THOR v Killer Clown

Certain films have the ability to capture a time period and provoke glorious reminiscences of past glories. ’THOR V KILLER CLOWN’ captures all the worst aspects of 2016 and reminds us that life wasn’t necessarily as good as we remember it to be. Some may interpret that as a compliment. It isn’t, ‘Thor v Killer Clown’ is one of the worst films you’ll ever have the displeasure of witnessing.

Before the film begins, we are told that it may be confusing for those that haven’t watched ‘The House of Reggie’s series. Naturally, as I have more things to do with my life than search out an obscure web series from over five years ago, I had not watched the show. I can say with certainty that I will not be seeking it out on the back of ‘Thor v Killer Clown’.

Quite frankly it’s hard to say whether or not the film would be any less confusing having watched the show, since its plot is hardly the main source of confusion, rather how haphazardly it has been created. Written and directed by Reggie Haynes, the film stars Haynes as four twin brothers, whom all use their special talents to make the world a better place. However, when threatened by a malevolent politician, and facing pressure from the UN, the quadruplets must face a murderous clown.

Killer clowns were all the rage for a few months in 2016, and ‘Thor v Killer Clown’ capitalises on that long-passed craze with a performance by Devane Boyd as the titular clown which is reminiscent of a drunk impression of Heath Ledger’s ‘Joker’. The killer clown, on the orders of the former UK leader (Isha Margry), has been ordered to blow up a building and kill the members of THOR (standing for The House of Reggie’s). Also embroiled in this bizarre, yet extremely basic, plot are ‘the Orphans’ - two young superheroes, whom we’re told, marvel-style, in the middle of the film will return.

The four brothers, all played by Haynes with ample passion to make up for a lack of ability, all feature prominently, though the value of some of their talents isn’t particularly apparent. Three of the brothers have fairly ordinary talents - music, comedy, radio - and indeed it is one of those brothers, VR, who is the main target of the Killer Clown’s pursuit. However, one of the brothers, Legacy, has the talent of superpowers. Imagine being given the talent of radio when your brother has literal superpowers.

The major oversight of this glaring imbalance sums up the botched script, which is stunted, leaving every line of dialogue forced and inhuman. The script is too convoluted, making a relatively simple plot far too dense for a 35-minute film, meaning that it’s impossibly difficult to become invested in the outcome of the story. This isn’t helped by Hayne’s direction, which is almost non-existent, and reduced to nothing by the inconsistency of the film’s editing, which, fraught with redundant jump-cuts, would leave even the most ardent Tommy Wiseau fan with a raging headache.

‘Thor v Killer Clown’ is, quite simply, terrible. Though Reggie Haynes’ passion for his work cannot be faulted, the film itself is bad in pretty much every way imaginable. Killer clowns were a fad forgotten in a matter of months, but ‘Thor v Killer Clown’ may take years to recover from.