Four friends hatch a scheme to dress up like clowns on Halloween and kidnap a businessman's wife (Susan Keller) to prevent him from closing a land deal.

Though the scheme is intended as a prank, it takes an ugly turn when real violence is used at the kidnapping.

As the kidnappers deal with the fallout from their actions, it becomes apparent that an outside party (also in a clown costume) is stalking them.

[1] In the United States, in 1985 the film was released on VHS and Betamax by Trans World Entertainment, with John Candy receiving first billing on the cover, and his photo appearing on the back cover, despite his small role in the film.

[4] Kurt Dahlke from DVD Talk gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, writing, "The Clown Murders is almost worth a rent for Canadian Cinema scholars or rabid fans of '70s sleazo-crime dramas in this incarnation, but it stinks so much as is that it's really hard to go out on that limb.