The latest effort from the talented low-budget director Scott Schirmer is The Bad Man. Utilizing many from the Ellie Church posse of hard-working emerging actors, we get another solid effort. Solid but not great, as compared to some of the previous efforts from said team (Found, Plank Face, Harvest Lake). The movie starts off rather strong but when it gets into the daring parts we've been waiting for, and come to expect from Schirmer, it swings and misses with the shock value, edge, and grit. The elements are there, and some things happen (in a tame manner) but it doesn't execute to expectations. It's not the usual graphically disturbing or uncomfortably daring ride I've come to look forward to with this team. Yes, it's still disturbing content, but I wanted to see how these usually unstoppable actors were going to nail the very uncomfortable stuff. I was left feeling like there was missed opportunities on this one. I still think it's worth a watch, and still good considering the limits and financial boundaries a low/no budget independent film team endures. Keep 'em coming..
10 Reviews
The Bad Movie
pontuss-4165427 April 2019
lunacy en masse'
ops-5253528 April 2019
Ive seen a few clown movies latele, from the best performances in the batman movies, to the lowest issued here in the film bad man, a clown with utterly madning needs and cravings set into a mad mans system, trying to make a living doll out of a woman and a dog out of a man,via chemotherapeutic injections of different kinds, and peaking the curve when the he-dog get an injection of viagra, so imagine a dogman on steroids well its a footish gallore of gutwrenching sickness.
the movies first 10 minutes are of a nice soothing kind, and it is in fact a very romantic prelude of extremely well built interaction between two people who really in love. but when they open the door to hell by letting in a stranger all hell breaks loose.its not a bloody and messy gallore of a horror flick, more a sado-masochistic freakshow, with a lot of psychpathia and sadism evolving the two lovers. if this is your fetish,and if you get wet and hard viewing this madness, then please take contact with your local medical practitioner, because you really need help to rebuild your senses and ill stricken mind. if youre barely normal, dont watch this lame and kindergarten hans ont gretchen medical compound scientific exploratory weirdo business.
why did i,the grumpy old man watch this sickening ning ning,charade, well mostly due to the rviews,and i now know whos false and whos real, and whos the sick one.and i regret wholeheartedly that i gave 80 minutes of my precious life to this illstricken directed s/m romp.
the movies first 10 minutes are of a nice soothing kind, and it is in fact a very romantic prelude of extremely well built interaction between two people who really in love. but when they open the door to hell by letting in a stranger all hell breaks loose.its not a bloody and messy gallore of a horror flick, more a sado-masochistic freakshow, with a lot of psychpathia and sadism evolving the two lovers. if this is your fetish,and if you get wet and hard viewing this madness, then please take contact with your local medical practitioner, because you really need help to rebuild your senses and ill stricken mind. if youre barely normal, dont watch this lame and kindergarten hans ont gretchen medical compound scientific exploratory weirdo business.
why did i,the grumpy old man watch this sickening ning ning,charade, well mostly due to the rviews,and i now know whos false and whos real, and whos the sick one.and i regret wholeheartedly that i gave 80 minutes of my precious life to this illstricken directed s/m romp.
what could be a nasty horror turns in a joke
trashgang15 July 2019
Nowadays with the revival of the killer clowns productions are trying to make money out of it. And let me say, some succeed and some, like this one doesn't. The story looked promising and even original. Bring in some kinky story with fetish, latex, SM and all that stuff and you do have a story...I thought.
Sadly this one fails bringing in the horror. It brings in the typical scary jump parts with the clown but once he does invade the home this flick drops down into a boring thing. Even as the clown is doing it's best to make it scary somehow it doesn't. What happens is in stead of having the heebee jeebees I became ridiculous and funny which wasn't intended. The horror just moves away after a while.
At the end with the rock, you will see, even that part is done off-camera to only show the result and even that is so wrong. Is that the only flesh left behind?
No, the bad man is more a joke.
Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1/5 Story 1,5/5 Comedy 0/5
Sadly this one fails bringing in the horror. It brings in the typical scary jump parts with the clown but once he does invade the home this flick drops down into a boring thing. Even as the clown is doing it's best to make it scary somehow it doesn't. What happens is in stead of having the heebee jeebees I became ridiculous and funny which wasn't intended. The horror just moves away after a while.
At the end with the rock, you will see, even that part is done off-camera to only show the result and even that is so wrong. Is that the only flesh left behind?
No, the bad man is more a joke.
Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1/5 Story 1,5/5 Comedy 0/5
Oh Myyyyy
arfdawg-19 February 2020
Started off like it was gonna be good, but then 15 minutes into it it got really stoopid.
You have a guy in your house and you see him slinking around dressed as a clown but hen you dont do anything? REALLY???? Yeah. Let's go to sleep.
How stoopid.
Then 20 minutes into it, it becomes unwatchable.
You have a guy in your house and you see him slinking around dressed as a clown but hen you dont do anything? REALLY???? Yeah. Let's go to sleep.
How stoopid.
Then 20 minutes into it, it becomes unwatchable.
Waste of time and space.
twelvetwo18 September 2023
Based on the synopsis I thought this was going to be pretty dreadful- and it did not disappoint at all.
I suppose you could call it a brave move for the filmmakers to work out their own, er.... "issues" in public like this, but I really wish they had'nt. It's a film without a single redeeming feature- the acting is poor, the writing execrable and- the worst crime of all- it's incredibly slow, repetitive and boring. I nearly said it was pretentious, but that would be unfair- it has no pretension to do anything than just exist It's like watching paint dry. It goes nowhere, because it has nowhere to go. It doesn't even have the guts to be truly offensive.
There must be jobs waiting tables that would be more satisfying than making this kind of dross. Probably going to pay better too
Would not be unfair to say I didn't like this much....
I suppose you could call it a brave move for the filmmakers to work out their own, er.... "issues" in public like this, but I really wish they had'nt. It's a film without a single redeeming feature- the acting is poor, the writing execrable and- the worst crime of all- it's incredibly slow, repetitive and boring. I nearly said it was pretentious, but that would be unfair- it has no pretension to do anything than just exist It's like watching paint dry. It goes nowhere, because it has nowhere to go. It doesn't even have the guts to be truly offensive.
There must be jobs waiting tables that would be more satisfying than making this kind of dross. Probably going to pay better too
Would not be unfair to say I didn't like this much....
Appreciate it for what it is
perillomike18 September 2021
You have to know what to expect when watching these low budget movies. They are made with a passion for the genre using friends and or family to help with every aspect. With that said this is an excellent addition to Scott Schirmers catalogue. Ellie Church is amazing as always as were Jason and Arthur in their roles. This story is a sad one and probably happens in all parts of the world. Unless you understand exactly what it takes to put together a film, any film, regardless of quality, its tough to sit on a couch and just trash the effort. Kudos Schirmer and crew !!
Uncomfortable but flawed genre effort
kannibalcorpsegrinder10 June 2021
After taking over a bed-and-breakfast, a couple finds that their latest guest is a deranged clown who kidnaps people and breaks them down to be sold as sex slaves to the highest bidder and has his targets set on them, constantly drugging and abusing them to carry out his mission forcing them to get away alive.
