The Jester movie is no joke, but lacks any tricks or thrills Cinemax
At some point, almost every day, the moment comes when I decide to see a particular horror film. With all my love for the genre, which is summed up in several thousand films I have seen to date, it is impossible to watch them all. I try not to miss the blockbuster films every year. Sometimes I see a film because of the actors. Sometimes the name intrigues me (did someone say “Sloterhouse”?), and in other situations it’s the poster. When I saw the poster for “The Jester,” I felt like I should carve out some time for it between all of 2023’s biggest movies.
It’s true, this poster could be more impressive. But something reminded me, and I suspect you too, of the horror characters we love to see. For me, it initially reminded me of “The Black Phone,” one of the best horror films of 2022. When I tried to do some research and saw the trailer — which I don’t always do, because trailers can spoil more than they contribute — I also detected an Art the Clown vibe from the “Terrify” films. So even if this is imitation or inspiration (and I’m not sure it is), there may be guilty pleasure potential here. Is this so?
The mission: make The Jester film long
In 2016, a short film called “The Jester” was released. It was about a mysterious guy in a shocking orange suit and a scary mask who creatively murders people who aren’t enthusiastic about his tricks. The short film, divided into three chapters of approximately 10 minutes each, had a budget of $500. It took three days of filming with four crew members but went well, with over 30 million views in total.
Here is chapter 2 of the short film, go put yourself in a good mood:
The feature film was shot in Virginia, United States in October 2022 on a budget of $1.5 million. My expectations were low, not just because of the low IMDB rating and bad reviews. I know what we are dealing with. It is difficult to transform a short film into a feature film, and there is no shortage of examples. However, it is possible. Among the solid horror films that started out as shorts, you can find, to name a few, “Saw”, “Smile”, “The Babadook”, “Mama”, “Lights Out” and even “The Evil Dead”, which many people don’t know is based on a short film called “Within the Woods” from 1978.
When I saw the opening of “The Jester,” I thought this might surprisingly work. The opening scene was reasonable and the opening credits featured the Jester in various artistic poses, as if trying to introduce a new horror icon.
The good news: The Jester is a solid villain
When I saw the opening of “The Jester,” I thought this might surprisingly work. The opening scene was reasonable and the opening credits featured the Jester in various artistic poses, as if trying to introduce a new horror icon.
But then the movie really started and everything went wrong. In art, a jester can be a rather mysterious character. Think, for example, of the Jester painting by Polish artist Jan Matejko, or the question of who the Jester is in the sixth season of Masked Singer (John Lyndon from “Sex Pistols”! AH-HA!). Other portraits of jesters and clowns are well known, and many people are afraid of clowns, so the character may scare them.
The problem is that the jester himself can’t hold up an entire feature, especially when it appears to have been shot the wrong way. Director Colin Krawchuk tried, and unlike other disappointing films of recent years – yeah, like that awful Winnie the Pooh horror flick – the result doesn’t look amateurish. However, when we see that the director has only made short films until now, we can wonder if lack of experience is not to blame here.
Instead of making an anthology film with the Jester as a connecting link (like “All Hallows Eve”, the first feature starring Art the Clown) or even a silly horror comedy about young people at a horror fair or weekend cabin being haunted by a sick guy in a costume (there are a few scenes at a horror fair, but it’s very useless), we get a pretty boring story. It stars Michael Sheffield as the Jester, just like in the 2016 shorts.
The story is about two estranged sisters (Lelia Symington and Delaney White) who must come together to find a way to defeat the Jester. Matt Servitto plays John, their father, whom the jester killed at the beginning of the film. The film follows the sisters as they attempt to survive the Jester’s attacks and discover his true identity and motivations. This doesn’t happen, and we have a lot of plot holes and an incoherent story.
What’s going on with all this drama?
The dramatic parts don’t work, and when most of the film’s screen time is tied to the sisters’ story for no compelling reason, it’s problematic. I would say the best moments in this movie are when the bad guys kill “random” people – the people in the cemetery, the police officers, etc. – while the scenes with the protagonists just don’t work. In fact, you can easily cut something like 50-60 minutes from the film and stick to the kills, or even 3-4 “short films” without any connection, the result may be better.
Production of The Jester was led by director Colin Krawchuk, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Sheffield, the actor who played the Jester. Besides the Jester, the acting is far from impressive (and I’m being mild), the dialogue is a bit mechanical, the film is full of plot holes and unexplained passages, and the technical aspects have their faults. While there are decent and creative shots, others must be more convincing. None of these aspects are horrible, but a few cons don’t create a positive score.
To sum it up, “The Jester” movie is a messy attempt, one that falls apart almost every minute the villain is out of the frame. This is a movie that feels much longer than it is (around 80 minutes), and of course not scary either. Although watchable, despite all the problems, the character of The Jester perhaps deserves a more successful film. You know, like “Terrifier” or “The Black Phone”.
