short, sharp stab of horror with commendable atmosphere, character depth, and visceral effects. While the CGI blood and tight runtime prevent it from being perfect, the emotional resonance between its leads and its raw carnage make it a memorable indie fright ride. With a bit more polish and a longer format, this short could easily inspire a compelling feature-length entry in the clown horror subgenre.

If you're in the mood for a brisk, blood-soaked slasher with heart and tension, Clowns is worth a watch. Just be ready to forgive the occasional CGI slip-and you might just find yourself wanting more of Coco and Chuckles.

Sam Mason Bell has an amazing knack for turning out features at very frequent rate. That can be a good or a bad thing, but fortunately even in lesser projects there's that spark of imagination that seems to come out of improvisation, which can offer opportunities to give more creative freedom in editing. SENSELESS might seem a simple enough task by having Jason (Ryan Carter) wander around in the woods in the dark, being scared. Therein lies the beauty of it, thanks to Ryan's natural talent to convey emotion with very little effort; even him sitting by a tree and smoking has us wondering what he's thinking due to his subtle changes in expression, slight body movement, and his eyes. Ryan carries a good 95% of SENSELESS, and shows he was up to the task.

And then there's the appearances / apparitions of other people, including a very enraged girlfriend Diane (Ella Palmer), Evil Jason, and other ghosts that keep you wondering if he's really experiencing all this, the woods messing with him, or is it his own madness?

Then there's the sound design an exceptional score by Craig Barry (hey Sam, let's have some Trash Arts soundtracks!), sounds of the woods... and the ghostly voices provided by 25 folks willing to taunt, plead, moan, and more (trust me, doing voice work like this can sound strange and silly on its own, but mixed in properly it can raise the hairs on your neck). The sound design was most likely a huge task, and much care comes through (I like to use good headphones for an experience like this). As the pace becomes more frenetic, everything amps up with ease, including the visual effects.

Following the conversation with locals over what they've heard about the legend and the haunted forest, Amanda and Tim head towards the woods to uncover the truth about what happened to her little brother. That is when everything goes in a spiral. Although the video shoots remain, the purpose behind the recording shifts to showing all the twisted sounds that they hear at night and the constant breakdowns that the couple experiences. What was supposed to be a cool project, becomes a living nightmare.

That is why Joshua Brucker deserves a round of applause. The way they made a low-budget vision into a horrific reality-driven scenario is what makes this film worthwhile. The film brilliantly subverts the classic horror structure by demonstrating that life can be more frightening than any jump scares or spooky supernatural figures. Sometimes, our greatest fears in real life can haunt us more than watching a final girl sequence. After all, when you are watching a movie that presents characters, story arcs, and a few terrifying encounters, you can be scared but detached from what is presented onscreen. But when you watch things shot with a regular camera in a normal-looking scenario where all your worst nightmares come true, it is hard to not feel affected and even tormented by this possibility. With superb improvisations and clever use of camerawork, this production will make you fall into its realistic trap. Nevertheless, it does bring you back to planet earth with its abrupt ending and repetitive feel towards its final quarter. This misstep prevents the film from excelling from start to finish, but it doesn't stop it from being a worthwhile cult classic watch.