I'm hopefully putting in a good effort this month in getting reviews out. This is only my second one this month, but considering I only did three last month, it is going much better. Since I went with a sequel in my Netflix streaming review, I thought I would do the same with my Amazon Prime review. The Crescent Moon Clown (2018) makes the fifth film in the Bad Ben series. Considering the first film came out in 2016, that is a lot of film making. I was surprised when this film popped up as a suggestion for me. I wasn't expecting another one so soon, so let's see what I thought of it.
A new family has taken over the house seen in the previous films. Renee (Jhetta Tionne Anderson) is home from college and has the house to herself until her parents get back from vacation. While exploring the house, she finds a box that is locked. Forcing the lock, she finds that a bad smell comes from it, along with a cross, ashes, and a clown doll. After removing the cross, Renee decides to throw the box out because of the smell. Soon after though, strange things start to happen in the house.
The Crescent Moon Clown was written and directed by Nigel Bach. I haven't been the biggest fan of this franchise, but I'm a sucker for a sequel so I keep watching these films. While I haven't been giving them the best reviews, I have never really hated one. I can't say that I hated this one, but it has been the worst one so far, in my opinion at least. The story hasn't changed all that much, except that we get a different character in the lead role. This isn't the first time someone else besides Bach to be the lead role, even though Bach has been in every one of his films, including this one. The story is the basic stuff of things moving on their own, lights turning on or off seemingly on their own, and doors and windows opening or closing. There wasn't really anything new as far as the story went, with one exception. Instead of Bad Ben being the villain, so to speak, it is a clown that was never mentioned in any of the other movies. While I found it odd that Tom (Nigel Bach's character) never found this box while he was in the home, I didn't really give it too much thought. Besides, it isn't really clear about the clown until midway to late in the film anyway. There are some creepy moments to be found. I especially got creeped out by this kid, looked like a little girl but I could be wrong, standing in a doorway while Renee is looking around elsewhere in the room. The kid is never seen after the scene though, oddly enough.
The thing that annoyed me to no end was Renne. I don't know if Anderson was directed to act in certain ways or how much freedom she was given to act things out. Either way, I had a very hard time believing her character would react in certain ways. To be fair, she does think that her boyfriend or some other friend is playing a prank since she is home alone. Renee screams at odd times. I know some weird things happened, but I just found it weird that she screams when someone seemingly knocks on the front door. Then she didn't check to see if anyone was there. She has selected hearing it would seem. A chair moves on its own and scraps across the floor when it does. She isn't standing all that far away but doesn't take notice. I'm guessing they want us to believe the sound of filling a bucket with water drowned out the noise from the chair. Then she hears when the facet turns on by itself from the next room. Lights turn off and on while she is the room with no reaction. At one point she enters a room that is dark and instead of flicking a switch to turn the lights on, she gets out her phone and uses the light from it while she looks around. She doesn't react or barely reacts to a door being open that she had closed just moments earlier. The worst was calling out that she was going to call the police and then sees someone outside the front door, but still doesn't call the police! Another one was going to sleep despite knowing someone took her phone and there was a clown in her house. Is there really anyone this stupid?
There are no gory effects to be found. The only effects are doors opening or closing on their own or objects moving on their own. The acting was about what I expected for this movie. I really don't know if I can blame Jhetta Tionne Anderson for the bad acting or not. I didn't mind her acting in scenes that didn't something else going on. Like talking on the phone with her parents or whoever and interacting with Nigel Bach, who shows up in the last few minutes.
Speaking of Bach, the whole tone of the movie changes once he shows up towards the end. For the most part, The Crescent Moon Clown was played out straight forward as a haunted house type film and was being serious about it. There were times when something kind of funny would happen but not often. Once Bach shows up at the end, the tone changes to more of a comedy. Tom comes up with a plan that doesn't go according to his plan. If you have watched the other films, you will know what to expect really. If you are like me and have this need to watch sequels, then you will probably watch this one despite what I have to say about it. If you are looking for a movie to poke fun at, The Crescent Moon Clown will probably qualify for that. Otherwise, I would just skip this one.
