Warning: it would not be easy to recommend Super Happy Fun Clown to anyone who is not already a fan of low-budget Horror. To fully enjoy a film like this, one must be prepared to laugh at the unusual acting, sparse dialogue, and unsteady camera angles. If you can accept these quirks and you like clowns, you are in for a pretty fun ride. In carnival terms, this is nowhere near Cirque de Soliel or Barnum and Bailey, but who does not love a good corner show at the country fair every year?
Acquired for worldwide rights by The Horror Collective a month ahead of the international premiere on August 24, 2025, at London’s FrightFest, Super Happy Fun Clown is the latest Horror-Comedy, equal parts suspense, Slasher, Dark Comedy, and existential dread. Rife with Horror themes, it stars Jennifer Seward (I Am Lisa 2020, Found Wandering Lost 2022) as Jennifer, or Jenn-O, a hazbin wunderkind who seeks something more than the life she has stumbled into. At its core, it is a gory story of what-if. In other words, what if the life you thought you were promised never came to be, and you loved clowns, vintage Horror, and serial killers…
Directed and produced by Patrick Rea (a long-time Horror filmmaker responsible for films like 2016’s Arbor Demon and 2022’s They Wait in the Dark), Super Happy Clown is a continuation of an idea first exemplified in 2023 with his release of the Horror short by the same name. The script was written by Eric Winkler, who also wrote I Am Lisa, starring Jennifer Seward in the lead role.
While the central star and writer remain the same between the films, the polish expected from this second expansion of the original short is lost. To begin with, the dialogue is too sparse. Part of Jenn-O’s character is being a silent clown, with the aesthetic of miming. However, even without clown makeup, the actors themselves seem to stumble on finding a cadence for their speech, and the conversations end up clunky as a result. Luckily, Jennifer and her love interest have good chemistry, and it is obvious that they are being sincere with each other in the break room when they recall their favorite movies.
The comedy delivers partly in some scenes but falls away in others, one of the funniest bits being Jennifer returning to her pedophile ex-lawyer boyfriend, who eats increasingly weird foods and yells at her for interrupting his reruns of The Three Stooges. At one point, she tap dances silently in front of him and his TV while he eats a plate of fourteen uncooked hot dogs without the buns. The scene ends with him threatening her with a flyswatter, and Jenn-O, in full clown makeup, trudges off afterwards.
In terms of production quality, the cinematography is a bit too sharp and shadowy to match the film’s tone, and it is evident that more thought was invested in the narrative than in its aesthetic. This is not to say the movie is completely weak; the first truly gruesome scene, a hit-and-run, is funny, unique, and wonderfully shot. Another thing to note is that the sound mixing is not proper. Either high-quality stereo surround or headphones are needed to hear all the dialogue and appreciate the music score, which ranges from intense metal to whimsical clown tunes.
One plus is that the clown costumes are interesting, and the makeup is well done. Jenn-O rightfully steals the show while killing others, handing out Oxycodone to trick-or-treaters, or blowing up balloons despite her silence. The vampiric aura is a nice touch and completes her character; she is quite cohesive despite the holes in her backstory and her completely inadequate husband.
Overall, Super Happy Fun Clown is a macabre yet funny film with B-movie acting and sound mixing, but a fun story that is not afraid to go to crazy places. If you like clowns and Indie Horror, watch the film; otherwise, stick to the series The Summer I Turned Pretty. That is why Cryptic Rock gives Super Happy Fun Clown 3 out of 5 stars.
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