ClownTown is really just an average slasher film -- but with clowns.

With all of the real life clowns being spotted trying to lure kids into the woods and hamming it up on random home security cameras across a dozen states, it's only natural that a clown horror film like ClownTown would be released. Of course, it's not the first clown horror movie by far -- after all, we've known for years and years that clowns are creepy as all get out. I was scared to death of them as a kid, and I'm not going near one now, either.

Unfortunately, the creepy clown thing is about the only thing that ClownTown has going for it. As with virtually all American horror films, there are too many questions left unanswered (most of them starting with the word "why"), the ending doesn't present a strong sense of closure, and the whole thing really isn't that scary.

So, basically, four twenty-something friends (one of whom is apparently a clone of Kevin Smith) end up stranded in an abandoned Ohio town where the freaks do come out at night -- dressed as clowns. None of our young victims even questions why a decent-sized town would be completely deserted in the middle of the day, nor do they show much desire to arm themselves in any way possible once killer clowns start coming out of the woodwork. Their whole concept of running away is pretty flawed, as well. In other words, this is in many ways a typical, cliche-riddled slasher.

For a low-budget movie, the effects and cinematography are actually pretty good. Unfortunately, the clowns themselves never really develop a true sense of menace despite their violent proclivities. Only a true coulrophobic (someone with an extreme or irrational fear of clowns) is going to go home from this movie and dream of clowns coming after them. I personally think clowns are very creepy, but the denizens of ClownTown never managed to make me feel uncomfortable.