a review of 惊吓

A retro throwback with an incredibly creepy antagonist and high-quality gore effects. A young woman finds herself in for a deadly fright when she inadvertently crosses paths with the demonic entity known as "Art the Clown" one Halloween night. Damien Leone has created a villain with an unsettling appearance, gruesomely playful nature, and the relentlessness of Jason Voorhees. The plot is pretty straight forward and the acting is nothing to write home about, but both are enough to carry the grotesque action. The violence is of a sadistic nature that's more torture porn than slasher flick. You never know when or where Art is going to pop up. It's a lot of fun to see just how he's going to one up our heroine who just wants to go home. Normally in these kind of films you're kind of unable to feel too bad for the protagonist(s) as they usually brought their troubles on themselves. Terrifier is different though. The main character just seems to be in the killer's sights for no reason other than just plain old bad luck. The clown's initial fascination with her makes him a very enigmatic character. One that I can't wait to see explored deeper in the feature length. The ending felt a tad misogynistic. It's twisted conclusion is somewhat marred by the inexplicable use of derogatory female slurs. Overall though it's a remarkably executed short film with impressive production values. The old-school approach is nice and this is one clown that won't have any trouble getting under your skin. Nice to see the director remembered that clowns are supposed to be comical in nature. Something that really helped amplify the disturbing nature of Art's cruelty.