Killjoy (franchise)
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''Killjoy'' is an American
slasher Slasher may refer to: * Slasher (basketball), a style of play in basketball * Slasher film, a subgenre of the horror film * Slasher (tool), a scrub-clearing implement * ''Slasher'' (2004 film), a 2004 documentary film * ''Slasher'' (2007 film), ...
film series A film series or movie series is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. It is a type of series fiction. This article explains what film series are and gives brief examples ...
which focuses on the titular Killjoy, a demonic clown who is summoned to assist revenge plots in all five films, only to prove too overwhelming for each character who calls him.


Films

Produced by
Full Moon Features Full Moon Features is an American independent motion picture production and distribution company headed by B-movie veteran Charles Band. It is known for the direct-to-video series '' Puppet Master'', '' Trancers'', and ''Subspecies'', as well as ...
, the series was established in 2000 with the eponymous first installment, starring Ángel Vargas. A sequel, '' Killjoy 2: Deliverance from Evil'', followed in 2002, which saw Trent Haaga replace Vargas for the role of Killjoy due to Vargas being busy with other projects. In spite of the negative reception of both films, Full Moon filmed a third installment while shooting '' Puppet Master: Axis of Evil'' in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, and in 2010 ''
Killjoy 3 ''Killjoy 3'' (also known as ''Killjoy's Revenge'') is a 2010 American Comedy horror, slasher comedy film and sequel to Full Moon's hit urban horror film, ''Killjoy (2000 film), Killjoy''. Released in 2010, this film is one of several made by Full ...
'' was released. Haaga reprised his role for ''Killjoy 3'', eight years after the release of the previous film. The original film was essentially an effort in the
blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...
genre, and this was carried over to a lesser extent in ''Deliverance from Evil''. Both of these films consisted of a largely
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
cast; however, this element was greatly diminished for ''Killjoy 3'', which was presented as something of a
teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...
-
slasher Slasher may refer to: * Slasher (basketball), a style of play in basketball * Slasher film, a subgenre of the horror film * Slasher (tool), a scrub-clearing implement * ''Slasher'' (2004 film), a 2004 documentary film * ''Slasher'' (2007 film), ...
film. The titular character, as a clown, makes a number of crude jokes throughout the first two installments, but ''Killjoy 3'' appears to be a genuine effort in
black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
. The third installment was also a first in establishing that Killjoy can be summoned through a blood pact; two different spoken rituals are used in the earlier films. The first film had a significantly more generous budget than its sequel, at a projected $150,000, dwarfing the $30,000 budget of ''Deliverance from Evil''. Full Moon Features launched a
Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...
in early August 2014 to help raise funds for their upcoming movie named ''Killjoy's Psycho Circus''. The company announced that the Kickstarter would raise $60,000 while the company itself would add another $100,000 to make sure the series was produced. Full Moon set a one-month limit to raise their funds. The Kickstarter ended on September 3, 2014 and was unsuccessful. Charles Band has been quoted as saying that this is the company's way of experimenting and bringing their brand into the modern way of filmmaking. The film eventually premiered on October 30, 2016, on the
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.


Characters


Merchendising

*A replica of the Killjoy doll was released in 2003 by Shadow Entertainment. *A resin statue of Killjoy based on ''Killjoy's Psycho Circus'' was released in 2017 by Full Moon collectables *A resin statue of Batty Boop based on ''Killjoy's Psycho Circus'' was released in 2017 by Full Moon collectables *A latex mask based on ''Killjoy Goes to Hell'' was released in 2017 by Trick or Treat Studios, sculpted by Tom Devlin. *A cloth face mask featuring Killjoy’s lower face was released in 2020 as part of Full Moon’s Series 2 mask line.


Reception

Jimmy Totheo of
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expressed that the series is "cheesy
b-movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...
goodness".


Comics

A Killjoy themed bong appears in the crossover comic ''The Gingerdead Man meets Evil Bong''. Killjoy and Batty Boop appear in the fourth issue of ''Dollman Kills the Full Moon Universe'', a crossover comic featuring Brick Bardo from Dollman tracking down different Full Moon monsters and villains to kill, published by Full Moon Comix in 2018.


References


External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Killjoy (film series) Full Moon Features films Horror film series Horror films about clowns American monster movies