The horror genre is indebted to teenagers, especially slashers. For decades, slashers have delighted audiences with scenes of teens being massacred in every way, shape and form. Still, for the most part, slashers are aimed at adult audiences who see the teens as dumb and deserving of punishment rather than people they identify with. Even outside of the slasher genre, horror tends to be either for kids or for adults, with a few movies for young teens here and there. The YA demographic, however, is sorely misrepresented, forced to either see movies dumbed down for younger audiences or ones that treat them like kids.
There are exceptions, of course, like the successful “Fear Street” trilogy based on R.L. Stine’s YA book series, and now Eli Craig’s “Clown in a Cornfield.” Written by Craig and Carter Blanchard, the movie adapts the book of the same name by Adam Cesare. There are three books in the “Clown in a Cornfield” series so far, and Craig’s movie is a compelling argument for doing the same on the big screen, as this delivers the same kind of gnarly adult kills but with a big YA heart and tone as the “Fear Street” trilogy did. It may not rewrite the rules of the genre, but it does deliver a lean, mean, fun killer clown movie with wide-audience appeal that speaks loudest to Gen Z.
Before we meet the killer clown that will heavily reduce the teen population of the film’s world, we meet Quinn (Katie Douglas) and her dad, Dr. Glenn Maybrook (Aaron Abrams) just as they arrive to their new hometown — Kettle Springs, in the middle of nowhere someplace in the Midwest. Though Glenn is excited about trying to get a fresh start for himself and his rebellious daughter, and to heal after the tragic death of Quinn’s mother, Quinn is not having any of it. For one, it’s clear that every adult in town is out to get the local youth, with a malicious grudge larger than the victim’s list for the titular clown, and it doesn’t take long before Quinn starts getting in trouble with the local authorities. At least she quickly makes friends, but unfortunately for her dad, her new friends are a particularly troublemaking group. The film’s protagonists/victims-to-be include Janet (Cassandra Potenza,) Cole (Carson MacCormac), Ronnie (Verity Marks), Matt (Alexandre Martin Deakin) and Tucker (Ayo Solanke).
The film’s emotional core is the story of Quinn and her father, who just tries to do his best in a bad situation and mend their relationship. Just like Craig managed to balance the laughs and the horror of “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil” with a healthy dose of sympathy for the lovable hillbilly duo, he makes “Clown in a Cornfield” as much a vicious slasher film as he makes it a coming-of-age story. There are plenty of scenes of Quinn just learning about life and forming a bond with her dad — like a heartwarming scene where he tries to teach her to drive stick.
But enough about feelings and learning about life! How are the kills? How is the clown? Well, it brings a lot of joy to say “Clown in a Cornfield” has the goods.
The titular clown is Frendo the Clown, the former symbol of the town’s booming corn syrup industry, now returning to commit some gruesome murders. Much like “Fear Street,” the film’s teenagers are characters you actually care about, with personalities, flaws, and motivations. But it is also a movie with some mean and brutal kills. There are pitchforks to the gut, bench presses gone seriously wrong, a clown chasing teens with chainsaw, and a third act that unleashes a massive bloodbath. Don’t let the YA label fool you, this is a gnarly horror movie. Still, the film has a big sense of humor — like a phenomenal and hilarious scene where the teens find a disembodied head and play with it, thinking it’s a prop, only to realize in horror what they’re holding. The film also wears its influences on its sleeve, but it uses those influences in order to create something new rather than just remind you of other movies.
The film streamlines the novel, introducing a cool mythology for the town and a sense of history of adults constantly talking about the good old days, and a generational divide that’s at the center of the film’s themes of ageism and classism. Not that “Clown in a Cornfield” aims to be the movie that radicalizes the youth, but it does make the film poignant and topical.
After its debut at the SXSW Film Festival, “Clown in a Cornfield” opens in theaters on May 9.
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