While I could sit here all day and give one-star ratings and trash 90% of the movies people are making these days for their overall lameness and inability to entertain or tell a decent story, I have a relatively short list of movies that I would consider awful in the Ed Wood or Harold P. Warren sense of the word. The Clown Murders is one of them. As I write this, we have one guy defending this film, while the rest of the reviewers are less that kind and I suspect the only reason the overall rating of this film isn't lower than three stars is because of guys like that and the fact that most people have never seen it. What's wrong with it? Try just about everything except maybe the acting, but the script is so terrible and the story so disjointed and poorly paced that no amount of professionalism can save it.
The film has a John Candy sex scene. Let me repeat that: THE FILM HAS A JOHN CANDY SEX SCENE. If for some reason you think it might be entertaining to watch John Candy getting laid in a non-comedy situation, think again. You'll be scarred for life. The "plot" of this film is total nonsense, character development is minimal (not that it really matters) and, since all the characters are annoying, you're hoping that the killer will do his job and kill all these people off in proper serial killer fashion, but that doesn't happen either. The whole film is an unwatchable assault on your senses and if, for whatever reason, you still think you need to see it but can't find a copy, I would suggest turning on the TV, flicking the channels between three unrelated movies to where you can't make out the plots to any of them and shouting the names "Rosie!", "Ollie!", and "Alison!" over and over again at random intervals. You'll pretty much get the same effect. This movie is one of the biggest pieces of garbage I've ever seen and I can only recommend it to people who are into serious self-abuse or are looking to perform a lobotomy without chemicals or invasive surgery. If you enjoy John Candy's later works and are interested in seeing all his films for the sake of completion, you have been warned and I can assure you that this film will only leave you scratching your head, wondering what the hell you just watched. Avoid.
The film has a John Candy sex scene. Let me repeat that: THE FILM HAS A JOHN CANDY SEX SCENE. If for some reason you think it might be entertaining to watch John Candy getting laid in a non-comedy situation, think again. You'll be scarred for life. The "plot" of this film is total nonsense, character development is minimal (not that it really matters) and, since all the characters are annoying, you're hoping that the killer will do his job and kill all these people off in proper serial killer fashion, but that doesn't happen either. The whole film is an unwatchable assault on your senses and if, for whatever reason, you still think you need to see it but can't find a copy, I would suggest turning on the TV, flicking the channels between three unrelated movies to where you can't make out the plots to any of them and shouting the names "Rosie!", "Ollie!", and "Alison!" over and over again at random intervals. You'll pretty much get the same effect. This movie is one of the biggest pieces of garbage I've ever seen and I can only recommend it to people who are into serious self-abuse or are looking to perform a lobotomy without chemicals or invasive surgery. If you enjoy John Candy's later works and are interested in seeing all his films for the sake of completion, you have been warned and I can assure you that this film will only leave you scratching your head, wondering what the hell you just watched. Avoid.