Tina Kakadelis
Is there anything more terrifying than a small, close-knit town? While some media use that to create an idyllic place, like Gilmore Girls, the horror genre loves to take the seemingly picture-perfect little town and drench it with blood. The small towns in horror movies are always falling on hard times, with glimmers of their former glory often being used by a sadistic killer as a motive for murder. Kettle Springs is the small town in Eli Craig’s Clown in the Cornfield, and it has all the trappings one might expect: a now-defunct factory that was the backbone of the community, a weird annual celebration of the people who founded the town, and a murderous clown that kills teens. Clown in a Cornfield takes these reliable horror tropes and creates a fun teenage slasher.
Clown in a Cornfield begins in 1991 with some teens partying and drinking in the shadow of the Baypen Brand Corn Syrup factory. It’s the town’s bread and butter, a source of jobs for many people who live nearby. Two young teens wander through the cornfield to get some alone time, but instead run into Frendo the Clown, who slaughters them. The movie then jumps to the present day when Quinn (Katie Douglas) and her father (Aaron Abrams) move to Kettle Springs from Philadelphia. We learn the duo is running from something painful in Philadelphia, and that her father has jumped at the chance to be the town’s new doctor. Quinn finds herself accepted into the popular group that’s led by Cole (Carson MacCormac), who is directly related to the town’s founders. Cole and his friends make YouTube prank videos starring Frendo the Clown. Little do they know, there’s a real Frendo out there stalking them.
The film is based on a series of novels by Adam Cesare. As of the release of Clown in a Cornfield in 2025, Cesare has written three books about the goings-on in Kettle Springs. Based on the film’s ending, it seems there is interest in turning Frendo into a big-screen masked killer a la Ghostface. Like the Scream franchise, Frendo is more of an idea than a singular person. Should Clown in the Cornfield become a long-running slasher franchise, there are plenty of avenues to explore, including some that have already been done in Cesare’s novels.
While Scream is an apt comparison, Clown in a Cornfield skews toward a younger audience. Sure, people are getting dismembered and there’s a sadistic clown on the loose, but it seems as though its R rating comes more from language than violence. All things considered, it’s a more restrained slasher than something like Scream or Final Destination. Clown in a Cornfield gives the audience the kills, but it’s also fairly light-hearted. There are plenty of zippy one-liners that give the film its sense of levity. Quinn’s dad’s “Fuck the Hippocratic Oath” shout during the climax of the film is particularly silly in a way that works well for the more teenage audience the film is aiming for.
Clown in a Cornfield is an introductory film for the novice, sleepover, teen crowd who want to test the waters with something that will get their heart rate up, but won’t keep them awake for days (unless they have a pre-existing fear of clowns). The film very much feels like it wants to lay the foundation for teens to move on to more gnarly slashers, which is why its bloodiness isn’t as brutal as other flicks in the genre. Clown in a Cornfield also introduces younger audiences to the idea that there can be a method and rationale behind what seems like senseless killing. While Clown in the Cornfield’s thematic revelation doesn’t quite stick the landing, the mere fact that they wanted to introduce this possibility shows that the goal of Cesare and Craig is to show that horror has depth, that it is capable of much more than merely blood splatter and can instead be used as a means of dissecting social and cultural issues. Of course, Clown in the Cornfield is not the first horror movie ever to include deeper messaging, not by a long shot, but given its target audience, it may be their first experience in this type of horror filmmaking.
For the seasoned horror viewer, Clown in a Cornfield is a breezy ride through a corn maze, thanks in large part to Brian Kane’s production design. Kettle Springs is the right amount of charming and terrifying, drenched in blood and Americana nostalgia. Clown in a Cornfield may not keep you awake for weeks on end, but it provides a nice stepping stone for the next generation of horror lovers to find what will.
