Death of a Clown (2013)


REVIEWER RATING: 
5/10

DIRECTOR:

CAST:


German horror films are underrated when it comes to delivering a perfect package of fear, fright, disturbance and mayhem. Not many can fall into the greats such as Schramm, Funny Games, Mark of the Devil, Nekromantik and of course…Nosferatu! Hoping to add Death of a Clown to the list of must-sees on the German film landscape, unfortunately my recommendation is dismissive.

Beginning strong with an apparent kidnapping of a bound and blindfolded young woman in a filthy underground bunker, the film cuts to an asylum where another young lady is being interrogated by a steadfast investigator (Ahrendt). Anna (Eckardt) has been missing for several days without a trace and the only connection that can be confirmed is the surviving psych-patient, Sydney (Schumann) who escaped the clutches of her captor…a deranged killer who bridles himself with a crude clown mask.

It’s clear that Hagen’s (Ahrendt) intent to find Anna is more than a typical police probe. There is undoubtedly a conflict of interest which doesn’t deter his harsh tactics for cracking Sydney to explain her experience with the distorted abductor.

What is NOT clear:
What are the murderer’s motives?
What is the clown’s obsession with Sydney?
Why does Sydney become violent?
And most importantly…who/what IS the clown???

So as I continued to watch and wait for my answers, Death of a Clown fell short and misguided. The kill scenes, although bloody and brutal, didn’t dissuade my quest for these resolutions which sadly never came to fruition.

Marius Ahrendt’s performance was noticeably strong through exasperated questioning of an almost mute Sydney. His frustration level is easily sensed from the start while the troubled patient remains almost catatonic. Those are the most intense scenes…playing a cat/mouse game through grueling inquisitions.

Dark and slow moving for 70-mins, Death of a Clown concluded with more confusion than it began.
What a shame.

OVERALL: 
A huge pet peeve when screening films is the sense of being unfulfilled. Mainly, left with unanswered questions that will never be explained. Thus is the running theme in Death of a Clown. Even with an extremely sickening clown killer, there’s no escaping the outcome of a worthy horror film plot…unless it simply was not written. It’s a huge disappointment for what began as an interesting (albeit gross) love story between a gruesome monster and his pretty prisoner.


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