The 10 Best Horror Movies About Scary Clowns

Horror movies about clowns are their own specific breed of awesome. Some of the best horror movies out there center around the diabolical sweetness — or lack thereof — of clowns, so there's no underestimating how truly terrifying they can be within the right circumstances. Sure, there are some truly bad ones out there, but those truly pale in comparison to how much the good ones absolutely rock. One could even argue that the presence of a scary clown automatically elevates any horror movie, but that one might be just a matter of taste at the end of the day.

That said, there's no denying horror is truly a safe haven for the weird and wonderful, and evil clowns definitely fall within those categories. In fact, culture's most memorable clowns call horror their home. Horror allows for audiences to safely explore the antithesis of the joy clowns can conventionally give us, and, boy, has the genre risen to that challenge in the best possible ways. May we always have scary clowns to terrify us and make us think. 

Here are the top 10 best horror movies about clowns, ranked.

A list about horror movies and clowns simply would not be complete without Rob Zombie's directorial debut "House of 1000 Corpses." This black horror comedy follows a group of teens who are kidnapped and tortured by a psychotic family while traveling cross country. Obviously, it's very "Texas Chain Saw Massacre," but that doesn't stop the film from being its own brand of gnarly and great. It's got Zombie's dark and gritty sensibilities all over it, and as the first of his films, it starts to visually develop that style he'd become known for.

When it comes to the clown elements, this film is lucky enough to be the first appearance of one of Zombie's most beloved recurring characters. Captain Spaulding, our clown in question, is the sneaky and outlandish leader of the Firefly family and the owner of the gas station-slash-chicken joint where the film kicks off. 

The late Sid Haig, who passed away in September 2019, played Spaulding with a real sense of twisted nonchalance that made his every move something terrible to anticipate. Haig's character is so realistic; You can easily picture yourself running across a weirdo like him in some small middle American town, and that's a huge part of what makes him and his clown persona so terrifying. Spaulding makes this film as despicable as he is in the best possible way.

The thing about the third film in Damien Leone's "Terrifier" franchise is that it's the best movie, so to speak, of the three. Sure, Art the Clown, played impeccably by David Howard Thornton, is absolutely horrifying, but when it comes to the actual craft of "Terrifier 3," this film looks and feels much improved from its predecessors. Leone clearly found his footing as an independent filmmaker with access to a large budget, which allowed him to focus not only on the guts and gore, especially in the movie's most shocking moment, but the overall tone and story, which is much improved in this third installment and follows Sienna (Lauren LaVera) after she's several years recovered from the Miles County massacre from "Terrifer 2."

It's hard to understate how good Thornton is as Art. It's a performance that quite literally thrills and chills. This time around, the character is much funnier than ever before, thanks to cartoon inspirations, and it adds to both the comedic relief and the eeriness of the character. This film feels like it's giving us Art the Clown in his final form... that is, until the movie quite literally cracks open in the final act, forcing audiences to face the bleak reality of what heroic lead Sienna must do in order to finally defeat Art's evil for good. Oh, and did I mention this one's a Christmas movie? Great stuff. 

If you love absolute absurdity, look no further than 1988's crazy and cool "Killer Klowns From Outer Space." This film definitely has much more of a low-budget aesthetic than any of the other movies on this list, but it also has that undeniably 80s flair that's hard — and, frankly, cringe — to fake. It's endearing because it isn't crisp and clean and full of immaculate CGI. It just wouldn't be the same if it was made today.

On that note, the movie's clown design would also undoubtedly suffer if the film was more recent. The clowns of this bizarre little movie are completely unique, never again to be replicated even by the weirdest and most wild films since. Their outlandish ridiculousness is the key ingredient that makes the movie one that still endures to this day. It's simply just so much fun that it becomes wholly unforgettable, and that's definitely grounds for making it on the list of the best movies about scary clowns.

It might be true that "It: Chapter Two" is the weaker of the two films, but that doesn't mean that this horror sequel isn't totally terrifying. The thing about this second film is that it morphs the fears of the young kids from "Chapter One" and reshapes them into terrors fit for their adult counterparts. It's pretty scary watching the series' central villain, Pennywise the Clown, shift his tactics and feed on adult insecurities instead of just your standard irrational teenage worries.

That said, Pennywise himself also feels like he's a scarier version of himself in this film, with actor Bill Skarsgård using every opportunity on screen to instill a fresh sense of dread and horror within the audience. There are several unforgettable set piece moments with Pennywise in this sequel, including that moment when the Loser Club ends up down in the sewers and the clown finally shows off his utterly horrific true face. 

As a coming-of-age film that tackles adulthood, "It: Chapter Two" more than succeeds, but as a horror film that eats away at everything that makes adulthood stable, the film more than knocks it out of the park, and we have our pal Pennywise to thank for that.

There's no clown movie quite like MCU Spider-Man director Jon Watts' directorial debut "Clown." The 2014 horror drama follows a family man named Kent who agrees to dress as a party clown for his kid's birthday party after the hired clown fails to show up, but he quickly realizes that he can't actually take the costume off, and horror ensues. "Clown" is incredibly grounded as a film; It feels as bleak as real life can feel, and it shines a bright and necessary life on the horrors of being a responsible adult just trying to make ends meet for your family. Any viewer who has struggled to survive can relate to Watts' central character, despite the outlandish nature of what he becomes.

