Clown Panic is an intriguing documentary about the creepy clown craze of 2016
In autumn of 2016, an unsettling trend swept across the U.S. and eventually reached other pockets of the world. People in clown costumes began showing up at random places, often emerging from the woods. Then, nearly as soon as the craze started, it suddenly died down and disappeared.
Clown Panic, a new Hulu documentary directed by Ed Perkins, investigates the ramifications of the creepy clown phenomenon, and the result is an engaging watch that places the widespread event into a greater historical context. The documentary first digs into the start of the panic, which began in a small South Carolina community. Children reported seeing clowns hiding in the woods. Initially, not many people believed the kids, but eventually, it spread, ultimately resulting in nationwide news coverage, police investigations, and even school lockdowns.
The documentary is a good combination of archival footage from a decade ago and interviews with people who were impacted by the craze. For example, there's a young man named Nat who was so terrified by the clowns showing up near his home, dragging chains on the ground and engaging in other unsettling activity, that it left him with some real emotional trauma, and rightfully so. Other interviews include a South Carolina police chief, parents, and actual clowns who note how the craze led to a backlash that made it incredibly hard for them to find work.
Yet, what's most interesting is when the documentary links the clown craze to other moments of hysteria, such as the Communist Red Scare of the 1950s and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and early 1990s. While the connections deserved a deeper treatment and exploration, it does lend some intellectual heft to the documentary and historical and sociological context, too. Additionally, there's a much broader argument about how 2016 was the year the world broke. It was a year of Black Lives Matter protests, the contentious election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Brexit, and a polarized society more broadly. So why, of all years, wouldn't there be an uncanny clown craze in 2016? Did anything make sense? Again, this is a really interesting argument but also one that deserved further exploration.
Near the end of the documentary, focus is given to Christian Torres, who was fatally stabbed in September 2016 in Reading, PA during a clown mask confrontation. This really humanizes the phenomenon and shows that yes, there was a severe negative impact to all of this. The story gives emotional weight and heft to the documentary. There is a question at the heart of the documentary regarding wall-to-wall media coverage that leads to hysteria, but it's more of an open-ended inquiry.
Clown Panic is a riveting documentary about the bizarre clown panic that swept the United States in 2016. Using archival footage and interviews, the documentary explores the real human impact of the phenomenon, while attempting to place it in a greater context of past hysterias. Clown Panic is definitely an entertaining work and perfect for the Halloween season, with emotional and intellectual appeal, too.
Clown Panic will stream exclusively on Hulu beginning October 12.
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