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FEAR OF CLOWNS 2
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It's going to be much harder to escape when there are three killer clowns after you instead of one. Jacky Reres (playing the tortured artist Lynn Blodgett) who was probably the best actor out of the original cast, has gotten even better here, and her likable but lunkheaded love interest from the first film is out of the picture, leaving her open for a new love interest, the priggish but endearing head detective Dan Peters, played by Frank Lama (honestly, he's the guy I wanted her to end up with in the first movie, so I liked this turn of events). Either the filmmakers had a bigger budget this time, or they learned how to stretch their small budget, because everything from the acting to the gore to the music to the editing looks far more polished than in the original film, and you can tell they're having fun with it. There's even a self-referential nod to one of the sillier scenes in the first movie when the head detective tells the cops working under him to be careful when keeping a protective eye on Lynn, because the last time he assigned two cops to do that, they got killed. For any of you who watched the first movie and screamed at the screen how stupid it was for two cops in one car outside a house to constitute protective custody, that line is for you. There are no ridiculous looking severed head gore shots to be found this time around. This movie has a clown wielding a three-pronged blade that does some serious damage, as well as some hot clown-on-clown killing action (quick, somebody call "Clowns Gone Wild") as though the filmmakers learned how to work within their low budget to make their gore scenes creepy and effective. There's also a bit of added human drama, with the head detective getting some troubling news at the beginning of the movie that affects his decision making throughout the rest of the film. A sub plot involving a sleazy orderly at the hospital who helped Shivers and his clown gang escape also adds an interesting twist. With more killer clown action, more gore, a great conclusion, and a stalk-and-slash sequence in Lynn's house that gave me chills, there's a lot to love about this movie.
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Right from the opening sequence, with its cool editing and sound
effects, one thing is clear. this movie may have a low budget and less
than stellar picture quality, but these filmmakers aren't fucking
around. They want to make a movie and they want to make it good. And
they do a great job at that. As much as I love the original, I have to
admit, this one is about one thousand times better. The acting is far
more streamlined and there is far less dead, awkward space where
characters are taking odd pauses or staring blankly at each other, and
for that, the movie flows along at a much faster pace. 
I guess they couldn't afford a kid for this movie, because Lynn's much
talked about son Nicky isn't ever in the movie, though they constantly
mention his name. It's a little distracting. Frank Lama as the head
detective, while never sinking to William Shatner depths, isn't the best
actor on the planet, and his affected line delivery grated on my nerves
(come on guy, I want to like you but you make it hard, please stop with
the bad acting school shtick). The movie meanders a bit after about an
hour and while this allows for some cool kill scenes, I wanted it to get
to the point.
