"Killjoy Goes To Hell" - - The Pelican Grief

Imagine that you rented "Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go To College."

Yes, that's a real movie.

You take it home, pop it in, and sit back hoping for some knock-off "Gremlins" action and instead are treated to an hour long dissertation on Kinseyian economics from the Rat Ghoulie. Congratulations, you have just seen "Killjoy Goes To Hell."

"Killjoy Goes To Hell" is part four in the "Killjoy" series. While the other three are about a demonic clown dispatching people in various clown-related ways, this movie is about a trial. A very long and boring trial in Hell with witnesses (A mime, a carny who can only speak carny, etc.), a DA (or "Devil's Advocate HAHA!), and all the other trappings of an episode of "Law and Order."

In short, it was very boring.

"KILLJOY IS GONNA GET YOU! Pursuant to clause 817, subsection B by the ratification of the 6th district of Hell, Killjoy has hereby been served to "get you" at a time and place of his choosing. The Court also holds up the right outlined in 'Baphomet v. Charlie Daniels' that an adjudicator must be present if both parties . . . "

I saw the first "Killjoy" years ago when it first came out and it was mildly amusing. I don't have that built in fear of clowns that most people have, so I never followed the series. Recently I got all three "Killjoy" movies when I bought a pack of "Demonic Toys/GingerDead Man" DVDs but I really had no interest in seeing them. But when "Killjoy Goes To Hell" popped up on Redbox I figured I'd give it a shot.

Some might complain that these movies need to be viewed in order. "If you watch the first three then "Killjoy Goes To Hell" is great!" But that's missing the point. Someone who is looking for a movie to watch stumbles across "Killjoy Goes To Hell" and there is nothing to signify it is part four of a series. Each movie has to stand on it's own. You could rent any "Nightmare on Elm Street" and that single movie works. It should make you want to go back and watch the other films. "Killjoy Goes To Hell" makes me hesitant to watch 2 and 3 because I am going to assume now that nothing really happens until the last half hour.


"Killjoy" is also something that I could see a 12 year old saying "Whoa, look a creepy clown! Let's rent this!!!" Then he gets home to watch Killjoy sit in a chair for the bulk of the movie.

I will give the movie credit for a few things: One, Killjoy is a pretty funny guy. Not like slapstick funny but the way he responds to people. Trent Haaga, who plays Killjoy under what seems to be two pounds of make-up, hams it up as a demonic version of Krusty the Clown. Mr. Haaga also wrote "Feeding The Masses" and "Dead Girl," two awesome zombie films. And there is not one but two hot chicks, Batty Boop and Jezebeth, that keep things on the screen interesting even when the storyline itself is dragging.

There's also this weird sequence when the mime bangs an old witch and gets a robot baby sewn into his guts, and the Carny clown builds and army of demon clowns to help Killjoy, but both of those things sound way cooler typed out than what they looked like on screen. Batty Boop also enters the real world and kidnaps Killjoy's last remaining victim to testify for him in court, but again, all that zaniness comes towards the very end of "I object-overruled-call-your next-witness" Perry Mason nonsense.

The last 10 minutes or so was pretty cool, but I fell asleep twice getting to that point. And in the end, the only thing that has changed for any of the characters is Killjoy forgets his name. Actually, everyone forgets his name so I don't know if that signifies the end of the series or if they lost the copyright to the name Killjoy, but one thing is for certain: I'll be more hesitant to rent a Killjoy or whatever they call him movie in the future.