Eli Craig’s “Clown in a Cornfield” is, at first, precisely what you suppose it’s, till it applies a couple of twists that make it funnier and solely a bit bit smarter than you’d count on.
Is {that a} advice? In an period of most mainstream films being a sequel, prequel, remake, rebrand or “rebirth,” it’s refreshing to discover a stalk n’ slash horror comedy that’s a bit bit higher than most.
Nonetheless, coming from Craig, who beforehand directed and co-wrote the hilarious slasher film “Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil” (2010), which is without doubt one of the greatest movies of its kind (the kind being “The Cabin within the Woods” and “Scream”), I anticipated much more.
The plot: Quinn (Katie Douglas) and her father (Aaron Abrams) expertise private tragedy and search to rebuild their lives by shifting to a small city. We all know from the pre-title sequence that the city has a historical past of homicides, involving individuals being murdered by mysterious figures dressed as clowns.
Whereas Quinn is straight away distrustful of her new environment, she is enthusiastic about Cole (Carson MacCormac), a good-looking native who expresses his curiosity…by giving her the present of a windup jack within the field with a clown inside.
Uh oh.
The excellent news is that, whereas “Clown in a Cornfield” depicts the mayhem occurring over the city’s Founder’s Day, the movie itself is so significantly better than the dreadful “Founder’s Day” (2023).
The unlucky information is that “Clown in a Cornfield” isn’t as sharp or humorous as one other film it carefully resembles, Eli Roth’s career-best “Thanksgiving” (2023), which additionally has a holiday-parade-gone-bad sequence.
A lot of Craig’s movie is concerning the distinction between the present and prior technology, with plenty of jokes made on the expense of younger folks who can’t survive with out Wi-Fi, are unable to drive stick shift and don’t know learn how to dial a rotary telephone.
A few of these gags are very humorous however the horror works higher than the comedy, if solely as a result of the gentle scares are constant. I needed extra jokes and fewer soar scares.
Of the solid, the very best work comes from character actor professionals Kevin Durand (who actually ought to have been Oscar-nominated for “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”) and Will Sasso (whose insane depiction of Steven Seagal was considered one of my favourite issues on “Mad TV”).
The apparent query – is “Clown in a Cornfield” nearly as good as “Killer Klowns from Outer House” (1988)? Nope, not even shut. “Killer Klowns from Outer House,” the gonzo sci-fi/horror masterpiece from the Chiodo brothers, exploited each angle attainable of face-painted serial killers. Craig’s movie is excellent however, for starters, to ensure that it to compete with “Killer Klowns,” it at the least wanted a catchy theme track.
I suppose this isn’t going to assist anybody recognized with coulrophobia, which is the worry of evil clowns. Neither is the “IT” spinoff collection, “Welcome to Derry,” which is because of hit MAX any day now.
All of those evil clowns call to mind my buddy Ryan, who proudly advised me he went to clown faculty and studied the artwork of clowning. I haven’t seen Ryan in a very long time and surprise what he’d make of his artistry changing into referred to as fodder for violent horror films.
“Clown in a Cornfield” has an underwhelming begin, a robust and thrilling center, after which an ending that over-explains and fizzles out. It feels just like the form of teen-baiting slasher films that Dimension tossed out within the late Nineties- not “Scream,” however “Phantoms” (1998). A minimum of “Phantoms” had Ben Affleck…Affleck was the bomb in “Phantoms.”
Anyway, in the event you see “Clown in a Cornfield” this weekend, I extremely suggest making the most of the chance to see the movie at a drive-in movie show. The distributor has the movie scheduled to premiere in fairly a couple of drive-ins.
I recommend going to carload.com and discovering out when and the place “Clown in a Cornfield” is taking part in. Ideally at a drive-in surrounded by a close-by cornfield.
Two and a Half Stars