The Curse of the Clown Motel Blu Ray Review (VMI)

The Curse of the Clown Motel (aKa Clown Motel) is a 2023 horror film directed by Asif Akbar (Road to Las Vegas franchise, Axis, Top Priority: The Terror Within, Smoke Filled Lungs, Morbid Stories, The Commando, Mojave Diamonds, Boneyard, MR-9: Do or Die, and Skeletons in the Closet) and Lance Kawas (Silent Scream, Project Legion, Demon Pit, Good Thief, Paid in Full, Fractured, Street Boss, Restitution, and The Deported). It was written by Christopher Malone and James Tamburino (Witsec Mafia, Honor, and East of the River). It was produced by Bernard Salzmann (The Devil’s Trap, No Tears in Hell, The Weapon, Demon Pit, Redwood Massacre: Annihilation, and Phoenix). It had an estimated budget of $3,000,000 and it grossed $4,818 during it’s limited theatrical run. When Alma Perez (played by: Juliana Destefano from Shark Season, Asteroid-a-Geddon, What Remains, and Blood Pageant) returns home to help her Native American family reclaim their ancestral land, she discovers a sinister motel ran by Mr. Wilson (played by: Tobin Bell from the Saw franchise, The Quick and the Dead, Mississippi Burning, The Firm, Goodfellas, Boiling Point, and Malice) has been built on their property. It appears to be terrorized by blood thirsty clowns. Who will survive this nightmare???? The Curse of the Clown Motel has amazing artwork and a few familiar faces attached to it. I was sold right away, unfortunately it doesn’t live up to it’s hype at all . 2 out of the 3 promoted names are barely in it and there’s really no clowns here besides a life sized doll and some decorations at the hotel so it’s very misleading. It’s more of a supernatural Indian horror feature which you would never get from it’s title or it’s promotional push. It’s directed by two experienced low budget filmmakers Asif Akbar and Lance Kawas. It seems more like a clash than a collaboration here. The script takes way too long to get somewhere and it almost feels like a chore getting to those moments. Tobin Bell as Mr. Wilson is the best thing about The Curse of the Clown Motel. He’s the owner of the clown motel that’s buried over land that was taken away from the Native Americans. He’s just trying to run a business and he’s not really the one to blame for this curse. He just wants to stay away from it’s questionable history. He’s kept Alma’s family employed all these years. He tries his best to elevate what he can with this sloppy material. Juliana Destefano is solid as the curious Alma. She personally wants to investigate this hotel and she’s trying to find something but Wilson shuts it down. She doesn’t give up and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to learn these dark secrets from her family. MMA legend Randy Couture (The Expendables franchise) shows up in flashbacks as Cranston. He’s one of the main ones responsible for this awful curse. 80’s television star Richard Grieco (21 Jump Street) has a small role as the mysterious Stewart. He’s caught in the middle of all of this chaos. Rapper Romeo Miller (Honey) randomly pops up here as the unlucky Louis. The rest of the supporting cast includes James Chalke (Renegades), Lindsey Pelas (Extraction), Robert Laenen (Section 8), Jonathan Camp (Dexter), Bleona (211), Robert Gillings (Paper Empire), Wil J. Jackson (Quantum Leap), Doreen Calderon (Fatal Attraction), and Mark Justice (Pool Party Massacre). The Curse of the Clown Motel is such an odd production. I am a big fan of clown horror and this just teases it until it’s unexpected twist. It tries too hard to explain everything and the build up drags too much. I think it would have went over better if it was just promoted as a straight up Indian horror feature. The villain wasn’t bad at all, it was just too little and too late when it all happens. It does have a few decent kills and the special fx are good when they appear but it’s just not enough. I always try to find the positives about anything that I cover but there’s honestly not much here besides Tobin Bell”s strong performance. It was only 84 minutes but it felt like it was over 2 hours. I would recommend keeping very low expectations for this, it’s currently free on Tubi!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from Vantage Media! This 2080p (2.39:1) transfer looks really good on home video. The hotel has excellent production design and it has a nice overall creepy look to it. The main location really shines here when it comes to the visuals. It has English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on the disc. It kinda plays out like a mystery drama for a while. The audio really starts to pickup for it’s flashbacks and it’s finale. All of the dialogue is very clean, the drama is elevated, and the music has a big boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It’s a professionally made on demand BD-R. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!