Moon Over Tha Hood: Killjoy

I would just love to see the thought process here.  You're a low-budget film company making movies for 'the ethnic market.'  As a white guy, that's the way that I'm supposed to say it.  Anyhow, you want to make your own Freddy/Jason/Michael Meyers.  What do you pick to be your 'iconic villain?'  If you guessed, a magic clown, then you'd be...a weird, weird man.  So yeah, Killjoy is about an evil Clown with magic powers.  The best part is that it's so relateable!  While it's not an actual Full Moon film, they've bought up/already owned the company behind it- Big City Pictures- and have been releasing it and the sequels.  There is apparently a 4th film- as of 2012- but it's not included in my Puppet Master/Killjoy Series Set, so I guess it's just not meant to be.  Much like Evil Bong 3-D, The Killer Eye: Halloween Haunt or Puppet Master X, I'm not exactly mourning its absence.  Cue someone telling me where to find them now, no doubt.  Until then, let's talk about this film.  It's about a killer clown...in the hood.  That's really all I need to say.  Try to be upbeat and not be a...

This nerdy guy- who's not quite Gary Coleman or Dule Hill- has the hots for this girl.  There's only two of them in the film, so the pickings are slim.

She has a bad-ass (sort of) boyfriend, so she's a no-go.  Naturally, his next thought process is to summon an evil Clown Doll for power.

I guess it's better than hiring Drillbit Taylor.

While trying to scare the guy (more), the gang (of three) accidentally kills him.  It's here that I must harp on people ripping off the iconic shot from Cannibal Holocaust...again.

Seriously, they keep doing it!  I don't go looking for these- honest.

This is Killjoy.  This is Killjoy trying to be Freddy Kreuger.  This is Killjoy failing to be Freddy Kreuger.  Any questions?

How he kills the guys is both laughable and sad.  Let me explain...

First- he drags/tricks them into going into his Ice Cream Truck (complete with Sonic Pops).  Second- he kills them in a manner related to their one character trait- e.c. this guy smoking pot.  Third- silly CG effect.

Our heroes eventually find out about Killjoy from this blind, homeless man who just kind of shows up.  To pad out the film's 75 minute run-time, he explains what happened to them and SHOWS it too.  There's less padding in my bed than in this movie!

They go to his 'dimension' and split up, which is an idea presented by the boyfriend mere minutes after he says 'Let's stay together.'  They do call him on this...but split up anyways...after arguing about it.  Sigh.

They eventually kill Killjoy in his dimension, but this doesn't actually work.  They travel back to our world and stab the doll to finally kill him.  Alright.  Movie over?

 No, we're still going...apparently.  The trio go to a Club and talk to some random guy, who eventually turns into Killjoy.  He's going to kill...

It was a dream?!?  Well, that was a waste of time.  He shows up one last time and the film really ends...for real.  The End.

More greasy than actual grease paint.  This movie was clearly not made for much money, so I won't make fun of its bad effects, tiny cast and three locations.  I will point them out to you in a very direct manner, but I wouldn't dare make fun of them.  I will use one of them as my Stinger, but, again, I would never mock them for this.  The story is barely there, there's not exactly any real horror and it just feels off.  It's just full of little things that stand out for all of the wrong reasons.  For example, why does Killjoy take you to his 'dimension' to battle you?  Well, it's so that they can re-use the same Warehouse for all of the scenes.  This means that they must always go in through the Ice Cream Truck, leading to some nice repetition.  Here's another: why put a one year time gap between the guy's death and Killjoy's arrival.  Did the spell take a year to take effect?  Here's yet another: if Killjoy is using the dead guy's spirit to work, why doesn't he target the guy who's now dating the girl?  Wouldn't being the guy who's boning her make you the biggest target after the killers?  The film is full of stuff like this and suffers from it.  It is also short (less than 80 minutes, even with filler), cheap-looking and doesn't feel like a series starter.  If none of that stops you, be my guest.  I'll just be here being shot with CG bullets...

Next up, Killjoy returns to kill some rejects from See No Evil.  Let's see if replacing Kane with Doink The Clown is an improvement.  Stay tuned...