Movie Madness: The Jester (2023)

(Available on Prime, with many, many commercials)

From the get-go, it is obvious this was made because of Terrifier – I don’t want to say it was a rip-off of Terrifier, because it easier to watch, and I think there was supposed to be some meaning to it besides just the random, stomach-churning violence that was in Terrifier.

Like the clown in Terrifier, the Jester never says a word, but he seems to be all about entertaining you – until he kills you, that is. Unlike the clown in Terrifier, the Jester seems to have a plan behind what he’s doing (?).

Emma is in town for her father’s funeral – at the very beginning, we see him kill himself, with the Jester’s help. This jerk (the father, not the Jester) left his first family (including daughter Emma) to start a new family. Emma decides to meet her half-sister Jocelyn just for a drink and a chat, even though she has her doubts about having any contact with her and she is still so angry about her father leaving.

Meanwhile, Jocelyn, her half-sister who looks just like that chick from The Wonder Years but isn’t, is grieving her father while debating going to a Halloween carnival thing, which, now that I think of it, really didn’t play into the whole thing too much, even though you might think it would. She has these three friends who seem very nice and dedicated to her, and yet something is off about them. Not like off in that they are probably ghosts or something, like off in that I had doubts about their acting, I guess.

So anyway, the Jester starts following around Emma, which results in the deaths of a few random people, and then soon he’s pestering Jocelyn and her friends, which includes killing and/or maiming them.

But then the movie ends, and – spoiler alert – all those people who died didn’t. Everyone is still alive (except for one of Jocelyn’s friends who I didn’t see. Does this mean he really didn’t survive or that he [or the actor who played him] just had something else to do that day?). And I guess I can’t say “everyone” because there were people he “killed” at the beginning that we don’t see again – but given the ending, does this mean that the others who were killed are now fine?

Here is my take. I think the Jester represents depression, just from the way he helped the father kill himself, how the father seemed to know him well as if he’d been dealing with him for a while, and how he’s ever-present and trying to get Emma to kill herself later. At one point, Emma even told him that he’s a disease or some such. But at the same time, this makes no sense, because he does kill other people for no apparent reason. If you’re going to make an allegory, it has to fit through the whole story, right?

So, between Terrifier and The Jester we have two different versions of evil, and I think both are correct in this crazy world. You have blatant, violent, random evil in Art the Clown, and you have subtle, creeping, and pestering evil that the Jester represents, the kind that drives people to depression and other mental problems over time. I think? Maybe? Am I thinking about this too much?

I have to say that I approve of how the Jester handles bratty children (but kudos to the movie for not being violent with this one bully kid, just messing with his head).

Who would win in a fight? Sorry, Jester, but I think Art the Clown from Terrifier would. Oh! Who would win between Art the Clown and the girl from The Ring? Someone make that movie!

I watched this on Prime and was annoyed to find many commercials in it. Really?? Aren’t I already giving you my money? I believe it was available on another app (Tubi, I think) – I guess I should have watched it on there. It does have commercials but there are far fewer for some reason.

Still better than Scream 6.