I personally don’t understand this horror theme going on with clowns these days. I mean, seriously.

^^^^

The above comment was my deluded opinion before I’d watched Heath Ledger play the role of the mentally deranged ‘Joker’ in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008). Man was that some scary as … clown. Now, this particular clown was horrifying because of what can only be described as a fantastically psychotic portrayal by Heath Ledger. Now, watching ‘Clown Train’ I disappointedly realised I was rather intimidated and perhaps the tiniest bit fearful of this clown. One of the reasons that led to my emotional response was the sound effects in this film, which I think worked successfully in not only creating a frightening character but also, enhancing the menacing atmosphere of the film itself. The most effective use of sound, in my opinion, was in the silent moments that seemed to exacerbate the sinister ambience in this environment. Not only did it create a serious tension between the two characters in the film but also, continually established the isolation of the two in this sickeningly menacing environment. Furthermore, the oddly dominant buzzing sound of the inner train (which developed a realistic portrayal of a train) continually enabled a desolate and dangerous atmosphere, which succeeded in making me somewhat uneasy. Although non-diegetic, I feel the high-pitched screeching sound perfectly fit with the mood of the scene and helped intensify the audience’s anxiety regarding the predicament of the boy. I’m reminded of the most recent genre film I saw, ‘Paranormal Activity’. Now, what’s interesting about this film is that, although the scenes are made to be as though non-fictional, they utilize the same sound elements as Clown train, in an attempt to instill fear. For instance, when, and this occurs in all 5 movies, the characters are asleep in bed, there is a continual diegetic buzzing sound that appears to be from the camera. Such a buzzing sound synonymously establishes an uncomfortable ambience. Similarly to Clown Train, extended moments of silence take place immediately before a loud screeching sound which functions to speedily develop anxiety within the audience. What I have begun to acknowledge and understand is that, specific genre films such as that of horror, employ almost identical sound techniques in order to achieve a very similar, fearsome atmosphere.