2 out of 5 Damn phone stealing clowns....
A new family has taken over the house seen in the previous films. Renee (Jhetta Tionne Anderson) is home from college and has the house to herself until her parents get back from vacation. While exploring the house, she finds a box that is locked. Forcing the lock, she finds that a bad smell comes from it, along with a cross, ashes, and a clown doll. After removing the cross, Renee decides to throw the box out because of the smell. Soon after though, strange things start to happen in the house.
The Crescent Moon Clown was written and directed by Nigel Bach. I haven't been the biggest fan of this franchise, but I'm a sucker for a sequel so I keep watching these films. While I haven't been giving them the best reviews, I have never really hated one. I can't say that I hated this one, but it has been the worst one so far, in my opinion at least. The story hasn't changed all that much, except that we get a different character in the lead role. This isn't the first time someone else besides Bach to be the lead role, even though Bach has been in every one of his films, including this one. The story is the basic stuff of things moving on their own, lights turning on or off seemingly on their own, and doors and windows opening or closing. There wasn't really anything new as far as the story went, with one exception. Instead of Bad Ben being the villain, so to speak, it is a clown that was never mentioned in any of the other movies. While I found it odd that Tom (Nigel Bach's character) never found this box while he was in the home, I didn't really give it too much thought. Besides, it isn't really clear about the clown until midway to late in the film anyway. There are some creepy moments to be found. I especially got creeped out by this kid, looked like a little girl but I could be wrong, standing in a doorway while Renee is looking around elsewhere in the room. The kid is never seen after the scene though, oddly enough.
The thing that annoyed me to no end was Renne. I don't know if Anderson was directed to act in certain ways or how much freedom she was given to act things out. Either way, I had a very hard time believing her character would react in certain ways. To be fair, she does think that her boyfriend or some other friend is playing a prank since she is home alone. Renee screams at odd times. I know some weird things happened, but I just found it weird that she screams when someone seemingly knocks on the front door. Then she didn't check to see if anyone was there. She has selected hearing it would seem. A chair moves on its own and scraps across the floor when it does. She isn't standing all that far away but doesn't take notice. I'm guessing they want us to believe the sound of filling a bucket with water drowned out the noise from the chair. Then she hears when the facet turns on by itself from the next room. Lights turn off and on while she is the room with no reaction. At one point she enters a room that is dark and instead of flicking a switch to turn the lights on, she gets out her phone and uses the light from it while she looks around. She doesn't react or barely reacts to a door being open that she had closed just moments earlier. The worst was calling out that she was going to call the police and then sees someone outside the front door, but still doesn't call the police! Another one was going to sleep despite knowing someone took her phone and there was a clown in her house. Is there really anyone this stupid?
There are no gory effects to be found. The only effects are doors opening or closing on their own or objects moving on their own. The acting was about what I expected for this movie. I really don't know if I can blame Jhetta Tionne Anderson for the bad acting or not. I didn't mind her acting in scenes that didn't something else going on. Like talking on the phone with her parents or whoever and interacting with Nigel Bach, who shows up in the last few minutes.
Speaking of Bach, the whole tone of the movie changes once he shows up towards the end. For the most part, The Crescent Moon Clown was played out straight forward as a haunted house type film and was being serious about it. There were times when something kind of funny would happen but not often. Once Bach shows up at the end, the tone changes to more of a comedy. Tom comes up with a plan that doesn't go according to his plan. If you have watched the other films, you will know what to expect really. If you are like me and have this need to watch sequels, then you will probably watch this one despite what I have to say about it. If you are looking for a movie to poke fun at, The Crescent Moon Clown will probably qualify for that. Otherwise, I would just skip this one.
2 out of 5 Damn phone stealing clowns....
