A bunch of circus clowns kidnap a guy, kill his wife, and hold his children hostage to ensure his compliance as they bring him along on a killing spree.
First, the good stuff. Technical work is proficient. No notable problems with editing or sound. Lighting is dark, but most likely was intentional. It was nice to learn about the existence of the strange arcade game, Gals Panic.
Second, the bad stuff. The movie doesn't have that much in way of plot or development of anything. It's one violent encounter into the next. It's mostly an exercise in testing the viewer limits. I don't have resistance to that in particular - after all, I was able to watch this without issue.
But there seems to be a breakdown in understanding what makes thing scary. We should care about the captive, and his children. Without time spent developing him and giving him character, the movie amounts to a big shrug.
The budget limitations are mostly apparent with the lack of any other acts at the "circus". There are extras for an audience, but there only seems to be a ringmaster.
There are a handful of movies that seem to be influences. In particular, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Devil's Rejects. And for some reason, I'm reminded of Bloodsucking Freaks.
By the end of this, the viewer is left wondering where the story was. For a movie that runs over an hour and a half, with the lack of development, the whole thing could have been trimmed down to about 30-40 minutes without much loss to how effective it is.
Why am I bothering to write this review? Because the 5.9 on iMDB right now is seriously misleading. Even for fans of pushing horror to extremes would be disappointed.
First, the good stuff. Technical work is proficient. No notable problems with editing or sound. Lighting is dark, but most likely was intentional. It was nice to learn about the existence of the strange arcade game, Gals Panic.
Second, the bad stuff. The movie doesn't have that much in way of plot or development of anything. It's one violent encounter into the next. It's mostly an exercise in testing the viewer limits. I don't have resistance to that in particular - after all, I was able to watch this without issue.
But there seems to be a breakdown in understanding what makes thing scary. We should care about the captive, and his children. Without time spent developing him and giving him character, the movie amounts to a big shrug.
The budget limitations are mostly apparent with the lack of any other acts at the "circus". There are extras for an audience, but there only seems to be a ringmaster.
There are a handful of movies that seem to be influences. In particular, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Devil's Rejects. And for some reason, I'm reminded of Bloodsucking Freaks.
By the end of this, the viewer is left wondering where the story was. For a movie that runs over an hour and a half, with the lack of development, the whole thing could have been trimmed down to about 30-40 minutes without much loss to how effective it is.
Why am I bothering to write this review? Because the 5.9 on iMDB right now is seriously misleading. Even for fans of pushing horror to extremes would be disappointed.