Letterboxd — Your life in film

Art is perhaps the funniest and scariest killer clown there will ever be, but it seems Leone doesn’t understand that no amount of gore can make up for the absurdities of the film’s plot and lack of substance. If it weren’t for all the hype surrounding Terrifier 2, I wouldn’t have wasted my time with this boring, mindless, schlocky B-movie torture porn.

Despite its distractingly amateurish execution and scattershot pacing that drags the film on for longer than necessary, Damien Leone shows promise behind the camera, and Art the Clown is as deliciously sadistic, charming, and demonic as you could hope for a killer clown to be—most certainly a horror icon in the making.

The master of body horror himself returns to his roots with a socio-political vengeance, but despite a sturdy commitment to maintaining its strange tone and an atmosphere as hypnotic and mysterious as it is grimy and off-putting, the undercooked premise and uninspiring plot devoid of tension and exposition make this a Cronenbore.

Rob Zombie may be a mostly competent director but proves he’s a far worse writer, with a brainless, infantile script that seems to care more about gore, sex, and violence than on the careful construction of tension that made the original so effective.

The only entertaining part of this insufferably convoluted, ridiculous, corny, and self-indulgent mess besides the welcome return of 80s icon Ke Huy Quan are most of its fight scenes, particularly one very silly one that involves make-shift butt plugs—which also reminds me how far up its own ass this film is.

Structurally and narratively, it’s a bit of a mess, and the budget shows in multiple areas, but De Niro’s magnetic turn, De Palma’s avant-garde approach with the aid of Paul Hirsch’s electric editing (both clearly inspired by Jean-Luc Godard), an entertaining dialogue (largely improvised), an interesting look into New York amid the Vietnam War and racial upheaval, and a plot that ranges from chill to “what the fuck is going on” keep Hi, Mom! afloat.

Alex Garland deviates from his usual science fiction to horror this time, but Men is perhaps a bit too messy and bizarre for its own good and stumbles more in delivering an effective message than in unsettling, shocking, bewildering, and occasionally amusing.

The stylish direction and editing and a clear homage to 70s exploitation B-movies, pornos, and most obviously The Texas Chain Saw Massacre are not done any service by the ham-fisted and pretentious delivery of a thin but drawn-out plot with dumb jump scares, irritating characters, silly death scenes, and ridiculous villains.

Its heart is in the right place, but it seems all accountability was checked at the door when it comes to the script.

Sam Raimi adds a refreshing and much needed spice with his signature style and wacky humor that we all know and have come to love, and although the film can be a bit jumbled and cheesy at times, and the script obviously could have used more work, the result is still a sufficiently entertaining and heartfelt diversion from the more recently serious chapters in the MCU.

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.