Private Project

Killing Giggles

Tommy dos Santos wasn’t born a psychopath, really, nor was he made into a sociopath, per se. He was something entirely new, and he was walking his own path – a path that will run red with the blood of the foulest most fiendishly frightening creatures ever conceived by man… CLOWNS!

No longer the madmen and monsters that nightmares are made of, it is the clowns who are the victims now, running for their lives from a killer who won’t stop until every single one of them is dead. As Tommy’s body count rises, he finds himself getting closer and closer to what he thought was a ghost, the once great clown king known as “Giggles,” and wonders… if laughter can’t die, how about Giggles?

From the mad movie-making mind of writer/director Jaysen Buterin (“Between Hell and a Hard Place,” “Don’t Let the Light In,” “The Corner”) comes KILLING GIGGLES, the proof-of-concept short film version of KILL GIGGLES, a harrowing Hitchcockian horror story that will take a timeless terror trope and turn it on its rainbow wig-covered head.

All the world loves a clown... no one ever said it had to be alive. Next summer, it’s time to send in the clowns… to die.

  • Jaysen Buterin
    Director
    The Corner; Don't Let the Light In; Between Hell and a Hard Place; The Gospel According to Booze, Bullets & Hot Pink Jesus; The Decapitator
  • Jaysen Buterin
    Writer
    The Corner; Don't Let the Light In; Between Hell and a Hard Place; The Gospel According to Booze, Bullets & Hot Pink Jesus; The Decapitator; War of the Living Dead
  • Duane A. Sikes
    Producer
  • John R. Mazza
    Producer
  • Tom Gore
    Producer
  • Jesse H. Knight
    Producer
  • Michael Ray Williams
    Key Cast
    "Tommy dos Santos"
    Between Hell and a Hard Place, Zombie Fried Chicken, A Few Brains More
  • William Mulligan
    Key Cast
    "Uncle Kookie"
  • Justin Reich
    Key Cast
    "Elevator Evan"
  • Jesse H. Knight
    Key Crew
    DP, Camera Op, Editor
  • Esmerelda James
    Key Crew
    Sound
  • Chao Vang
    Key Crew
    Gaffer, Key Grip
  • Ron Wasserman
    Key Crew
    Original Score Composition
  • Project Type:
    Short, Other
  • Genres:
    Horror, Thriller, Suspense, Dark Comedy
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 56 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 31, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Mad Monster Party
    Charlotte, NC
    United States
    February 17, 2018
    Special Sneak Peek Premiere
  • MystiCon Independent Film Festival
    Roanoke, VA
    United States
    February 24, 2018
    OFFICIAL WORLD PREMIERE
    WINNER: Best Director; Best Make-Up Fx/Costume
  • Days of the Dead: Charlotte
    Charlotte
    United States
    May 20, 2018
  • Crimson Screen Horror Film Festival
    Charleston, SC
    United States
    May 26, 2018
    South Carolina Premiere
  • ConCarolinas Short Film Festival
    Charlotte, NC
    United States
    June 2, 2018
    BEST ACTOR: MICHAEL RAY WILLIAMS
  • Austin Revolution Film Festival
    Austin, Texas
    United States
    September 21, 2018
    Texas Premiere
    NOMINEE: BEST MICRO HORROR; BEST FX
  • Scarest That Care Film Festival
    Williamsburg, VA
    United States
    August 4, 2018
  • GenreBlast Film Festival
    Winchester, VA
    United States
    September 1, 2018
    WINNER: BEST PRODUCED SHORT SCREENPLAY
  • Wreak Havoc Horror Film Festival
    Greensboro, NC
    United States
    September 22, 2018
    Greensboro Premiere
  • Halloween Horror Picture Show
    Tampa, FL
    United States
    September 21, 2018
Director Biography - Jaysen Buterin

Writer. Director. Actor. Musician. Drummer (wait for it…). Model. Artist. Canvas. Columnist. Proudest Papa EVER. And as Creative Director of the straight jacket-tested/doctor-approved Mad Ones Films, from Greensboro North Carolina, Jaysen Buterin's mission has been to show the unbridled kaleidoscopic creativity just waiting to be unleashed when the inmates are finally allowed to run the movie-making asylum. More comfortable behind the camera as the writer/director of the award-winning "Tarantino meets Twilight Zone" sin-soaked short film trilogy, "The Gospel According to Booze, Bullets & Hot Pink Jesus," the on-the-road killer thriller, "Between Hell and a Hard Place," or the sinister stay-at-home horror hits of "Don't Let the Light In" and "The Corner," he's also at home in front of the camera, acting in such frightful and delightful films as "Knob Goblins," "Loop," "Hybrid," "Born Again," "Mama's Boy" and "Identity Thieves". Currently Buterin and the Mad Ones are working on their very first feature-length film, the coulrophobia-courting/clown killing goodness of "KILL GIGGLES"!!!

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Killing Giggles is the proof-of-concept short version of a feature film of the same name that we're currently fundraising.

Everyone has seen and heard the story of the maniacs, the monsters, the serial killers who dress up as clowns to spread fear and terror. But what if there was a serial killer OF clowns, terrorizing them with fear instead? And with that one derailing train of thought in my head I sat down to write, and direct, Kill Giggles – a harrowing Hitchcockian horror story that will take a timeless terror trope and turn it on its rainbow wig-covered head.

With over 13 award-winning short films under my belt, I felt I was ready to face one of my worst nightmares. No…, not my first feature, but rather the floppy-footed foul fiends who will be starring in it. Because I am absolutely terrified of clowns, I have been almost my whole life, or at least since I saw Poltergeist. Conversely, I've loved movies for just as long, if not longer, so I thought what better way to exorcise those particular demons? And with that, the idea of killing Giggles was born.

While the cameras (and the clown heads) won't start rolling on the feature until later this summer, we wanted to distill the look and feel of the film down to a "proof-of-concept" version to increase awareness and build up publicity for our grand endeavor to follow. Thus, the deliciously deadly short you're about to watch, KILLING GIGGLES! Because remember, while all the world may love a clown, no one ever said that it had to be alive.