WSB x Moving Picture Review: Clown in a Cornfield

For decades, when anyone talked about coulrophobia, or the fear of clowns, the inevitable image that came to mind was Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Other characters came and went, but few could match the impact of the interdimensional fear-eater from Stephen King’s IT. These days, however, scary clowns seem to be going through a bit of a renaissance. From Captain Spaulding, the patriarch of the Firefly Family from House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects to the cult following of the clown props in the Hell House LLC franchise to Art the Clown—the breakout star of Damien Leone’s Terrifier series—clowns are once again showing up in horror, and now there’s a new contender. Frendo, mascot of Baypen Corn Syrup in the town of Kettle Springs hopes to excite fear in a whole new generation of moviegoers.

Directed by Eli Craig (Tucker and Dale vs. Evil) and based on the novel by Adam Cesare, Clown in a Cornfield stars Katie Douglas (Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey) as Quinn, a teen forced to move to Kettle Springs with her father Glenn played by Aaron Abrams (Hannibal) following the death of her mother. After finding herself in detention on her first day of school, Quinn falls in with the local gang of amateur YouTubers who’ve built their following on a web series that turns the town’s de facto mascot into a crazed masked killer. The adults of Kettle Springs don’t see much humor in the crew’s antics, particularly after they learned that they had been filming in the Baypen factory (the town’s primary source of income) when it went up in flames. Despite an official investigation ruling that the fire was caused by faulty wiring, it’s difficult for the town not to blame Quinn’s new friends, making them pariahs in the community.

It’s worth mentioning that, like the book it’s based on (and despite its “R” rating), Clown in a Cornfield’s scares skew to a slightly younger audience than Terrifier or The Devil’s Rejects. Rather than gritty, hyper-realistic violence or comically over-the-top gore effects, Clown in a Cornfield relies on the tense relationships between the teens of Kettle Springs and its grown-ups—a dynamic well known to fans of the Goosebumps or Are You Afraid of the Dark? series. Naturally, it’s the teens who are the first to notice the real, murderous Frendo, lurking in the background of one of their latest videos. Each time they try to get help or explain their situation, though, they are thwarted by adults who don’t have time to hear their outlandish explanations. Even Quinn’s father, who has the most incentive to hear his daughter out, is more than happy to accept the word of other, more trustworthy (read: more mature) sources. 

Frendo in Clown in a Cornfield. Image via IMDb.

This power dynamic sets the standard for the tension we feel throughout the film—that as children, we are taught that, when there’s trouble, find a grown-up. What do we do though, when the adults can’t—or won’t—help? When Quinn and her friends, along with their technology and idealism and ambitions that stretch beyond their lives in “fly-over country,” come up against the powers-that-be who are content with burying their heads in the sands of traditionalism, they learn that those in charge will use every measure of their authority, not to save the town’s future, but to grasp desperately at the last vestiges of their mid-century values.

While it has a couple of clever turns for its characters and a good sense of humor, Clown in a Cornfield isn’t breaking any boundaries in terms of kills or jumpscares, but that’s okay. It meets its audience where they are and if you’re willing to do the same, it makes a great case as a gateway into horror. The only real disappointment I felt is that, in a world populated by such enormous personalities as Pennywise and Captain Spaulding and Art the Clown, Frendo’s light doesn’t shine nearly as bright. As a result, there’s not a lot of wind in the sail by the time his true nature is revealed, making it feel a little flat. Who knows? With any luck, there will be plenty of time to explore the character more thoroughly if we end up seeing adaptations of the novel’s two sequels: Frendo Lives and The Church of Frendo. With a new Hell House film on the horizon and confirmation of a fourth Terrifier film in production, clowns are carving themselves a cozy little niche in horrordom. There’s room enough for all your creepy clowns.

Where to watch Clown in a Cornfield:

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WSB x Moving Picture Reviews is sponsored by the Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival. The Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival celebrates both the art of cinema and the rich motion picture exhibition tradition of the City of Pittsburgh. Our goal in this series is to highlight new and upcoming genre films and, wherever possible, to support local, independent movie theaters in the process.

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Article Written by Ande Thomas

Ande loves the intersection of sci-fi and horror, where our understanding of the natural world clashes with our fear of the new and unknown. He is an independent member of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies and a supporting member of the Horror Writers Association. He writes about monsters and foreign horror and can also be found over on Letterboxd.

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