Ticketworthy! - Clown in a Cornfield

It’s a little odd to see Clown in a Cornfield coming out just a few weeks after Hell of a Summer. Both are sleek, modern takes on the slasher genre, and they both pay homage to their inspirations to the point of being predictable. The difference is that Clown in a Cornfield has the good sense to also be a ton of fun. It’s easy to overlook some of the flaws when the movie is having a great time and taking you along for the ride.

Maybe it shouldn’t come as a shock that the film is fun, given that it was written and directed by Eli Craig. Craig is the writer/director responsible for the brilliant Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, as well as the underrated gem, Little Evil. Both of those films lean a bit more into comedy than his latest outing, but the skill, energy, and clear love for the genre are all still very much present. The writing and dialogue are sharp, the kills are inventive, and the characters mostly feel realistic and three-dimensional. Craig does a great job both with the script and the direction.

He also, as usual, gets the absolute most out of his cast. Katie Douglas plays Quinn, the new girl in a small town who falls in with a group of teenage friends who, for some reason, the whole town seems to hate. Unsurprisingly, the teens start getting killed off one by one by a killer clown, Frendo, and Quinn has to try to put a stop to the murders. Quinn is a genuinely likeable final girl—one that I suspect is going to be remembered for a while. Part of that is the fantastic performance that Douglas gives. It’s impossible not to root for her. The rest of the cast is not quite on her level, but they’re all still very good. I found myself rooting for each of these characters at different times and watching them die was always a little bittersweet.

I will admit that the first half of the film, where we’re meeting and establishing all these characters, drags a bit. It’s a lot of setup that doesn’t seem interested in straying from the standard “slasher movie” playbook. We’ve got our heroine, a group of teens partying and breaking the rules, and a masked killer on the loose. It’s all stuff we’ve seen before. Frendo also isn’t a particularly interesting villain. He’s no Freddy or Jason.

Then, at about the halfway point, things take a turn. I can’t say much without spoiling the plot, but I’ll just say that the second half of the movie goes off the rails in a wonderfully ridiculous way. The kills get much more brutal, and I love how quick they are. Characters die in the blink of an eye, without warning. Normally that might be considered a bit lazy, but here it feels very intentional and serves to keep you firmly on the edge of your seat. It’s a blast.

If you’re at all a fan of the slasher genre, Clown in a Cornfield may be my easiest recommendation of the year. It may not be reinventing the wheel, but it overcomes the predictable nature of the genre admirably and adds some polish to its tried-and-true formula. It also gives us the first truly iconic final girl we’ve had in quite some time. Despite a few minor issues and a less than stellar villain, this story about a killer clown still definitely gets the last laugh.