Dustin Ferguson directs this homage to some great classic genre films and with a 45-minute runtime, makes its short and sweet.

Ten years ago, Gilbert Gacy was a serial killer who dressed up in a clown mask and butchered his way through a small town. He was eventually caught and burned to death by a group of townsfolks and the mayor. Flash forward to the present day. It’s Halloween and a group of kids decide to throw a party at an abandoned house. They soon realize that it is the former home of Gilbert Gacy, and lo and behold, he’s back and looking to carve up more victims.

Dustin Ferguson has always had his share of homages and delightful Z-movies into the world of horror. For this film, he pays homage to some of the greatest genre films, notably The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Of course, it’s obvious with the former because of the title, but interestingly enough, the latter comes into play due to a flashback scene that offers a shocking into the story as it pertains to the present-day crop of victims.

Cody Banks (not the agent Frankie Muniz played in the early naughts) is quite menacing as the killer Gilbert Gacy (based on real-life serial killer John Wayne Gacy), who mainly uses his chainsaw but uses other tools such as a kitchen mixer in one scene as well as a few others. It may seem like a joke at first but using the right lighting effects shows how much scary Gacy is.

The cast of present-day victims all play characters that have their first names. Some of the film doesn’t offer much but show the group just having fun at a Halloween event before going off to have their ill-fated party. At least we get to see Gilbert open up the film and taking out two victims before we get into the present-day, which even feels like a dash of Halloween mixed in when we meet Jennii, Schuylar, and Breana. The characters are of course, somewhat stereotypical of the genre, but doesn’t rely on notable TnA, but more on the violence.

The Clown Chainsaw Massacre is a fun 45-minute gem from Dustin Ferguson. Playing homage to mainly Texas Chainsaw and Nightmare, this has a small dash of Halloween, and the kill scenes are quite fun.

WFG RATING: B-

SCS Entertainment presents a 42nd Street Films production. Director: Dustin Ferguson. Producers: Brad Banacka and SCS Entertainment. Writer: Dustin Ferguson. Cinematography: Dustin Ferguson. Editing: Dustin Ferguson.

Cast: Dan Peters, Breana Mitchell, Jennii Caroline, Jeff Claflin, Schuylar Craig, Lucas Schmidt, Daniel J. Stier, Kerry Waybright, Cody Banks, Sydney Hendricksen, Jzun Lankkford.