Written and directed by Colin Krawchuk, co-written by Michael Sheffield (who also plays the titular Jester), a malevolent being known as ‘The Jester’ terrorizes the inhabitants of a small town on Halloween night, including two estranged sisters who must come together to find a way to defeat this evil entity. Starring: Matt Servitto, Lelia Symington, Delaney White, Ken Arnold, Mary Jane Pentony and Sam Lukowski.

The idea to have a villain, monster or spirit taking advantage of your vulnerabilities stemming from anger, regret or resentment, is always rife with potential. Using those emotions to break people down is a classic formula of horror and for good reason. The same goes for using a broken relationship in need of fixing being thrown together in chaos and violence, horrifying experiences bring people together. So, using all of that as the foundation for The Jester was a good plan, the execution however, can’t quite pull it off.

One of the issues is when dealing with a horror film such as this, success is typically found in either scaling back and playing it understated and creepy, or throwing the rulebook out and going for brash, loud excess, and The Jester lands somewhere in the middle ground. It has its moments of violence and there’s a theatricality to its menacing man meets monster but in between, it’s falling back on a dramatic style which undercuts the thrill.

Part of that is the progression, things move slowly, which leaves the balance in tone leaning too heavily on drama. Without more frequent injections of fear or threat, it can’t maintain a more vicious energy and ends up feeling a tad sentimental. Although the performances definitely try to bump up the sense of dread, particularly Lelia Symington. The mix of darkened memories and anger that she creates makes for a good leading character, while Delaney White and Matt Servitto can tend to push The Jester away from horror and towards family, grief and emotion.

The same goes for the direction and cinematography, there are a few moments where it hits a sharper note, the fairground scenes in particular. However, there’s also a lot of scenes that feel very everyday and are missing the atmosphere to keep a darker, sinister energy going. Although the directorial work itself is solid.

The Jester plays things a bit too close to home, unable to find the right balance between family drama and malevolent horror. There are some good ingredients at work but they’re not achieving their full potential. It struggles to build up a bigger or more constant threat, instead feeling sporadic, making it difficult to create a gripping atmosphere to keep you glued in.

Verdict: ✯✯ | 4/10

Available on VOD from October 3 in the US