The teen slasher will never go out of style. Sure, the waves of cinematic trends always come and go, but for the horror genre, there is arguably no safer staple than what Roger Ebert dubbed the “Dead Teenager Movie.” They just tick all the boxes. There is something about the foolhardy, cocky and often arrogant nature of teenagers that makes them easy pickings for a serial killer, enabling the audience to enjoy the blood-splattered romp of the movie rather than get to like and root for the characters. When you’re in need of a safe bet for a horror experience, this is where it’s at.
I guess you could say the same for Clown in a Cornfield, the latest such offering, based on the book by Adam Cesare. I’m unfamiliar with the book, but if the movie is anything to go by, it doesn’t add much to the well-worn subgenre. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; after all, the whole point of comfort viewing is that it is predictable, something you already know you enjoy. But what makes Clown in a Cornfield so aggressively mediocre is that it is a tonally muddled patchwork of a million better horror movies, taking little snippets from here and there and mashing them all into one very unsatisfying movie.
What is ‘Clown in a Cornfield’ About?
Quinn (Katie Douglas) is your average obnoxious teenage girl, who seems to be modeling herself on Lydia Deetz, but with a serious attitude problem. Her dad (Aaron Abrams) is a hardworking, widowed medical doctor who has moved his daughter to the town of Kettle Springs to start life anew after the death of his wife. He’s a very sympathetic figure, clearly just doing his best for his daughter and his own mental wellbeing, so it is much to his disappointment (and mine) that Quinn is a raging asshole who seems intent on making this difficult time in her old man’s life worse by any means necessary.
Quinn quickly falls into a group of delinquents who are frequently the target of supposedly unfair discipline and scrutiny by the adults, and they regale her with the local fable of Frendo the Clown, who supposedly haunts the cornfields surrounding the now-abandoned corn syrup factory that the town used to make its living from. The teens hold regular parties at a nearby barn, and one night, they inevitably attract the attention of Frendo, who, it seems, is more than just a legend. Chaos ensues, dozens of better movies are ripped off, and despite a few fun kills, it leaves you feeling not very much of anything.
‘Clown in a Cornfield’ Transcends Homage and Goes Right to Rip-Off
Of course, the horror genre loves to pay homage to the greats, and even the more obscure movies that came before. But this is usually through either stylistic choices or more Easter egg-style winks at the audience. Clown in a Cornfield feels like such a muddled mess of pre-existing ideas that it soars right past homage and lands in rip-off territory, with not a single original thought in its head. Two annoyingly dumb girls are right out of Hatchet, the gang meet in a Breakfast Club-style detention session before holding an illicit Footloose party in a barn; Quinn’s dad is kidnapped and forced to perform surgery on one of the bad guys, à la Saw 3, and the big reveal is ripped straight from Hot Fuzz, of all things. And believe me, this is only the tip of the iceberg.
The problem is that the movie can’t figure out if it’s tongue-in-cheek or serious, and whether it’s paying tribute to other movies or simply copying their homework. The third act spins out into full comedy mode, which could have worked if the rest of the movie had committed to this tone. But it starts out as a fairly serious film, with father and daughter at odds out of grief and having to settle into a new home, before the movie loses sight of any sincerity it was building by the halfway point. The tonal problem is not at all helped by the abundance of overacting, particularly from Katie Douglas, who, at times, serves face straight out of a telenovela, and ends up embodying the goth kids from South Park. She stops just short of glaring from under her bangs and saying, “Gawd, Dad, you’re so embarrassing!” Frankly, she is a thoroughly unlikeable character, even by teen horror standards, so I couldn’t give less of a sh*t if she ends up as crow food in a cornfield. In fact, I was actively rooting for it, and not in a fun way.
‘Clown in a Cornfield’ Has a Couple of Decent Characters and Kills
It’s not a completely unwatchable movie, as it does have its little surprises here and there. The male lead is gay, and rather than his sexuality being his entire personality, or being played as a flamboyant stereotype, he is actually allowed to just be a person. Aaron Abrams as Quinn’s dad brings a quiet sensitivity that the movie desperately needs, somehow never losing his temper at his daughter’s inconsiderate behavior, accepting that she is suffering too.
When it comes to the horror itself, it’s not bad. Almost all the kills are done with practical effects, often with wirework that helps to sell the physical strength and unstoppable nature of the killer, and there are a few deaths that, while not outrageously gory, work well because they happen so suddenly and unexpectedly. The reveal of who is doing the killings, and why, is a nice, if unoriginal, touch that speaks to the wider impact of local industry failing. A bit more exploration of the lore surrounding Frendo the Clown wouldn’t have gone amiss, and a more even distribution of its snarky, goofy tone would have served the final product better. Although Clown in a Cornfield has a built-in fanbase thanks to its literary origins, I don’t see Frendo being the next horror icon, mostly because of who he is underneath the mask. It’s a passable teen slasher, and not much more, but if nothing else, it’s good to see that young adult horror fiction is making enough of a splash for production companies to be interested in adapting it for the screen — even if the results are less than stellar.
