7/10
An overall fun if slightly flawed genre effort
8 January 2024
Attempting to reopen once again, the campground site where a slew of murders by a killer clown have haunted the area is visited by a Church looking to help purify the grounds, but when the killer clown and a secondary killer arrive to start slaughtering everyone in their path they must stop them.

This was a pretty fun and entertaining way to continue the series. Among the more enjoyable facets present here is the deep dive present to try to tie the franchise together for a solid connecting throughline. The main idea of the killer clown returning and being sent on the rampage in the community due to the reopening of the campground to become a new site for locals who are shown to be there attempting to bring about a deeper connection with their Church. As this provides a chance to generate some cameos from past victims to help act as a form of guiding conscience that connects him to the past much like the inclusion of several surviving characters that can tie everything together, this setup goes nicely alongside the inclusion of the secondary copycat killer that's trying to carry on the legacy and gives the setup a solid enough touch. That provides a solid and generally enjoyable string of impressive indie-style attack ambushes here featuring a slew of characters getting knocked off by either of the killers. Since there are multiple killers in the area, not to mention the several flashbacks featured, this has some likable features here including the opening attack on the tourist couples, the later scenes on the bar patrons trying to leave, or the other locals that show up to greet the Church group. Once it gets to the group in the woods, the supernatural influences from the resurrected killer spurn the various killers into their rampage that features even more wild confrontations that are brought about with both killers getting a chance at driving up the body count with the figures driving both to kill getting some enjoyable twists that all manage to generate a lot to like with this one. The film does get knocked down by several factors. One of the biggest issues is the immensely overlong bar sequence that tries to paint up a lot of the individual characters and their storylines running throughout the rest of the film, but it stays way too long and wears out its welcome by doing the opposite of what it's intended. Rather than trying to make the group a sympathetic group trying to deal with their issues before getting undone by the exploits of the clown, there's just an overlong sequence of the group getting rambunctious and combative with the locals that instead keeps the clown activity off-screen for a long stretch. As well, there's also the general low-budget tone and atmosphere that might not appeal to everyone, from the CGI gore and bloodshed, the backgrounds, and the guerilla-style presentation which isn't a general factor against it but does bring it down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, and Full Nudity.
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