This was a rather tough and uncomfortable effort. That the majority of the film is dependent on the brutal psychological torment dished out is a big part of this one, creating an uneasy and uncomfortable atmosphere that is highly impressive. Constantly trying to impart physical dominion over the two by emphasizing their animalistic and inhuman tendencies under the threat of drugging as well as physical and mental abuse, there's a lot to like here with how this one exploits their breakdown at the pressure of being trapped in that situation. Offering a truly uncomfortable and unfamiliar vibe present with the implication of the bondage equipment in their training and their will to survive the situation regardless of how they're treated, these scenes create a disturbing feeling that keeps growing more intense with the failed escape attempts and inability to gain the upper hand regardless of their chances to do so. The finale, where everything gets resolved and taken care of in rather unexpected manners, features a lot to like as well with the resolution to it all and some unconventional means of wrapping it all up, giving this a lot to like about it. That said, there are some flaws with this one. The main issue is the fact that there's just not much here that really creates a lot of interesting action throughout here. Despite being psychologically unbearing and breaking down their mental capabilities, very little of it actually is geared to do that with the lack of on-screen punishment doled out. Rather than see any kind of consequence of their misbehavior with some kind of extreme punishment, it leans more into verbal lashings and druggings which don't really have the same impact especially with the repetitious tactics coming into play. Doing the same thing with them where he simply takes out a needle and knocks them out doesn't keep this one interesting all too long and leaves the first half quite dull at the wrong point. As well, that highlights the film's other issue where it comes off somewhat slow to get going and results in a challenge to stay interested in this section which ends up causing this to feel slightly too long for its own good. This could've also used the interview segments completely trimmed out to help this, which eliminates a lot of the tension involving their survival and interrupts the flow of what's going on, but otherwise, this one does have some issues.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Extreme Graphic Language, Brief Nudity, sexual and psychological degradation and humiliation and drug use.
This was a rather tough and uncomfortable effort. That the majority of the film is dependent on the brutal psychological torment dished out is a big part of this one, creating an uneasy and uncomfortable atmosphere that is highly impressive. Constantly trying to impart physical dominion over the two by emphasizing their animalistic and inhuman tendencies under the threat of drugging as well as physical and mental abuse, there's a lot to like here with how this one exploits their breakdown at the pressure of being trapped in that situation. Offering a truly uncomfortable and unfamiliar vibe present with the implication of the bondage equipment in their training and their will to survive the situation regardless of how they're treated, these scenes create a disturbing feeling that keeps growing more intense with the failed escape attempts and inability to gain the upper hand regardless of their chances to do so. The finale, where everything gets resolved and taken care of in rather unexpected manners, features a lot to like as well with the resolution to it all and some unconventional means of wrapping it all up, giving this a lot to like about it. That said, there are some flaws with this one. The main issue is the fact that there's just not much here that really creates a lot of interesting action throughout here. Despite being psychologically unbearing and breaking down their mental capabilities, very little of it actually is geared to do that with the lack of on-screen punishment doled out. Rather than see any kind of consequence of their misbehavior with some kind of extreme punishment, it leans more into verbal lashings and druggings which don't really have the same impact especially with the repetitious tactics coming into play. Doing the same thing with them where he simply takes out a needle and knocks them out doesn't keep this one interesting all too long and leaves the first half quite dull at the wrong point. As well, that highlights the film's other issue where it comes off somewhat slow to get going and results in a challenge to stay interested in this section which ends up causing this to feel slightly too long for its own good. This could've also used the interview segments completely trimmed out to help this, which eliminates a lot of the tension involving their survival and interrupts the flow of what's going on, but otherwise, this one does have some issues.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Extreme Graphic Language, Brief Nudity, sexual and psychological degradation and humiliation and drug use.
Movie stays with you
jj_palencia8 June 2019
Crazy creepiest movie, very intense, the low budget is over shadowed by the great acting from the main characters and greatly put together intense movie. It Starts with little boring and low budget B movie type feel but gets intense and you'll never look back
The Bad Man
roshon-6438723 October 2018
This film will stick with you after watching it. As my mind would wander at work the next day, I'd find myself thinking about it, as it had obviously gotten under my skin. The performances leave something with you that you will not easily shake. Arthur Cullipher is so dead on that you start to wonder how much is real and how much is really acting. I cannot wait to see what Scott Schirmer has up his sleeve next, because I'm not sure how he can top this film!
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