The Clown Murders is a 1976 horror film directed by Martyn Burke

Martyn Burke

Martyn Burke is a journalist, novelist, screenwriter and director from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His career got started when he began writing and directing documentaries for CBC Television...

. It was one of the earliest films in which John Candy

John Candy

John Franklin Candy was a Canadian actor and comedian. He rose to fame as a member of the Toronto branch of The Second City and its related Second City Television series, and through his appearances in comedy films such as Stripes, Splash, Cool Runnings, The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, and Uncle...

 appears. The Executive Producer was Stephen Stohn

Stephen Stohn

John Stephen Stohn is a Canadian-based, American-born entertainment lawyer and television producer. He is the president of Epitome Pictures Inc., and is executive producer of the teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation and Instant Star , and most recently the television movie Degrassi Goes...

, who now produces the Degrassi: The Next Generation

Degrassi: The Next Generation

Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and...

TV series.

Plot

Four friends don clown costumes and kidnap one of their old girlfriends in what's supposed to be an innocent Halloween prank. Tensions flare quickly, but old jealousy and resentment turn to suspicion and terror when the group realizes that a clown among them has a real ax to grind - and wants them dead! Is a murdering red-nosed stranger stalking the hapless kidnappers, or is one of their own determined to make sure this is one prank that will make them die laughing?

Releases

The film was released by Astral Films in its native Canada on September 17, 1976.

In the United States, the film was first released on VHS

VHS

The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 by Trans World Entertainment.

The movie was released on DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 in 2007 by Image Entertainment

Image Entertainment

Image Entertainment, Inc. is an independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming and film & television productions in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 250 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450...

 under license from Cinevision International.