Produced by
Full Moon Features, the series was established in 2000 with the
eponymous first installment, starring Ángel Vargas. A sequel,
Killjoy 2: Deliverance from Evil, followed in 2002, which saw
Trent Haaga replace Vargas for the role of Killjoy due to Vargas being busy with other projects. In spite of the negative reception of both films, Full Moon filmed a third installment while shooting
Puppet Master: Axis of Evil in
China, and in 2010
Killjoy 3 was released. Haaga reprised his role for
Killjoy 3, eight years after the release of the previous film. The original film was essentially an effort in the
blaxploitation genre, and this was carried over to a lesser extent in
Deliverance from Evil. Both of these films consisted of a largely
African American cast; however, this element was greatly diminished for
Killjoy 3, which was presented as something of a
teen-
slasher film. The titular character, as a clown, makes a number of crude jokes throughout the first two installments, but
Killjoy 3 appears to be a genuine effort in
black comedy. The third installment was also a first in establishing that Killjoy can be summoned through a blood pact; two different spoken rituals are used in the earlier films. The first film had a significantly more generous budget than its sequel, at a projected $150,000, dwarfing the $30,000 budget of
Deliverance from Evil. Full Moon Features launched a
Kickstarter in early August 2014 to help raise funds for their upcoming movie named ''Killjoy's Psycho Circus''. The company announced that the Kickstarter would raise $60,000 while the company itself would add another $100,000 to make sure the series was produced. Full Moon set a one-month limit to raise their funds. The Kickstarter ended on September 3, 2014 and was unsuccessful. Charles Band has been quoted as saying that this is the company's way of experimenting and bringing their brand into the modern way of filmmaking. The film eventually premiered on October 30, 2016, on the
El Rey Network. ==Characters==