Ever since 1978, with John Carpenter’s Halloween, slasher films have been a mainstay for horror. Wes Craven’s Scream took the genre to a whole new meta-level, with many copycats failing to reach the same heights. Eli Roth’s 2023 Thanksgiving was one slasher that brought the horror stabs back in style, and filmmaker Eli Craig’s Clown in the Cornfield, co-written by Carter Blanchard and adapted from a novel by Adam Cesare, is another comedy-infused whodunit slasher in the same small town, rural vein.
The story follows Quinn Maybrook (Katie Douglas) and her father, the doctor (Aaron Abrams), as they move from Philadelphia to the quiet, midwestern town of Kettle Springs in order to get a new lease on life. The town is full of rising tensions and tough times, compounded exponentially by Frendo the clown (who looks like a more cartoonish version of Pennywise from It mixed with Art from Terrifier for good measure), murdering teen townspeople in inventive ways.
Quinn meets a rich, attractive love interest named Cole (Carson MacCormac) in school and starts hanging out with his clique: Matt (Alexandre Martin Deakin), Tucker (Ayo Solanke), Trudy (Daina Leitold), and Janet (Cassandra Potenza). Their idea of demented fun is dressing up as Frendo to film fake YouTube videos of them killing each other in order to rack up the views.
“…Frendo the clown murdering teen townspeople…”
The town has been in economic hard times after the local Baypen Corn Syrup Factory closed down and was then burned down in an arson. Adults such as Cole’s dad/the town mayor (Kevin Durand) and Sheriff Dunne (Will Sasso) blame everything on the younger generation, while the writers and Eli Craig make a conscious decision to portray the older generation as largely aloof and uncaring. It’s a stark contrast from the usual society blaming of younger generations that has gone on for decades (if not longer), so I find that aspect to be a refreshing change from the norm.
The kills in the movie are fresh and gory (such as the old weightlifter being killed by weights gag but with a sharp twist), but not quite on the shock-value level of something from the Terrifier franchise. The whole thing has more of a humorous and twisted fun vibe than anything scary. My main gripe is that not all characters are fully fleshed out (that’s probably saved for the book), nor is the motivation for the killer(s).
Katie Douglas proves herself to be a fine addition to the long line of celluloid scream queens with charisma. With these types of films, it’s always interesting for me to try to figure out who the killer or killers will be. The finale ratchets up the town mayhem to insane levels, with the twists and turns sure to be a shock. As they say in Scream, “Everybody is a suspect!”
Clown in the Cornfield does not reinvent the wheel of the slasher genre by elevating it as Scream did, but it doesn’t have to in order to be a fun time, ala Thanksgiving. Good old-fashioned slashers never get old for horror fans as long as they’re done right, and this is like a fresh splatter to the head with a smile.
"…like a fresh splatter to the head with a smile."
