Another Hole in the Head Film Festival Review
521 North Main Street review.
521 North Main Street is the address of The Clown Motel in Nevada. It is now also the site of a strangely entertaining movie.
Festival reviews will not contain spoilers.
521 North Main Street
Directed by Marc Morales
Written by Marc Morales
Starring Jennifer Clark
521 North Main Street Review
521 North Main Street is the address of the Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada. It’s a real motel situated next to a cemetery. The quirk is its abundance of clown memorabilia. It’s a neat concept if anyone ever found themselves in need of a room while stuck halfway between Las Vegas and Reno. For the purposes of the movie 521 North Main Street the Clown Motel serves as the setting for a paranormal show called The Entity Explorers. No…I don’t know why they didn’t call the movie The Clown Motel. I’d seek out a movie with that title. I had to look up the point of this one.
Taylor is the host and creator of The Entity Explorers. It’s just a web series now…but she has hopes it will soon be picked up for tv. She leads her crew to the world-famous Clown Motel to see what all the fuss is about. There’s Brooke the medium who can commune with spirits. Milo the paranormal investigator who has the experience. Frank, who has a degree in parapsychology. And Lou…the videographer who likes to give Taylor a hard time. It’s a solid crew that we’ll spend the duration of 521 North Main Street following around.
When they arrive at the motel, they’re greeted by Albert…the motel manager who is very into a specific clown doll. Like…turn around and go home at this point into it. Of course, they wouldn’t have much of a show (or we a movie) if they had done that. Instead, the group checks into the room and we await some clown action.
Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long. There are three clown entities that roam the halls of the motel. They are quick to introduce themselves to the group. The Terror shows Lou the special art project he’s been working on…cutting out a woman’s eyes with his razor. The Juggler mocks Frank with the voice of his own child…and juggles. Reno The Clown is just an all-opportunities weirdo. The clowns are, unsurprisingly, the highlight of 521 North Main Street. Opting for entertainment over atmosphere…the clowns’ irreverent attitudes towards terror and killing are a joy. Sure, they’re annoyed when the group casts a protection spell and locks themselves in a room for safety. But it’s just a matter of time before they get to play.
You may be concerned that 521 North Main Street is a found footage movie given it’s a story about a paranormal web show. It isn’t. There is some camera footage mixed in, but the movie largely plays it straight. The town that surrounds the motel is empty…void of any entertainment to draw the crew away from the haunted grounds. Not that they could escape the property once the clowns appear anyway. They even explain the lack of cell phones in a way that makes sense. They are unable to charge their phones because the motel’s (haunted) electricity is on the fritz. Sometimes the little things really help, you know?
The group starts to get whittled down, as you’d expect. One by one. Taylor becomes possessed. Almost immediately…which is surprising since she seemed to be the main character. We can be sure it isn’t an act when Lou shoots her in the head and she gets right back up. Everything leads to a fairly frantic climax. There is a perfect flashback/joke near the end. It shows off what 521 North Main Street does best. Keep a light tone while murder and mayhem are afoot. The clown trio set that tone completely. Their mundane chatter about horrible things is wonderful.
Some effects are better than others. The Terror’s eyeball trick leaves a good effect in its wake. Later, a detached head effect does not work nearly as well. You can almost feel the shoulders move the base underneath. It doesn’t use Brooke’s ability to talk to the dead enough either. An early scene with a child shows us what could have been…but it never reaches that level of brief effectiveness again.
But those missteps are hardly the movie’s purpose. The purpose is to have some awesome clowns go about their job of doing murderous clown stuff. Without the great clown performances…there wouldn’t be much to 521 North Main Street. It thinks some of its other characters are funnier or cleverer than the script makes them. You’ll be rooting for the clowns. Luckily, I’m pretty sure that was the point.
Scare Value
Choosing entertaining over atmosphere was the right call for 521 North Main Street. Attempts at amusing chatter can be a bit overwhelming (and more miss than hit) early in the story…but everything gels together for a fun time at the old Clown Motel. The clowns steal the show. Just as it should be.
