I had never heard of Adam Cesare’s YA novels. So, I felt left out when the internet started getting excited about the film adaptation of Clown in a Cornfield. I knew director and co-adapter Eli Craig’s work because who hasn’t seen Tucker and Dale vs Evil or Zombieland at this point. So, I figured I knew the score and prepared myself for a horror comedy that might have a few cool kills. However, that is because I was unfamiliar with this clown’s game. On the other side of this SXSW World Premiere, I am also a believer and want to spend more time in this world.
Frendo the Clown Unleashes Chaos in This Horror Hit
Clown in a Cornfield follows Quinn Maybrook (Katie Douglas) and her dad, Dr. Maybrook (Aaron Abrams), as they move to the fading midwestern town of Kettle Springs. The town’s factory was shut down after an incident, and the tensions are high as townsfolk point fingers. The film starts in familiar territory as the new kid falls in with the “wrong crowd” and slowly realizes this town is weird. We even get the father-daughter arguments as she tries to warn her father something is going on. However, right when you think we have seen this before, Frendo the Clown is unleashed, and this movie becomes a bloody feast for horror fans.
One of the many things working in Clown in a Cornfield’s favor is how it captures the fractured town dynamics. It hints at what’s bubbling under the surface without giving too much away. I love this because when things get wild, we are genuinely shocked. It’s a pleasant, and shocking, surprise. The humor also works in the film’s favor as it reminds the audience this new generation does not have the same experiences as us elder millennials. Our theater was cackling at some of these moments that, along with the epic kills, make this movie a crowdpleaser.
From YA Novel to R-Rated Gore: The Adaptation That Works
Clown in a Cornfield has so many inspired kills among the carnage that it’s hard to not have a good time. It’s also effortlessly funny as it takes us through familiar territory, but does it slightly better than some of the movies that come to mind when reading the premise. This feels like a gory extended episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? I mean that in the best way because that is the kind of nerd I am. This also makes sense because the source material was a YA horror novel, so even as an R-rated movie, it’s baked into the final product.
My biggest gripe with the film is that during the chaos, it finds time to spell its thesis out to the audience. I hated that because many of us followed along and understood the what, why, and how. So, having a character in peril state the obvious felt like it slowed the pace and paused the tension. It was the only time I rolled my eyes, and it is not enough to throw the whole film out with the bath water. It’s a tiny issue compared to all of the stuff that Clown in a Cornfield gets right. It is hard not to love this violent, funny, and just plain cool slasher. Between this and Heart Eyes, 2025 is shaping up to be a great year for my favorite subgenre, as we rarely get two firing at this level so early in the year.
Clown in a Cornfield arrives in theaters on May 9.
