I think by this point in time everyone connected in any way to the horror genre knows that coulrophobia is the fear of clowns. Even before the success of TERRIFIER killer clowns were a hot trend, so I’m surprised it hasn’t been used as a title until now. Warren Speed the director of ZOMBIE WOMEN OF SATAN, (in which he played Pervo the Clown), has given us COULROPHOBIA, and what a twisted little gift it is.
A team of roller derby players decides to go camping and get away from it all. What they don’t know is there’s a demented family living in the woods. A family that likes to dress like circus performers as well as torture and kill people.
To make matters worse, the family’s patriarch has just been released from prison. He’s looking for his offspring and the money they took off with after he was locked up. Things are about to go from bad to very much worse.
Called ALL CLOWNS MUST DIE at one point, the switch here is that the clowns aren’t the killers, with one exception. It’s the victims that are dressed as clowns before being subjected to abuse. Thankfully, the film doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a messed up, over the top nightmare and it knows it. The cast, most of whom have only this film to their name, know it too and have fun with the material.
As with his other films, Speed’s script is a mix of the insane, the comical and the brutal. However, there’s a bit more of the brutal this time around. It’s not a gorefest or hardcore torture porn. There is more of an edge to the violence than before.
My one big disappointment with COULROPHOBIA is apart from the film’s framing scenes the roller derby angle is totally unused. Granted I’m not sure how it would have worked out in the woods, but I was looking forward to tough chicks on skates vs killer circus freaks. That would be something I certainly hadn’t seen before.
A frantic mixture of blood, boobs, and brutality, COULROPHOBIA could best be described as the film Rob Zombie wishes he could make. It’s a cross between HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES and 31, only a lot more entertaining and not so full of itself.
COULROPHOBIA is available on the company’s website https://www.taxiforotis.com/