A young man attempts to get back at a gang through the use of black magic but is killed before he can seek his vengeance.  However, an evil clown shows up in the ‘hood after his death and carries out the boy’s revenge.

Judging a Book by its Cover

-Is the movie about a killer clown?

-Something tells me this movie is simply aimed at people who are scared of clowns though they may not rent it because of the scary clown on the cover.

-While the tagline says the killer isn’t clowning around, I bet he’ll find time to do so.

He’s not clowning around!

Directed by Craig Ross

Starring Angel Vargas, Vera Yell and Lee Marks

As the film begins, a young man named Michael sees Jada, whom he has a huge crush on.  As he talks to her, Jada’s gangster boyfriend, Lorenzo, shows up and his crew give poor Michael a ton of grief for talking to Lorenzo’s girl and beat him up.  Michael returns home and performs a voodoo ritual involving a clown doll that he calls Killjoy that he wants to  in an attempt to get back at the bullies and maybe even give him a chance at Jada.  That escalated quickly!

Couldn’t afford any furniture after those candles huh?

Michael is interrupted by Baby Boy, one of Lorenzo’s crew that beat him up earlier.  He coaxes Michael out of his home and the rest of the gang grab him and drive him out of town so Lorenzo can really mess with him.  Lorenzo pulls out a gun and threatens Michael with murder for constantly talking to Jada when he’s told not to and pulls the trigger…with an empty chamber.  The next chamber however does have one and in an argument with his crew, Lorenzo accidentally shoots Michael dead.  The end.

We’re so happy to be in this movie…I guess.

Oh wait, the movie fast forwards a whole year after Michael’s death.  Jada and Lorenzo have moved on but the death of Michael still lingers in the neighbourhood as an ice cream truck arrives.  Baby Boy and T-Bone get the munchies and run down to get some ice cream.  The clown in the truck says he has a big stash of drugs he wants to give them instead.  Unable to resist such a sweet deal, the boys jump into the back of the truck but are transported to another dimension.  The clown, which looks surprisingly like Michael’s doll, chases the boys around his playground before killing them on the way to Lorenzo.  Revenge achieved, the end.

To see this in motion…oh dear.

Jada and her friends are approached by a homeless man who witnessed Killjoy earlier on and tells a heck of a story about them having to stop Killjoy by destroying the doll and only Jada can stop the clown.  They all play along as the man disappears into thin air.  They check out the ice cream truck and sure enough, they’re transported to Killjoy’s dimension to have a final showdown with the clown but they’re in for a surprise when they find out who is behind Killjoy.  Or not, it shouldn’t be a big surprise.

Be afraid…be very afraid! You paid for this, might as well be afraid!

I’m not sure where to begin with this movie.  I mean, it’s certainly not good.  In fact, I don’t think there’s one aspect of the movie that I really enjoyed.  I’ve watched it twice and it’s seventy minutes of suck.  The story isn’t very entertaining nor does it make a lot of sense; at times it seems that story elements are added in when necessary.  The dialogue is bland and the wooden acting doesn’t bring much energy to the words aside from Angel Vargas’ animated portrayal of Killjoy, though it’s a shame his outfit came from Value Village during Halloween season.  The effects (computer or otherwise) are pretty awful too thus making the movie not worth the seventy-minute running time.  If you’re scared of clowns and want a scary clown movie, I’ll recommend Stitches, it’s so much more fun to watch.

TL;DR

Story: 2 – Seems made up on the fly, but a nerdy kid who is beat up by gangsters for talking to one of their girlfriends turns to black magic and a clown doll to get his revenge.

Blood: 2 – Gun and stab wounds are only a little bloody after the fact.  Killjoy’s kills may be the highlight of the movie but that doesn’t mean much in this movie.

Nudity: 7 – A character’s girlfriend shows off her ta-tas in a bed AND shower scene.  Thank you!

Overall: 2 – While it became the beginning of a new franchise, it’s hard to believe a sequel to Killjoy even happened with how awful this movie was.

Trivia

-Killjoy actor Angel Vargas turned down returning for the sequels.

-Full Moon attempted to diversify their portfolio by creating several different labels to release their titles under.  Killjoy was released under the “Big City Pictures” label which was aimed at an urban audience.