Do You See Me? A Horror Film That Misses the Mark

Do You See Me (2017)

Written by Harel Goldstein, Charles Morris Jr and Corbin Timbrook

Directed by Corbin Timbrook

Emily is being stalked by a rogue clown. He’s everywhere…including her closet. Emily (Rya Meyers) finds herself being harassed by a creepy clown amidst news reports of women being murdered after being stalked in a similar fashion. Videos of women hiding in their homes, terrified and fearful for their lives, appear online but not everyone believes them; are they just a click bait trend?

However, if the recordings are genuine, why are the women being targeted and who is this clown? Could the costumed freak have something to do with Randy, her ex (Philip Boyd) who Emily keeps giving the brush off when he tries to talk to her? Could it be the old police chief (Sal Landi) who knew her dad and turns up out of the blue to offer help (conveniently)? Or perhaps the creepy Taylor (Taylor Piedmonte) whose unreciprocated attentions at Emily’s gym could be spurring him on to get his own back? Maybe it’s the mild-mannered janitor who… wait, that’s a different show….

MILD SPOILERS AHEAD

Well, it’s none of them.

Do You See Me? Is making a statement for the Me Too movement; a commentary about women not being believed, even when they are clearly victims. With doubt around the online videos and dubious characters sown throughout the movie, no one seems to be taking Emily’s stalking too seriously. Even her own sister forgets to turn up at Emily’s house for a ‘sleepover’ when Emily is fearful for her own life. Should they be taking things seriously or is Emily seeing stuff that just isn’t there.

Sadly, the film doesn’t explore this in any real depth, and any statement about the movement comes across as a flimsy coating on a largely unfulfilling experience. Considering everyone around her seems incapable of taking Emily seriously, even her sister, it feels more like Emily is just surrounded by dicks, rather than the movie acting as a reflection of society. 

Which is a shame as, frustratingly, Do You See Me? opens really strong with a clown cutting off the face of a nameless victim and holding up the gruesome flesh mask to the night sky; a blood-drenched trophy that hints at a gory exploitation film to follow!

But then the gear changes and we hardly see the clown (or any blood and gore) again until the very end of the film and, when we do, he just isn’t that scary (and is gore free). Taking killer clowns and making them unscary is no mean feat, but Do You See Me? manages it. There are a couple of decent jump scares but, while occasionally a little creepy, after that first great scene the clown just doesn’t give out particularly menacing vibes.

Indeed, after that horrific opening, the rest of the film is a little repetitive with Emily getting a “Do You See Me?” text from an unknown number and then, yep, seeing the clown standing around to freak her out. Of course, as soon as she tells someone, the clown is gone and everyone is doubtful as to what Emily might have seen and, as I said, no one seems to take her seriously.

She needs proof but, for a copper’s daughter, Emily is very good at losing evidence. At one point the police suggest she wait and hope the guy gets bored! What happened to Protect and Serve? This does feed the movie’s message around Me Too, but just felt a little unbelievable; would the police really say that amidst the suspected clown murders?

The climax of the movie, ultimately, disappoints. The ambiguity and loose threads are obviously designed to shock, but it just left me feeling, meh? So what? There is no complexity. The mystery of the clown is not solved and the obfuscation and questions around who it might be felt wasted, a cheap trick, rather than a clever plot device.

If it was trying to be mysterious and enigmatic, it didn’t work, it just feels empty. Even if having the clown be the Police Chief or Randy out for revenge would have been a clichéd trope, Do You See Me? would have benefited from that. It just falls a bit flat by playing the audience but failing to provide a satisfying pay-off.

I don’t like to be overly critical. As I have said many times before, it takes a lot of guts and effort to make a movie and to put it out there for people to judge. Do You See Me? isn’t awful, it is generally well made and the acting, on the whole, is okay.

The writing and direction are good for a low-budget chiller, but the parts just don’t quite gel together; it doesn’t deliver on the promise of the premise. After that bloody, scary opening that suggests you are in for a gory ride, the movie takes a very different turn and just doesn’t manage to scare or thrill to the degree you would expect. Even the poster suggests a more psychological approach, with the clown mask overlaid on Emily’s face. Is SHE the clown?

Coming out in 2017, one year after Terrifier, Do You See Me? is always going to suffer from unfair comparisons to a film that took killer clowns and dialled them up to 11. I may be missing the point, but the movie gave me mixed messages with that opening and I am not sure it knows what it wants to be. One for giggly teenagers on a sleepover perhaps, rather than anyone looking for a terrifying clown experience.