From Stephen King’s Pennywise to Batman’s Joker to even actual killer clown sightings, clowns have been creepily fuelling nightmares for a long time. There’s something about the shoddy carnival makeup and the killer smile that can awaken anyone’s worst fears. In fact, there’s an actual fear of clowns labeled as coulrophobia.
The impact of creepy clowns is such that a few clowns in non-horror movies (or movies that were initially not categorized as horror) can also be quite scary for a few audiences. And then, with a whole subgenre of clown horror films, there might be some horror clowns that aren’t as scary as they used to be.
Scary: Gwynplaine - The Man Who Laughs (1928)
The Man Who Laughs is a silent black-and-white romantic drama with several Gothic elements. Viewers might think of it as a horror easily because of Gwynplaine’s mannerisms. The character (played by Conrad Veidt) was disfigured by a king as a child.
As an adult, he learns to smile through his melancholy and lives with a carnival owner. He hides his appearance as he falls in love with a girl at the carnival, as a royal conspiracy evolves. One can’t help but feel sorry for Gwynplaine as he struggles with his emotions. The mental torture he undergoes along with his smile can be scarring for viewers. It’s this character that partially inspired Joaquin Phoenix’s take as Joker.
Hilarious: Killjoy - Killjoy (2000)
Killjoy and its three sequels have turned out to be quite generic entries in the slasher genre and the titular clown has lost his haunting persona. First of all, his makeup and sharp, congested set of teeth resemble Pennywise from It (a role popularized by Tim Curry a few decades before). The eye makeup also somehow resembles the appearance of band of KISS.
Then there was that horrendous hairdo that seemed pretty fake. Further, the film itself relies on a lot of cheap jump scares making it nothing but a guilty pleasure.
Scary: Tim Drake - Batman Beyond Return Of The Joker (2000)
All through this dark direct-to-DVD film, the new Batman (Terry McGinnis) investigates the comeback of his predecessor’s arch-nemesis the Joker. Like many other animated portrayals, Mark Hamill provides the voice for the antagonist and adds his spine-chilling charm to the character. But an even creepier clown is revealed in a flashback.
When a young Tim Drake aka Robin is kidnapped and tortured by Joker, he turns into a facsimile of the homicidal clown himself. The clown makeup, the manic laughter. Seeing all that on just a helpless kid is disturbing for an animated film. In his frenzy, he attacks the Joker himself while laughing crazily. Andrea Romano just voices Drake’s laughs and cries but it’s enough to leave an impact.
Hilarious: Jojo - Killer Clowns From Outer Space (1988)
Killer Clowns From Outer Space is a sci-fi horror movie that has gained cult status over the years. The animatronic puppet clowns and Jojo’s rubber suit however are far from scary, in comparison to other cinematic clowns. Jojo the Klownzilla is the leader of the titular extra-terrestrial clowns and is an obvious parody of Godzilla.
The film on its whole can be seen as a bizarre comedy. So, it would be no surprise to find Jojo a hilarious character, even if he tries intimidating his human subjects. His death is quite amusing as a police officer stabs his nose with a badge, causing Jojo to spin around and explode.
Scary: Wrinkles The Clown - Wrinkles The Clown (2019)
Now, this clown is scary enough for the fact that he’s an actual clown. This documentary aims to film the daily encounters of a man who identifies as Wrinkles the Clown. For a few dollars, the man is ready to don his wrinkly clown mask and prank people, attend birthdays, or give moral lessons to misbehaving kids.
The professional clown from Florida first garnered a viral following when a 2015 video surfaced of him creeping under a girl’s bed and scaring her. Wrinkles had become a part of Florida’s bizarre urban folklore ever since then. While the documentary attempts to profile him in jest, there’s a certain ambiguity to be felt on seeing Wrinkles. Further, why would any parent want their child to be terrorized by such a clown in the first place?
Hilarious: Clown/Violator - Spawn (1997)
Despite the iconic comics, Spawn failed to impress fans of the original. The visual effects and makeup on characters like Clown (John Leguizamo) were cutting-edge but the overall tone ended up being slightly goofy. The Clown is a servant of the Devil who helps Spawn understand his rebirth as the leader of the Hell’s Army. At the same time, he’s a vile, lustful being who gets a high off of humanity’s sins.
Leguizamo tries his best but the shirt, portly clown ends up being too much a caricature. Instead, a creepier replacement would be the Clown in the HBO animated series.
Scary: Javier - The Last Circus (2010)
The Last Circus is a hyperviolent dark comedy in Spanish, that features many scary clowns. Javier is a carnival clown who follows his father’s legacy. His father was a machete-wielding clown who slaughtered a Colonel’s forces during the Spanish Civil War. Following this, the Colonel has him brutally executed, with Javier vowing revenge for his father.
Javier is shown to be unstable, sadistic, and conjures up surreal fantasies to assassinate his father’s killer. At one point, he gets so visceral that he ends up literally biting the Colonel’s allies. Coupled with Carlos Areces’ creepily funny acting, Javier turns out to be a terribly underrated cinematic clown.
Hilarious: Harlan Caruthers - The Clown At Midnight (1999)
It is interesting to see an actor like Christopher Plummer deliver cheap B-movie thrills in this largely forgotten horror. Plummer plays Harlan, an owner of an old opera house. A group of teenagers chance upon this landmark and horror ensues as they are stalked by a murderous clown (who turns out to be Plummer’s character).
Contrasting with usual killer clowns, this film’s clown’s makeup is pretty neat and artistic, hardly evoking any fear. Plummer too is so adept at playing righteous characters that it’s hard to see him as a ‘scary old freak’.
Scary: Joker - The Dark Knight (2009)
Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is definitely scary but his portrayal also arouses sympathy as viewers get to know the mental struggle that he went through. With no backstory, Heath Ledger’s legendary portrayal of the iconic clown in The Dark Knight offers a more ominous character arc. One doesn’t know the true intentions behind his anarchy but even the most pointless of his actions can carry an air of chilling mystery.
Scenes like killing a mobster with a pencil, and shooting down his own henchmen add to the terrifying method acting that Ledger pulled off.
Hilarious: Mervo - Blood Harvest (1987)
Singer Tiny Tim plays ‘The Marvellous Marvo’, a slasher clown stereotype in Blood Harvest. Tiny Tim largely used to sound like a naïve child so mixing that with some carnival creepiness might have led to a genuinely scary performance.
Unfortunately, the laughs, the cries, the overdrawn monologues end up being unintentionally funny. In fact, the makeup is pretty similar to the aforementioned Joker from 2019. So, for modern-day viewers, Mervo might just feel like a parodied version of Arthur Fleck.
