Clown in a Cornfield is Breezy Fun
Special thanks to Braden and Shudder for the screener!
The weekend before its theatrical release, Clown in a Cornfield had early showings at drive-in theaters exclusively. It’s not only a fun and genius idea, but I think it shows that its distribution team knows exactly what they have in store for horror fans and are leaning into it. It’s what really caught my interest about this because to be honest with you, the title Clown in a Cornfield didn’t do much to excite me. I know, we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover*, but it just sounded like one of those throwaway horror movies you find deep in the pit of a streaming service. But this is very much not the case here. What we have instead is a fun slasher that’s going to fit perfectly into your October watchlist.
After a Jaws-esque prologue, the movie centers on Quinn (Katie Douglas) and her father Glenn (Aaron Abrams). After a family tragedy, the two move to the small, quiet town of Kettle Springs, much to Quinn’s dismay. As they begin to settle into their new lives, Quinn befriends a couple of shitheads from school who take the town’s mascot, a clown named Frendo, and turn him into a scary killer on their Youtube channel. But as the annual Founders’ Day festival approaches, the hijinks become reality when an actual killer clown wreaks havoc deep in the cornfields.
Yeah, listen, if you’ve seen slashers before, then this all sounds incredibly familiar. The new person in town, the misfit crew, the small town, the local urban legend, all your slasher tropes are here down to the killer clown. The movie’s plot may not win points for originality, but where lesser films stop at the cliches, Clown in a Cornfield has a lot of fun with those familiar elements. It makes for the movie to be a breeze at ninety minutes, and the movie has a great sense of pacing, with very little padding time. It’s quick fun, which goes a long way.
That being said, there is a lot that made Clown in a Cornfield stick out among the crowded slasher genre. While it is very cliched, there’s a little more going for it once we reach the halfway point. There’s an underlying theme of generational divide that was interesting, if a little half baked. It has some hilarious moments that made me laugh out loud a couple of times. Frendo is a fun monster that gets to cause some gnarly havoc. The cast is great too. The teens really lean into their stereotypes which cause some of the biggest laughs. Katie Douglas’ is the standout here though. She’s fantastic in this movie and I hope we get to see her in more horror movies in the future (or comedies, she’s really funny in this). I still have to give credit to Will Sasso and Kevin Durand here, veterans who always know the assignment. Also, the movie’s setting and atmosphere do a great job of getting you in the Halloween mood. The small town, the bonfires, the cornfields, it all had me almost wanting to skip through summer and go right into the fall.
My biggest negatives are with the slasher stuff. When things get going we almost fly through a little too quickly to the movie’s underwhelming final act. This hits harder only because there’s a moment where I thought the movie was really going to amp up the kills, only for it to fall a little flat. I wish we did a lot more with the chase scenes here too. I feel like horror movies in general have just been lacking with those.
That being said, Clown in a Cornfield is still a super fun time. It’s light, breezy fun with a great cast and a great sense of humor that made me wish I sought it out in a drive in. If you feel like your Halloween party playlist is getting stale, go ahead and add this one in. It’ll fit perfectly.
*The movie is actually an adaptation of a novel written by Adam Cesare. I’m extra proud of using the phrase for this.
