This 2018 horror film features a mysterious clown that appears around Green Bay, Wisconsin. After a couple weeks, the clown nicknamed, Gags is making news around the world where some people find him creepy and others are intrigued. A group of friends, 2 cops, a reporter and a podcast host are the main characters. This is ok until the last 30 minutes or so. It follows in the footsteps of found-footage films like "Cloverfield" with amusing and tense moments as well as an eerie score. Clowns are creepy and if you enjoyed others with them like "It" or "Killer Klowns from Outer Space," you could probably give this a try.

Gags the Clown (2018) is currently free on Amazon Prime and wasn't a terrible addition to the clown genre of horror films. The storyline surrounds a mysterious clown that appears all over the city with strange balloons that when you find them and they pop a white powder in the balloon if inhaled causes you to go crazy and start killing people. The local media and a blogger start a search of the city looking to bring Gags to justice after the police struggle to find the clown. Adam Krause directs Gags the Clown as his first major motion picture. The kill scenes were good and storyline was entertaining and worth following. I liked the way the blogger and competing news crews were delivered as well as the final funhouse scene. The acting by Tracy Perez (The Strain),Lauren Ashley Carter (Pod and Jug Face) and Aaron Christensen (Dead Weight and Gray Matter) was above average and believable. Overall, this is an entertaining film worth your time. I'd give it a 5.5/10.

With the majority of excellent films at the Cine-Excess festival leaning towards the serious, this kooky looking flick stood out like a sore thumb, leading to me going to the big top.

View on the film:

Clowning around in a Green Bay Wisconsin with accents so thick you could spread them on unsold Space Cop Blu-Ray's, co-writer/(with John Pata,who is also editor) director Adam Krause & cinematographer D.J. Kast juggle a macabre jaunty atmosphere with a smooth mix of traditional filming style,and Found Footage snapped from grainy CCTV cameras and shaky web cams catching a glimpse of Gags.

Wisely keeping the title character dialogue-free, Krause holds Gags at mid-range shots for a majority of the movie, which ignites a creepy mood from Gags sudden appearance in the background of shots carrying black death balloons to his next victim.

Cutting exposition that could demystify the monster down to the bone, the screenplay by Pata and Krause bounce social commentary on the frenzy surrounding Gags to the comedic edge, as TV news channels and pod-cast gun-nuts fuel the fear of the clown, as a method to boost their ratings.

Neatly setting up his playthings with a funny scene of a man ranting on TV about finding a Gags photo from the 70's, the writers wrap Gags with a mischievous element of surprise, rolling up those who in disturbing clown music and a self-inflicting zombie state,as Gags gathers all those after him under a murderous big top.