“Missing the nuance of the book.”
When I watched the trailer for Clown in a Cornfield earlier in the year and saw it was based on the novel by Adam Cesare, I decided it was my next Audible listen and very quickly moved my way through the three books released in the series. So I’ve eagerly been looking forward to this slasher with a twist for some months now, and given the film’s smaller budget, I’m happy to say it’s a decent adaptation that hopefully can build upon this base with more money in a sequel.
Quinn (Katie Douglas) and her father, Dr. Glenn Maybrook (Aaron Abrams), have just moved to the small, middle-of-nowhere town of Kettle Springs. Very quickly, Quinn gets some weird vibes about the place. It is stuck in the 1950s, and the adults are all very abrasive to her. However, Quinn manages to meet some people and make some friends with love-interest Cole (Caron MacCormac) and his group of short-film creating, TikTok prank-loving Janet (Cassandra Potenza), Tucker (Ayo Solanke), Ronnie (Verity Marks), and Matt (Alexandre Martin Deakin). All of them seem to be at war with the town’s mayor, Arthur Hill (Kevin Durand), Sheriff Dunne (Will Sasso), and their teachers, such as Mr. Vern (Bradley Sawatzky).
The adaptation of the Adam Cesare novel by Carter Lanchard and director Eli Craig trims out a lot of the character stuff, shortchanging a few characters to craft a slimmer 96-minute slasher. The darker opening of the book, which leaves readers wondering how something could happen, is replaced with a more atypical slasher opening so movie-goers can wonder instead, ‘Who is the killer in the clown mask?’
Some important characters don’t get the required time to grow or explain their motivations, as the film builds the rollercoaster up and spends the last half of the film flying through bodies. Vincent Muller’s character, Rust, is the most prominent example, though a sequel would surely make him a fan favourite among viewers. Coles’ journey throughout this film also doesn’t get the necessary time to make it not feel like a character change without reason.
There’s also not enough time given to the third-act twist and the explanation behind the Clown’s motivations. “Never fuck with Frendo,” warns a local earlier in the film, but why exactly? I felt like I was filling some of the holes the film left with the knowledge I had coming into the theatre. The mascot of the town, Frendo, is given a very brief history lesson, but to build him into the symbol he’s supposed to be for the townspeople, and what he’s to represent in future entries in the series, the film fails to make him more than just another killer clown.
Losing some of the book’s nuance, director Eli Craig has instead crafted a lean slasher that’s a lot more approachable than the twisted Terrifier series, as this film is about having as much fun as possible, rather than going for shocking scares or kills. There are a few gory moments, but nothing you wouldn’t expect to see in the genre now; some of the jokes, however, go down very well, and one involving a phone got a big laugh out of the older gentlemen in the cinema watching this at 10 AM on a Friday with me.
