Premiering at SXSW, CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD brings Adam Cesare’s hit slasher novel to life under the direction of Eli Craig (TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL). Adapted from the first book in Cesare’s trilogy, the film blends classic slasher tropes with some gory but humorous death sequences. Set in the quiet, rural town of Kettle Springs, the story follows a group of teenagers who find themselves caught in the crosshairs of a masked killer named Friendo, a once-harmless clown mascot turned local legend. What starts as pranks and internet-fueled myths quickly spirals into full-blown terror when the town’s obsession with tradition turns deadly. As the body count rises, so does the blood-soaked mayhem, leading to a chaotic, gore-filled showdown that helps justify anyone’s fear of clowns.

Set in the long=ago year of 1991, a bunch of the local youths gather together in a cornfield for some underage drinking and a bonfire. And like all good cold openings to a slasher film, two teens run off to be alone and do the dirty, but obviously this does not go so well. There’s something in the cornfield and it wears large floppy shoes. Fast forward to now and we see Dr. Glenn Maybrook (Aaron Abrams) and his daughter Quinn (Katie Douglas) relocating to the quiet cornfield town of Kettle Springs with the plan to occupy the old (and practically ramshackle) house of the previous doctor. Quinn, the surly teen, is not pleased about the move, but dear old dad wants a good life for his one remaining family member. The town is a pleasant enough place if you are into huntin’ and fishin’. Or corn. But other than that, not much to offer. So, Quinn assumes there is nothing for her.

The other kids in the town are painfully aware of the lack of activities, so they have to make their own fun.  One such activity is to torment the physics teacher. Next thing you know, the poor new girl gets dragged into a prank and ends up bonding with the local troublemakers in detention. The exposition in the detention room educates Quinn about Kettle Springs and the local myth of Friendo. A clown mascot that was meant to be a cheerful character, but the local teens instead turned him into an internet sensation by making fake murder videos. These realistic pranks give the teens something to do. However, Quinn’s new friends Cole (Carson MacCormac), Janet (Cassandra Potenza), Ronnie (Verity Marks), Tucker (Ayo Solanke), and Matt (Alexandre Martin Deakin) are the black sheep of the town, and fitting in with them means being ostracized by the rest of the community.

Also in this town, we see Mayor Hill, played by Kevin Durand (who looks surprisingly like Elon Musk in this movie) who wants Founder’s Day to go off without a hitch and refuses to believe his town can offer anything but small-town values. However, the unofficial slogan of the town is apparently “Never fuck with Friendo,” and when this warning goes unheeded, the bodies start to pile up. And with each new death, the manner and results get gorier (and I’ll even say funnier). While much of the film seems to follow predictable slasher plot-points, CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD allows for more depth in the teenage characters and creates quite an endearing subplot. Aside from the lovely character development, you will want to come for the kills and the humor. Prepare to gasp, laugh, yell, and groan once you see what Friendo has to offer.

CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD follows a lot of the slasher tropes as we see the predictable story of a local killer where the teens begin getting knocked off one by one, and we even get a secret teenage party where the killer runs rampant. However, CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD takes some unexpected surprises to make this film the biggest show under the big top. The villain will scare anyone with a clown phobia (and even some without), and the gore will have you hoping the next two books in the series also make it to the big screen.

CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD arrives in theaters on May 5th. The book is in stores now!

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Amylou Ahava

Amylou Ahava is a PhD student and resident punk rocker. She has studied, taught, and annoyed landlords on three continents and hopes to add a fourth in the future. The childhood dream of being a horror host stemmed into a lifetime love of everything scary and now has led to a focus on disability studies in American horror literature and film. She has been teaching since 2009 and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. She is a pet parent of 7 and hobbies include horror movies, waffles, and books.

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Tags: Aaron Abrams, Adam Cesare, Adaptations, Alexandre Martin Deakin, Amylou Ahava, Ayo Solanke, Books, Brandon Roberts, Brian Pearson, Carson MacCormac, Carter Blanchard, Cassandra Potenza, clowns, Crime, Daina Leitold, Eli Craig, Evil Clowns, Horror, Katie Douglas, Kevin Durand, Marcus Trumpp, RLJE Films, Sabrina Pitre, Shudder, The 1990s, Verity Marks, Vincent Muller, Will Sasso