Hard to rate, aesthetically not my cup of tea and not my cup of tea in general... but it's batshit insane, which is always refreshing. Especially the first 30-40 minutes had some great dark humor. And Carolina Bang is hot.

it was good for what it was, but it could have been so much more. too many canned screams and not enough psycho clown murders.

Utterly bizarre film. I can't say it isn't interesting but seems to feel as if it's trying a bit too hard at times.

lol look at the cover of this movie and then prepare youself for the insanity. I loved the visuals you get and the idea of what would you thinik if you saw this in real life. Im being vague because i dont want to give to much away but i loved how bizzare this movie was. The ending was a little to muddled for me and there could have been improvements in certain areas of the plot but overall it was a memorable watch and i enjoyed it.

Overall Enjoyment: 15/40, Plot/Themes: 10/20, Cinematography/Direction: 15/20, Acting/Writing: 10/20 This film had an interesting premise and some great imagery, but ultimately the main plot was weak. Not really worth a watch unless you are easily amused by clowns participating in violent antics.

26 mart 2011, 22. ankara film fest., bati sinemalari salon1 & keske son yarim saatinde daha az aksiyon olsaymis. ama guzel anlatilmis, politik imgelerle orulu bir grotesk- disavurumcu film. ayni kadini (devleti) farkli sekillerde seven (sagci-solcu) iki farkli karakterdeki adamin sonunda siddet kullanarak birbirinden farki kalmamasi ve sevdigi kadini (devleti) oldurmesi / zarar vermesi. yine de tekrarliyorum, keske son yarim saatindeki aksiyon daha az olsaymis. bir sure sonra absurd bir hal aldi

Unnecessarily violent, chaotic script and badly written characters in an overambitious mess with a few moments of pure brilliance (e.g. the prologue).

Well that's peculiar...

A psychotic sad clown and an equally psychotic happy clown embark on a rivalry for an acrobat that reaches absurd lengths. It got me in the opening with the line "A clown with a machete. You'll scare the shit out if them." The clown then runs headlong into a Spanish Civil War battle wielding a dress and wielding a machete!!! The film is beautifully shot with great imagery. If you've ever wanted to see a clown hoist two assault rifles and go to town, this is the movie for you.

"Álex de la Iglesia holds back nothing, a strategy that generates a compelling sense of the phantasmagoric nightmarishness of Franco's Spain." - Nick Schager

Though some critics mentioned Fellini b/c of the overall strangeness/circus iconography, this has far more in common w/ Asian style cinematic violence like Ichii the Killer. No ambiguous farting around here; there's a narrative (however crazed) & meaningful subtext. The film poses 2 contrasting ideas on masculinity: b a tyrant or b demeaned & though the meaning gets lost in the zig-zagging middle, once the film resets its characters 4 a final collision it's a thrilling batsh-t ride 2 the climax