Clowns are scary. Despite largely being associated with children’s entertainment, people have a deep-rooted fear of these painted performers, so, naturally, quite a few horror movies have made good use of that over the years. In recent years, “Terrifier” slasher Art the Clown has become a straight-up horror icon. All of this to say, the scary clown sub-genre is an enduring one. And now “Clown in a Cornfield” instantly makes a case for being one of the best scary clown movies ever.
I had the good fortune of catching the world premiere of this one at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Directed by Eli Craig, known best as the man behind “Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil,” this adaptation of Adam Cesare’s popular novel of the same name is nothing shy of a horror/comedy delight. It’s funny, it’s gory, it’s well crafted, and it occupies a unique space in the scary clown sub-genre. It does everything it sets out to do and does it very well. Perhaps most importantly of all, it gives us a new potential killer clown icon in the form of Friendo. One can’t ask for more.
The film centers on Quinn (Katie Douglas) who is forced to move to the quiet town of Kettle Springs with her father (Aaron Abrams), in the hopes of getting a fresh start. The community has fallen on hard times after the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down, leading to tensions between the young locals and the town’s elders. As tensions begin to boil over, a sinister figure emerges from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens. Welcome to the party, Friendo.