‘Clown in a Cornfield’ – Review
Hold on for dear life horror fans, because the slasher genre just got a wicked injection of adrenaline, and face paint! Eli Craig, the madman genius behind cult-classic Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, returns to the director’s chair with a gleefully deranged adaptation of Adam Cesare’s cult horror novel Clown in a Cornfield, and this is one hayride you won’t forget. Equal parts savage slasher and side-splitting satire, Clown in a Cornfield is a genre love letter wrapped in entrails and tied up by a monster that delivers pure Coulrophobia psychosis. And it’s an absolute riot from start to finish.
Quinn (Katie Douglas) and her father (Aaron Abrams) have just moved to the quiet town of Kettle Springs hoping for a fresh start. Instead, she discovers a fractured community that has fallen on hard times after the treasured Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down. As the locals bicker amongst themselves and tensions boil over, a sinister, grinning figure emerges from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens, one bloody victim at a time. Welcome to Kettle Springs. The real fun starts when Frendo the clown comes out to play.
Right from the opening frame, Craig revs the horror engine into high gear, dropping us into the backwoods Americana nightmare that is Kettle Springs; a town so drenched in rust-belt anxiety and generational tension it practically sweats gasoline. And then along comes Frendo the Clown. Once a harmless local mascot, now a hellish murder machine with a grin that splits the difference between Itchy the Killer and Pennywise. Armed to the teeth with an arsenal of chainsaws, hatchets, crossbows and a killer smile, Frendo’s here to serve justice with a body count, and trust us, he’s got jokes, and jugs of blood, to spare.
Eli Craig’s direction is sharp, savage, and oh-so-self-aware, lacing the classic slasher tropes we all know and love—the Final Girl, the clueless jock, the shady boyfriend – but with a fresh, Gen-Z energy that absolutely slaps. Just as Wes Craven’s Scream spoke to the MTV generation, Clown in a Cornfield speaks directly to the TikTok era, blending hyper-relevant humor with raw, unfiltered brutality. From rotary phone trauma to manual transmission meltdowns, Craig mines every generational pain point for gut-busting laughs… before gutting someone literally a scene later.
The cast is dialed in and they just go for it. Katie Douglas absolutely crushes it as Quinn Maybrook, our reluctant Final Girl who trades wide-eyed innocence for chainsaw-wielding vengeance, and watching her evolution is a total rush. She brings heart, grit, and a badass edge to a role that could’ve been cliché in lesser hands. Aaron Abrams is equally magnetic as her dorky-but-determined dad, Dr. Maybrook, bringing some unexpected dad-joke flair to the bloodbath. And Carson MacCormac as Cole? He’s your new favorite bad boy — think Johnny Depp in Elm Street meets Skeet Ulrich in Scream, only with more eyeliner and attitude. He’s the wildcard, and he plays it to perfection with a hell of twist thrown in.
But let’s be honest — this is Frendo’s show. And holy hell, what a debut. This chainsaw-swinging, crossbow-firing, molotov cocktail-throwing maniac is the new face of horror iconography. Frendo straddles the line between hilariously absurd and genuinely terrifying, and that balance makes every kill scene feel like a funhouse descent into madness. The violence is nasty, the gore is gloriously gratuitous, and Craig doesn’t flinch for a second. Heads roll, limbs fly, and yes: clown shoes squelch in blood.
What makes Clown in a Cornfield so damn special, though, is its unpredictability. Just when you think you’ve nailed down the rules, Craig flips the board. Characters you expect to survive get splattered. Others rise in unexpected ways. The non-traditional romance subplot adds real stakes and emotional texture. And the film never loses its high-octane rhythm. It’s bold, chaotic, and full of personality; and it’s clearly made by horror fans, for horror fans.
This is a film that demands to be seen with a crowd. A midnight-movie experience through and through, Clown in a Cornfield will have audiences screaming, laughing, cringing, and cheering in equal measure. It’s a party in the cornfield, and Frendo’s brought all the tools.
Clown in a Cornfield is the bloody, bonkers, and brilliant slasher revival we’ve been dying for. With Eli Craig at the helm and Frendo leading the charge, this is a fresh horror-comedy classic in the making. It’s savage, it’s smart, it’s side-splitting; and it’s one hell of a good time.
Image: StudioCanal
