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Professional Clowns Think “IT” Will Hurt Their Business; Stephen King Responds

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Written by Patti Pauley

Let’s get something out of the way before we even dive into this; did I miss the era where party clowns were never NOT creepy?

I REST MY DAMN CASE.

vintage clowns-IT

Photo credit- Flashbak.com

I’m not going to pretend I have an explanation for these seemingly innocent things that creep the shit out of the masses. Dolls, spiders, and the painted faces of clowns have long been a deep phobia and the prime subject of fear for dozens of horror stories and films. So the entertainment industry plays on that. We ask to be scared. They want to deliver. And the fact that coulrophobia affects moe than a few horror fans, shouldn’t be much of a shock when we see countless horror films touching on that very fear. Regardless though, professional clowns are firmly stating that one of the most highly anticipated horror movies of 2017, Stephen King’s IT, will ultimately hurt their lucrative businesses.

In a report run by the BBC NewsBeat, the UK-based news site spoke with clown performers Celine Harland whose alter ego for 17 years goes by the name of Tickles and Matthew Faint (Mattie the Clown). Harland explained to the press, and a fair argument at that, being as how both the UK and US are just recovering from last year’s numerous clown threats, pranks, and torment, that the upcoming IT movie that is to be released September 8, will cause a serious loss in revenue for party clowns and call the film “sensational rubbish.”

Harland to the BBC-

“It’s a horror movie and it affects people’s thoughts and opinions on what a clown is. Unfortunately, it’s not like Jaws which is unrealistic, we do have clowns in society. I have parents and teachers phoning me. They’re scared to hire you in case they’ve got one child who will be upset.”

Faint to the BBC-

“It’s a horrible movie and we’d like to distance ourselves from the subject of scary clowns. There’s just so many horrible movies out there… clowns that eat people or whatever. It takes people’s minds in the wrong direction. We don’t need it, it’s bad, it’s disgusting.”

Pennywise creator and master storyteller Stephen King, has heard the complaints from the concerned clowns, and of course in pure Stephen King savagery, really didn’t sugar coat his feelings on the subject. Last year, in an interview with BDN Maine, King weighed in on exactly why he chose the image of a clown to represent IT:

“When I wrote my novel ‘IT’, I set it in Bangor, because it’s a town with a tough and violent history. I chose Pennywise the Clown as the face which the monster originally shows the kiddies because kids love clowns, but they also fear them; clowns with their white faces and red lips are so different and so grotesque compared to ‘normal’ people. Take a little kid to the circus and show him a clown, he’s more apt to scream with fear than laugh.”

And his response to the outrage via Twitter states pretty much the same thing, well in under 140 characters of course.

 

What are your thoughts on the subject? Do you think that entertainment clowns have a valid base for being upset? Or do you think they’re merely overreacting? As always, friendly comments and opinions below!

 

Oh, and here’s that awesome trailer again, because.. well.. just because it’s incrediballs.

 

 

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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