THE JESTER is a new horror movie coming to theaters (limited) and on VOD. The title character is an awesome slasher villain that horror fans are bound to love. Read our full The Jester horror movie review here!
THE JESTER is a horror movie with a title character that I could’ve easily kept following. He never speaks, but his actions speak much louder than words, so it works out perfectly. Also, it tends to end in blood, which is exactly what you need from a slasher villain.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t an entirely good horror movie experience and it becomes a bit of a mash-up experience. One that works for a while, but then doesn’t. The actual title character, however, is one I would love to watch another movie with.
Continue reading our The Jester horror movie review below. Find it in theaters (limited) from September 29, and on VOD from October 3, 2023.
Love the villain
The plot of The Jester plays out during Halloween, which makes the release of this horror movie perfect. And the villain is easily one you could imagine people dressing up as on Halloween. Of course, it’s not the simplest of costumes as it features a cool orange suit and an impressive mask and top hat.
This particular Halloween night is after the recent death of a man, who had two daughters with two women. The two sisters are estranged. In fact, they’ve never met, which seems to be due to the father wanting to leave his old life behind when he moved on with a new wife and had another child.
In any case, the two sisters end up having to band together when a malevolent being – oh yes, this would be “The Jester” – is following them and leaving bodies left and right. As the story evolves, the title character turns out to be much more than “just” a man in a mask. The question then becomes; How do you fight a monster you don’t even truly understand?
Personally, I found myself not caring much about anything other than The Jester, which is a bit of an issue. When the villain is so entertaining and mesmerizing that you want to keep watching him, it does defeat the purpose of having someone fight him. Then again, the villain is almost always the most entertaining character, so it’s not like it’s groundbreaking in that sense.
From slasher to deeper drama
The plot and style of The Jester worked really well for me at first, but it loses its way somewhere. Instead of focusing on the slasher story, it turns into a horror drama of sorts. One that is much more serious and deals with real-life issues in symbolic ways.
There’s a good story there as well, but combining these two stories did not work for me. It feels like two different movies mashed into one. Instead of this mash-up, I would much rather have watched both movies seperately.
The Jester stars Lelia Symington (Brut Force, Bury Me Twice), Delaney White, Matt Servitto (The Sopranos, Banshee), Ken Arnold (Swagger), and Sam Lukowski (Satanic Hispanics). As The Jester himself, we get one of the writers as Michael Sheffield play the title character – just as he did in the original short films.
Watch The Jester in theaters or on VOD
Colin Krawchuk is the writer and director of The Jester. The movie is based on a story by Krawchuk and Michael Sheffield. It was originally a YouTube short film (or trilogy of shorts) that enjoyed millions of views there. Again, I can easily understand why because the actual Jester character is awesome.
Eduardo Sánchez, who was a co-creator of the original (and iconic) horror blockbuster The Blair Witch Project, is an executive producer on the movie along with Patrick Ewald and Mary Beth McAndrews.
As mentioned above, The Jester is based on a short film trilogy by Colin Krawchuk. You can watch the short films on YouTube and we’ve included the short film trilogy at the bottom of this review – find it just beneath the trailer for this feature film adaption. If you like what you see, then be sure to check out this new horror movie as well.
The Jester is getting a limited theatrical run from September 29, 2023, followed by a VOD release on October 3, 2023.
Details
Director: Colin Krawchuk
Writer: Colin Krawchuk
Cast: Lelia Symington, Matt Servitto, Ken Arnold, Sam Lukowski
Plot
After the recent death of their father, two estranged sisters find themselves being stalked by a malevolent being known as The Jester. Revealing himself to be more than just a man in a mask, the evil entity begins to further torment the inhabitants of this small town on Halloween night. The path to defeating this unholy monster lies with the two sisters who realize that the only way to survive is to figure out how to right the wrongs of their dark past.
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