''Killjoy'' is an American-Chinese

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...

slasher Slasher may refer to: * Slasher (basketball), a style of play in basketball * Slasher film, a subgenre of the horror film * Slasher (tool), a scrub-clearing implement * ''Slasher'' (2004 film), a 2004 documentary film * ''Slasher'' (2007 film) ...

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

which focuses on the titular Killjoy, a demonic clown who is summoned to assist revenge plots in all five films, only to prove too overwhelming for each character who calls him.

Films

Produced by

Full Moon Features Full Moon Features is an American motion picture production and distribution company headed by B-movie veteran Charles Band. It is known for the direct-to-video series '' Puppet Master'', ''Trancers'', and ''Subspecies'', as well as the film ''C ...

, the series was established in 2000 with the eponymous first installment, starring Ángel Vargas. A sequel, '' Killjoy 2: Deliverance from Evil'', followed in 2002, which saw

Trent Haaga Trent Haaga (born 1971) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for his work on independent horror films, such as ''Deadgirl'' (2008), '' Cheap Thrills'' (2013), and '' 68 Kill'' (2017). Career Haaga came to ...

replace Vargas for the role of Killjoy due to Vargas being busy with other projects. In spite of the negative reception of both films, Full Moon filmed a third installment while shooting '' Puppet Master: Axis of Evil'' in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and in 2010 ''

Killjoy 3 Killjoy 3 (also known as ''Killjoy's Revenge'') is a 2010 American slasher comedy film and sequel to Full Moon's hit urban horror movie, '' Killjoy''. Released in 2010, this film is one of several made by Full Moon Entertainment in an attempt to r ...

'' was released. Haaga reprised his role for ''Killjoy 3'', eight years after the release of the previous film. The original film was essentially an effort in the

blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...

genre, and this was carried over to a lesser extent in ''Deliverance from Evil''. Both of these films consisted of a largely

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

cast; however, this element was greatly diminished for ''Killjoy 3'', which was presented as something of a

teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

film. The titular character, as a clown, makes a number of crude jokes throughout the first two installments, but ''Killjoy 3'' appears to be a genuine effort in

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

. The third installment was also a first in establishing that Killjoy can be summoned through a blood pact; two different spoken rituals are used in the earlier films. The first film had a significantly more generous budget than its sequel, at a projected $150,000, dwarfing the $30,000 budget of ''Deliverance from Evil''. Full Moon Features launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

in early August 2014 to help raise funds for their upcoming movie named ''Killjoy's Psycho Circus''. The company announced that the Kickstarter would raise $60,000 dollars while the company itself would add another $100,000 to make sure the series was produced. Full Moon set a one-month limit to raise their funds. The Kickstarter ended on September 3, 2014 and was unsuccessful. Charles Band has been quoted as saying that this is the company's way of experimenting and bringing their brand into the modern way of filmmaking. The film eventually premiered on October 30, 2016, on the

El Rey Network El Rey Network (Spanish for ''The King'') is a media brand founded by Robert Rodriguez on December 15, 2013, that is currently owned in a joint venture with FactoryMade Ventures. Until December 31, 2020, El Rey was a cable and satellite network ...

Characters

Reception

Jimmy Totheo of

JoBlo The JoBlo Movie Network includes a website, JoBlo.com, which focuses on news, film reviews, and movie trailers; and YouTube channels that focus on trailers, movie clips, celebrity interviews, original content, and as film distribution. Early da ...

expressed that the series is "cheesy

b-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

goodness".

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Killjoy (film series) Full Moon Features films Horror film series Horror films about clowns American monster movies