The genre mashup slasher from RJLE Films and Shudder presents a great concept, but not much else.
As slasher films continue to see a resurgence in the film space, clowns, specifically, have generated a lot of buzz for the past decade for horror overall. Thanks to Pennywise from Stephen King’s It and Art the Clown from the Terrifier films, clowns are a hot-ticket item if everything aligns just right. Both aforementioned clowns managed to do so and have generated much love and appreciation over the years, ultimately boosting the horror genre. So, it makes perfect sense to adapt the popular horror book from 2020, Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare. The title alone is catchy enough, and having reputable studios like RJLE Films and Shudder backing it gives us that much more to like about it. Add in the final piece–director Eli Craig of the cult horror comedy Tucker & Dale vs. Evil–and you have the ingredients for something potentially exceptional. However, the finished product for Clown in a Cornfield that hit the screen is nothing special. In fact, it is quite disappointing, despite having a couple of good qualities going for it that could have made it otherwise.
Set in a small town in Missouri, we find a place stuck in the past with its traditions that was once famous for producing corn syrup of all things. The town is synonymous with its mascot, Frendo the Clown. Enter a doctor and his teenage daughter who move to this small town and are starting a new life while trying to adjust. When the teenage daughter becomes friends with other high school kids, she learns more about how the town has fallen on hard times. But before long, one by one, her recently made new friends begin to drop like flies. And it appears Frendo the Clown is somehow behind it.
Clown in a Cornfield is aware of itself in that it’s not just a horror film, despite what some of the marketing materials may present to you. Like the director’s film Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, it wears its mashup of horror and comedy genres proudly on its sleeve. And I get that. Not every horror film needs to keep you on edge from beginning to end, nor does it necessarily need to be dark or something completely original. However, the mashup of genres here strikes an odd balance when it goes back and forth between genre lanes where the results make for oddities in striking horror and laughs with mixed results. While some moments come off chilling, others intended to scare or terrorize result in no impact. And while some moments meant to make you laugh may generate laughs, others don’t have the same effect. Overall, it makes for a viewing experience that feels off kilter, where the commitment to either genre is not good enough in many scenes to either frighten you or make you laugh.
Some of this off balance can be attributed to the script, which was written by director Eli Craig and Carter Blanchard. And from the script, it then can be attributed to the cast. I will say that the adult cast is perfectly fine, whether it’s Aaron Abrams (The Lovebirds), Kevin Durand (The Strain), or comedian Will Sasso (How I Met Your Mother); they do the most with what they were given to work with. However, the high schoolers, led by the doctor’s daughter (Katie Douglas), are just not likable here, which is not ideal when they are the main focus here since they are the ones being targeted by Frendo the Clown.
There are parts of Clown in a Cornfield that I do greatly appreciate. The setting, production design, and some of the kills by Frendo the Clown are excellent. In addition to this, there is a great, unique spin on the slasher genre (though it won’t be spoiled here) in its effort to get to the bottom of what’s going on with the whole killing spree. However, the execution of mashing up genres gets as lost as a burned-out jack-o’-lantern in a corn maze (and the film takes way too long to finally get going). The effort here is notable, and I will certainly support the inevitable sequel that will be greenlit. But the results in this first go-around might even leave Homey D. Clown shaking his head.