The Jester originally began life like a lot of contemporary horror icons: debuting mainly through short horror films. The Jester was a character that appeared in a series of short horror films until finally garnering his own feature film. Like many modern horror characters, the Jester is a monster that’s all dressed up with nowhere to go. That’s not to say that Colin Krawchuk’s horror film is a bad movie, it just wastes what could be an interesting supernatural monster (if the cards are played right).
After the recent death of their father, two estranged sisters find themselves being stalked by a malevolent being known as The Jester. Revealing himself to be more than just a man in a mask, the evil entity begins to further torment the inhabitants of a small town on Halloween night. To defeat this unholy monster, the two sisters realize that the only way to survive is to figure out how to right the wrongs of their dark past.
The whole premise for “The Jester” feels very similar to “Terrifier,” and I’m not the first to make that comparison. While that doesn’t feel coincidental, Krawchuk and writer Michael Sheffield go for a more character heavy horror film. That’s respectable, but the problem is that the Jester gets lost in such a flood of heavy drama about grief, regrets, childhood neglect, and grudges we can’t let go of. The Jester is introduced in the most unusual manner, and for the majority of the movie his entire existence is just inexplicable. There’s never a single indication on who or what he is, if he is anything.
Is he a monster? Is he a demon? Is he an avenging angel? Is he some kind of sadistic sorcerer? Is he simply the manifestation of all this pent up tension in this small family? And if so, does that mean he appears to other people? And why does he punish this family with a relentless fervor? What, if anything, is he trying to teach them? At the very least, director Krawchuk doesn’t spend the whole film painting the walls with gore and splatter. He does seem intent on unraveling a meaningful story set on Halloween, with Jester oddly acting as a barometer of morality of some kind.
That said, director Krawchuk does squeeze in some brutal violence, including a scene in a grocery store with the Jester dancing with a beheaded corpse. “The Jester” has a lot of potential to be a great horror film, but in the end it settles on good enough. I wouldn’t mind another go around with the character.
Now Playing on VOD and Digital Platforms.