Photo via IMDB
By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
Clowns in horror films is certainly not a new concept, and this movie does not move the needle in creativity but serves up its political agenda in between hacking up teenagers. “Clown in a Cornfield” is a new teen slasher based on the novel of the same name by Adam Cesare. The gruesome kills and limited suspense provide some fun, but the poor acting, cringy dialogue, and predictability shuck its entertainment value.
After the tragic death of his wife, Dr. Maybrook (Aaron Abrams) leaves city life behind with his teenage daughter Quinn (Katie Douglas) for the small, fading midwestern town of Kettle Springs. The town, centered around its once prosperous corn syrup factory with Frendo the clown as its mascot, is slowly deteriorating. Quinn, unhappy with the move, connects with some of the undesirables at the local high school, particularly Cole Hill (Carson MacCormac), who happens to be the son of Mayor Arthur Hill (Kevin Durand).
As the town prepares for its annual Founders Day celebration, Frendo emerges with sinister intent, targeting this group of teenagers. As the murderous clown stalks its prey in and around town, the dwindling group of friends are unable to convince the grumpy old townsfolk of what is happening. Not even Sherriff Dunne (Will Sasso) will listen to their pleas, leaving the teens to face this terror on their own.
Indicative of the movie’s title, this is a very simplistic plot that plays on people’s phobia of clowns similar to “Terrifier,” and incorporates themes akin to recent horror flicks “Founders Day” and “Thanksgiving.” Co-writer Eli Craig also directs “Clown in a Cornfield,” and he does a decent job setting up the suspense, but his inclusion of cheap, obvious jump scare tactics eliminate adrenaline pumping payoffs. He also tries unsuccessfully to include a humorous element, which backfires as a result of the cliched, poorly written one-liners. Craig clearly focuses the dark humor on age related jokes like teenagers unable to figure out how to use a rotary phone or how to drive a stick shift, which quickly gets tired.
Craig does his best to establish a coherent backstory, but the opening scene set decades earlier literally goes nowhere and has no bearing on the subsequent plot points, making it a pointless inclusion. Then, his decision to paint the older townsfolk in a negative light is baffling, making them all come across as stubborn boomers. This culminates in a very predictable conclusion that audiences can see coming a mile away. Craig caps it off by steering the film into the realm of preachy propaganda that will annoy roughly half the population.
On the whole, the acting is subpar, which is disappointing considering Kevin Durand, who was wonderfully hilarious in “Abigail” last year, has a decent role along with Will Sasso, who was pretty good in the Amazon series “Loudermilk.” Unfortunately, the way their characters were written, they both come off as strange and off putting. Katie Douglas is the young actress who has the lead in this film, and she shows some definite chops as the angst-riddled teen with rare common sense. As for the rest of the cast, they are so intent on hitting their marks that they fail to sell their cheesy lines with a shred of credibility.
Slasher flicks are a dime a dozen these days, and this one serves as a cheap imitation, but has a few thrills and half-hearted chuckles to provide a modicum of entertainment value. “Clown in a Cornfield” is unabashedly targeted towards the teenage population with the overkills and age-targeted humor. This is another movie opening this weekend that’s better off being put out to pasture.
This movie earns:
