The Clown at Midnight

Lore & Background

The plot centers on high school student Kate, who discovers she is the daughter of opera singer Lorraine Sedgewick, killed years earlier in her dressing room. The killer was thought to be actor Lorenzo Orsini, but the opera house closed. Kate and friends restore the building, but a clown-masked killer begins murdering them one by one. The killer is eventually revealed to be Mr. Caruthers, the opera house owner, who killed Lorraine because she denied him love. Kate's father, Lorenzo, had been living in the opera house and told George about Caruthers before being killed.

Reader's Guide

The Clown at Midnight is a late-1990s Canadian slasher film that draws on opera and clown imagery. It features a cast including veteran actors Christopher Plummer and Margot Kidder. The film was shot at the Burton Cummings Theatre in Winnipeg, with the Richardson Building and 201 Portage visible in a rooftop scene. Released on VHS in 1999, it later appeared as a double feature with Phantom Racer in 2010. The film is noted for its use of the Pagliacci opera as a backdrop and its twist involving the opera house owner as the killer.

Did You Know?

• The film was shot at the Burton Cummings Theatre in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba.
• In a rooftop scene, the Richardson Building and 201 Portage at Portage and Main are visible.
• The film was released on VHS on August 31, 1999.
• It was released as a double feature alongside Phantom Racer on October 5, 2010.