Five FrightFest Facts with Patrick Rea and Eric Winkler from ‘Super Happy Fun Clown’

Clowns have long been a source of nightmares, but in Super Happy Fun Clown the greasepaint hides something even stranger than expected. The latest horror-comedy from director Patrick Rea and writer-producer Eric Winkler takes the killer clown archetype and warps it into a grotesque yet oddly sympathetic character study. Part slasher, part psychological horror, and part midnight-movie mayhem, the film follows Jennifer, a former child prodigy turned unhinged entertainer, whose Halloween descent into blood and chaos is laced with biting humour and a surprising emotional edge.

Rea and Winkler, whose previous collaboration I Am Lisa left its own mark on the festival circuit, lean into their shared love of horror that makes audiences laugh while they recoil. Early reactions from Panic Fest praised the film’s ability to veer from absurdity to brutality without losing sight of its central character, proving that Super Happy Fun Clown is as much about performance and identity as it is about splatter. With FrightFest audiences primed for both the outrageous and the inventive, Jenn-O the Clown seems destined to become a new cult favourite.

In this Five FrightFest Facts interview, Rea and Winkler discuss the origins of their creative partnership, the cult films they’d most love to see with a late-night crowd, and the festival awards they think horror really deserves.

Patrick Rea, director and Eric Winkler, writer

1. Tell us about your film

Patrick:  I would best describe Super Happy Fun Clown as a dark horror comedy.  I was drawn to it, because I kinda saw it as a fresh spin on the killer clown sub-genre.  I definitely see it as a slasher with a mixture of psychological horror and a hint of John Waters and Troma style humor.  My goal was for the audience to follow the Jen character through her murderous journey and yet still find her oddly like-able.

Eric: Super Happy Fun Clown is about feeling as though one hasn’t lived up to expectations placed upon them, juxtaposed with the blurring lines in modern times between being famous and infamous.

2. How did you get into making movies?

Eric: I was lucky enough to have two parents who took me and my brother to lots of movies and live theater. I saw Robocop (1987) at the theaters when I was 11. I’d always been a writer, having previously written for the major metro newspaper here in Kansas City. When I turned 40 in 2015 I decided to take up screenwriting. Making movies is truly the ultimate collaborative art form and it’s exhilarating.

Patrick: I started making little movies as a teen in high school where I would recruit friends to play the actors.  We had a channel in my hometown that broadcasted from the high school, so I would show my videos on that.  That’s where i got the bug officially.

I eventually attended film school at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.  After graduation I decided to really lean in and make no budget films.  I just kept working until eventually we were able to raise financing for a feature titled “Nailbiter”.

I’m now based out of Kansas City, Missouri and continue to work in the film industry full time.

3. What films would you love to see screened at FrightFest and why?

Patrick:  Well if you are talking about the festival this year, I am excited to see the new The Toxic Avenger since I grew up watching the originals.  But if we want to say, a past favorite of mine, I would have to say Halloween III.  I love that film and I’m glad it’s developed an appreciation from audiences over the years.  The movie tried to think outside the box in terms and may have been a tad ahead of its time.

Eric:  Fright Night (1985) because I adore it, as well as Starry Eyes (2014) and Midnight Son (2011) because they’re both so well-written and underrated.

4. If you could create your own award to give at FrightFest, what would it be and why?

Eric: Full disclosure, I don’t believe in deities, but I would have an award that was either “Most Blasphemous Scene” or “Scene Most Likely to Please Satan.” Why? It makes me laugh.

Patrick: That’s a really interesting question.  I would like to see an award for Best Dark Comedy Moment.  This would go to a film that contained a scene that was grotesque, but made the audience laugh at the same time.

5. If your life was made into a horror film, what would it be called and who would play the starring role?

Patrick: Haha.  It would be the story of a dad who attempts to make his living as an indie filmmaker while raising two girls.  Of course this is a horror film, so I would have to say that it turns out my wife and kids are also space vampires.  So… I would have to get them victims to feed upon, while I’m also trying to get my films funded and made.  I would call it… The Multi-Tasker and it would star Charlie Day as myself.

Eric: It would be called The Failed Catharsis – A story about a mentally ill screenwriter who desperately tries to solve his problems by writing movies about them. It would star a bearded and bespectacled Adam Driver as myself. We look similar.

Super Happy Fun Clown trailer