Clownhouse

Clownhouse (1988)

  • 40% of critics liked it
    (5 reviews)

  • 42% of users liked it
    (2,689 ratings)

Three brothers on their way to the circus must cope with the youngest boy's fear of clowns. Little do they know that a trio of violent madmen have murdered the circus' real clowns and, after adopting their guise, are savaging the townspeople at random. The boys finally figure out that they… More

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R,
Directed By
Genres
Horror
In Theaters
Jun 1, 1989 Wide
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

  • Dustin Putman, DustinPutman.com

    A spookily good time.

  • Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

    Winters' terror is all too real, and becomes unbearably dismaying to watch.

  • David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

    ...feels as though it'd be much more effective as a 22-minute episode of Tales from the Crypt...

  • Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

    Truly creepy -- one more than one level -- debut feature from Salva.

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Jeff "


    Clownhouse might have been an interesting idea for a Slasher film, and it is. I had heard much praise on this film. When I got around to seeing the film, I was stunned at how bad it was. The film turned out to be one of the dumbest films in the 80's horror, and that says a lot.… More

  • Ken S


    If you're afraid of clowns, this movie is guaranteed to ruin your Saturday Night. However what's more disturbing than the film, is the story of the director. Francis Ford Coppola saw Victor Salva's low budget horror film "Something in the Basement" and was… More

  • Lafe F


    A boy is teased for being afraid of clowns. Mom goes away for the weekend, and mental patients escape, and steal some clown costumes; and things get spooky mighty quick. It reminds me a lot of the original "Halloween", except there are three killers and they're all… More

  • Sylvester K


    To be honest? Not scary at all. It could have been so much better if the actors weren't children and were not molested by the director. It may seem like a good idea at first: Kid scared of clowns+ traumatized by carnival clowns+ criminal clowns. But it became a huge mess when the… More

  • John M


    ¨Clownhouse¨ is a good example of an atmospheric horror flix that doesn't have to rely on blood and guts to scare/thrill an audience. Good photography, eerie music, good performances from the young cast and fast paced.

Read all 6 featured audience ratings

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