Reviews: Cleaver: Rise of the Killer Clown (2015) Movie Review
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Where does Cleaver: Rise of the Killer Clown (2015) stand among horror films? Our review examines the scares, pacing, and what makes it unique in the genre.
Cleaver: Rise of the Killer Clown (2015) is a UK English horror movie that I was looking forward to seeing and delivered well. Director, writer, cinematographer, and editor Mj Dixon (Legacy of Thorn (2014), Slasher House (2012), End of the Line (2013)) did an excellent job executing this killer clown movie that was not short of gross moments. The film contains a brilliant atmosphere, engaging screenplay, articulate shocks, grotesque thrills, horror, suspense, tension, and well-paced scenes.
Cleaver: Rise of the Killer Clown revolves around Carley (Stephanie Price - Awoken (2015), Shooting Clerks (2016), and Clockwise (2016)), who is a college student that needs financial help. Carley might be kicked out because she does not have enough money to pay her rent and is also struggling to pay her college tuition, which is overdue. The movie gets interesting when Carley receives a mysterious phone call offering her a babysitting job that pays $200 on Halloween night, which she so needs. The only problem is that a serial killer is on the loose, murdering numerous people as deaths happen everywhere.
Can it be the same killer, Cleaver, a family entertainer from five years ago who caught his wife cheating on him, resulting in him losing it and starting a killing rampage? Cleaver (Andrew M. Greenwood - Slasher House (2012), Creepsville (2010)) has been going on a killing spree every Halloween wearing his mask. Will Sheriff Hatcher (Jimi James - Robin Hood (2010), Clash of the Titans (2010), Hector (2015)), and Deputy Howells (Georgie Smibert) catch Cleaver before he kills more people, although they do not have many clues?
Carley could care less because she needs the funds and agrees to babysit Mary-Beth (Holly-Anne Dodkins) but soon regrets her decision. Carley heard a knock on the door and found no one there and then suddenly saw red balloons in the home that were not there before. It did not take long for things to go off the rails after Carley saw her best friend’s head on the nightstand.
Cleaver: Rise of the Killer Clown had the potential of being something that would scare the pants off of people and of being something exceptional but fell short because it did not bring anything new to the table. Andrew M. Greenwood did an extraordinary job playing Cleaver, giving the right amount of creep factor with his persona. The music flowed well with the movie/dialogue, and the actors did a fantastic job with their roles/ characters. I felt at times that the film/death scenes could have been better with a higher budget, but then I questioned myself because many movies pull off an excellent job with similar resources. The film offers us nothing new, but it did end well, leading us to think that something better is coming our way. I gave this movie a five because it was an entertaining watch I do not mind seeing again.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Cleaver: Rise of the Killer Clown Rating Scores
- Our Score: 5/10
- Overall Score: 4.29/10
- IMDB: 3.9/10
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