What gives you nightmares? For many people, clowns are at the top of the list. What is it about the classic entertainers that is so scary? And, what would you do if you slowly started to transform into a demonic form of the childhood staple?

I sat down with Eli Roth to explore just that. Roth, who came onboard the feature film as a producer after a fake trailer was created and attributed to him, explained the process of bringing the film to the big screen which was no easy task. Completed for some time and released outside the United States for several months, Clown was met with controversy from the beginning. A modern day Grimms’ fairy tale, Clown is the rare horror movie that actually puts its children characters in danger, a choice that the creative team ultimately decided to stick to even when the going got tough.

Finally, Roth sang the praises of director Jon Watts who is now directing Spider-Man: Homecoming for Marvel. It goes without saying that it’s quite a jump from an R-rated, grisly horror movie to what’s rumored to be a John Hughes style coming-of-age story. But for Roth, it was no surprise at all. Watch our discussion about horror, nightmares, and lots more above!

The official synopsis is below:

CLOWN is a story of a loving father who dons a clown outfit and makeup to perform at his son’s sixth birthday, only to later discover that the costume – red nose and wig included– will not come off and his own personality changes in a horrific fashion. To break the curse of the evil outfit, the father must make grim choices with his own family facing danger.

Clown, starring Peter Stormare, Laura Allen, Andy Powers and Elizabeth Whitmere, was produced by Eli Roth and directed by Jon Watts. It is in select theaters and available on VOD Friday, June 17th.