"Clown" definitely went pretty much unnoticed in the mainstream, but it is still discussed by horror heads to this day because of its absolutely killer effects. This film becomes a body horror masterclass and a clown movie for the ages through the purely horrific makeup work that shapes Kent's terrifying transformation. There's no denying "Clown" is one of the most underrated clown horror movies the subgenre has to offer.

Talk about a classic. The original adaptation of Stephen King's "It" is technically a miniseries, but no matter how you classify it, the 1990 original adaptation is one of the most memorable clown stories out there. With this version of King's story, it's all about the sense of dread. There's nothing all that mystical or magical about this adaptation. Instead, it exists firmly in the realm of reality. Despite the fact that Pennywise obviously doesn't fit into those confines, there's something eerily disarming about him that draws you in.

Maybe it's the Brooklyn-style accent legendary actor Tim Curry puts on for Pennywise, maybe it's the character's superior nonchalance and sinister omnipotence. But he feels less like something weird and fantastical, and more like a deeply sinister guy who kills people in full clown regalia. Despite the ridiculous nature of the whole thing, there's something real and terrifying about that. The naturalism of Curry's performance is the icing on the cake, anchoring the film in something that feels real but is far from it. That ultimately makes the characters and the audience that much more terrified.

When it comes to the reboot, "It: Chapter One" is definitely the standout of the two films. The 2017 Andy Muschetti film is our introduction to Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise, a character that has since made a big impression on not only the horror world but the film world at large. It's a major first impression to make, but Skarsgård has proven himself particularly good at getting deep into the heads of deeply demented horror villains over the years. Arguably, he owes that privilege to his work as our favorite dancing clown. As Pennywise, Skarsgård embodies the puzzling terror that can only be emitted by something otherworldly. His performance stays with you from the storm drain scene onward, and then into your nightmares.

As a film, Muschetti's movie is an excellent marriage of coming-of-age tenderness and mind-bending horror. Being this is the part of the "It" story that follows the Loser Club as kids, the film uses their youthful impressionability to its advantage and makes that a strong foundation for its scares. That decision, along with the strength of Skarsgård's performance, is what makes this movie so good. Playing on the specific kind of fears a child would have not only makes the scares believable for the characters, but also for the audience. "It: Chapter One" just gets it.

This underrated Halloween gem just might be my favorite movie on this list. 2019's "Haunt" is brought to you by none other than "A Quiet Place" writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, so you know right off the bat that it's going to be one for the books. But add in a sprinkle of "The Houses October Built," and you've got yourself a terrifying good time. The movie follows a group of friends who challenge themselves to stick it out in a local extreme haunted house, only for them to unwittingly step into a real-life house of horrors and begin a fight for their lives.

The vibes on this film are pure terror, especially when things really start to kick off. Those vibes hinge on the sense of dread the characters have as they progress further into the haunt, and thus into the unknown, as well as the bizarre haunt actors they meet along the way. Naturally, there is a particularly menacing clown at the core of the devious group behind the haunt, but his gleeful lack of morality is what makes him so memorable. There's a reason this clown is featured on the film's poster: He's the personification of everything that's terrifying about the scenario "Haunt" presents.

When it comes to horrifying clown movies, "Terrifier" is a surefire success. The very first film in the "Terrifier" franchise follows two young women who end up being stalked by the most disgusting killer clown ever, Art the Clown, on Halloween night. It's a simple enough premise, but "Terrifier" uses that simplicity to its advantage tenfold. This is the first time (in the main "Terrifier" movie timeline) where audiences got to experience David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown and everything he can do in that role. With his debut performance in this 2016 film, it's easy to see how the character has become a horror icon as he's evolved over the years.

This first film of the "Terrifier" franchise is one of the most independent and DIY on this list. But because the actual production of the thing isn't reinventing the wheel, it really lets the menace of Art's character stand on its own and prove how much it can carry a movie. This is obviously the first attempt at letting Art run wild over a feature runtime, but it's so fun, exciting, and downright horrifying that it's hard to walk away from it without feeling like it's one of the best evil clown movies in the history of the canon.

If you can stomach a slow burn, there's nothing quite like the clown-induced terror of 2015's "Hell House LLC." The faux documentary film follows a group of friends who work together to stage a haunted house attraction in 2009. The movie within the movie seeks to understand what went wrong when the opening night of the event descended into a nightmare after some kind of mystery malfunction caused the death of 15 guests and staff members.

"Hell House LLC" is one of those found footage films that will forever have its place in the highest rankings of the subgenre. It may not be full of jump scares and cheap shots, but the way it slowly creeps under your skin and makes a home in your bones is unmistakable.

One of the most unsettling elements of the film's story is the clown standees the group intends to place in different rooms of their haunt. They're undoubtedly completely creepy on their own, but then these guys start moving when the creators of the haunt aren't looking. The film does the most incredible job of crafting genuinely terrifying moments surrounding these standees, ones that don't inherently rely on jump scares. There's one that takes place in a bedroom that comes to mind, and fans will remember it as one of the most haunting of the entire film. 

This is a movie that will slowly but surely creep up on you until you simply can't ignore the terror it's going to inflict, and there's no denying it deserves the top spot on this list of horror movies about scary clowns.