Clown Motel has a rather strange name, and many people are likely to wonder what it’s all about. It follows the story of four women who are returning home from a bachelorette party and three ghost-hunting guys looking for some haunted places, all of whom become trapped in a seemingly abandoned motel on the side of a major road in Nevada, where they have to battle an army of angry clowns if they want to survive.
With a plot description like that, any fan of horror should surely appreciate this movie, and the hook is going to get lodged in both cheeks as one scene is revealed. Guiding this fishing reel is writer and director Joseph Kelly (Community Service The Movie 2012, Bloody Island 2016), who is responsible for this masterpiece and his insane imagination that brought us Clown Motel. And he’s the reason that I can say this movie is definitely not one to miss.
In the beginning, Clown Motel was shot using a very limited budget, but that only increases the amount of charm and character Kelly needed to harness for every little detail. Because of this, his movie has managed to culminate successful results. Each character possesses different traits and qualities, and each actor portraying his/her respective parts brings the characters to life. There are a lot of different reasons why the audience will like the characters, but everyone is hoping that they make it out of the nightmare alive.
Kelly demonstrates having a knack for writing dialogue because what comes out of his character’s mouths is a mix of heartwarming and humor. Every so often, it seems as though the actors went off script and improvised almost all of their lines. In regards to fictitious characterization, nothing feels excessively scripted, which is a huge bonus. The very beginning is a bit dull, likely stemming from a puzzling fire scene where two individuals appeared to be slaughtered, and perhaps they should not have been? Once this bizarre last minute is placed, the movie truly begins to capture the viewer’s attention.
With that being said, the cast themselves seem like a nice bunch of people that worked well together, and the evidence is in how genuine their dialogues and reactions look. No matter the topic, and no matter how low the budget was, everyone onboard Clown Motel showed passion in turning the $0.02 in their pocket into something impressive.
There are countless Decent actors who managed to make Elinor Price (Wick 2010), The Realtor series, stand out as Brook, a bride, dragoon Steven Vogel Jump The line 2018 as ghost busting Ian, and Eric Prochnau The Door in the woods 2018, The Book of Legends 2019 as ghostbusters Spencer managed to hop in head first and get his hands dirty portraying actual people. To give them complete credit, they all add some level of nourishment into this realness that they would not have had if it wasn’t for all of the other amazing actors that were put into the film, all of whom do so superbly in every line that they are given, and responding to the various nightmares that Kelly serves them.
Clown Motel, much like fellow low-budget films, 1989’s The Dead Next Door and 1994’s Shatter Dead, stands parallel to great pieces of cinema that did not necessarily need money to narrate a good story. One specific detail that makes Clown Motel intriguing is the unique techniques of killing a character, which make the film’s massive amounts of gore seem like an afterthought.
The filming for the movie occurred at a real motel located in Nevada with the same name, which contains stacks of clown dolls, all of which were incorporated into the movie’s plot. Joseph Kelly proves he put actual thought while creating the movie, not clowning around as some may argue. When you add veteran actors like Martin Klebba (Feast II 2008, The Hungover Games 2014), Tony Moran (Halloween 1978, Beg 2011), Ari Lehman (Friday The 13th 1980, Leaf Blower Massacre II 2017), an excellent score, a fantastic crew behind the cameras, and special effects along with quality costume designs what do you get? A sensational, exhilarating and goofy movie unlike any other.
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