It is now October tenth and today I decided to give in. See, I am not afraid of clowns, and apart from the great Pennywise from Stephen King’s It, I find most clowns in horror to be a little cliché, and a far cry from frightening. I have heard from several different sources that the movie Mockingbird was a great horror flick, but I resisted based literally on the preview images that all prominently feature a clown.
Well, I am a judgmental jerk and have eaten my humble pie.
First off, no one told me it was a found footage flick, which by now you know that is right up my alley. Second, that clown is not the villain. While Mockingbird was yet another movie that I called the ending early on, it still had enough twists and turns to keep it fresh. The moment you see the pathetic but oddly lovable character Leonard don the clown make up and costume, you kind of see where this movie is going conclude, but it doesn’t detract. Strangely, the two storylines that are more traditional horror lack as much interest as the tale of Leonard as he struggles optimistically through all of his challenges.
If you want a movie with a solid narrative and some legitimate intrigue, not to mention a “villain” that you most likely will not see coming, Mockingbird should be gracing your television sometime this Samhain season!
Scare-o-meter rating is an easy 3.5 out of 5.
