Clown in a Cornfield 2025 Movie Review
As ridiculous as the name is, this film is very much a dive back into the retro years of the horror genre. Set in a small town, this cornfield offers the usual trends of country living and fun as the modern generation tries to exist in traditional values. The opening moments establish plenty of motifs and set the stage for what is to come, helping add plenty of people to guess who the clown is. Once the second half of the movie starts, that’s when everything about this movie starts to shine and accomplish the Thriller fun and feeling you might be looking for. As the slashing starts, the film dives into the campiness of the genre as the 80s feeling comes back in full flair, but uses modern visual techniques and actors to get the story out. It’s thrilling at times, an actual excitement filled me as I tried to venture who might survive this madness, with some decent character and story development to give it a little more meat on the bones.
Solid kills and visual effects enhance this experience, more disturbing kills are laced with generic elements to keep the pace going, and let the more unique kills shine. Such tactics are cheap, I won’t lie, but that’s part of the fun that made the movies so entertaining in the past, and I think they captured that feeling well. A story helps to give this a little more purpose, as motifs and aspirations of both sides engage in a deadly dance that keeps things integrated. Throw in some good music at times, and you accomplish a lot of the Thriller feeling that I think is awesome to watch.
In terms of elements I did not like, it starts with the fact that the movie is corny and stupid in a lot of components. While this is part of the fun, Craig’s direction may have diluted some of the more sinister elements to fully scratch the Thriller edge with this hybrid Comedy-Horror film. A slow first half is trying to set up a deeper story, something I appreciate, but the first half offers very limited benefits and thrills, with only a few elements to break up the setup. Soon, the story elements they worked hard to include start to suffer, becoming very trivial, bland, and very pointless as the realization of what is happening settles in. At that point, the story sort of takes a nose dive into the quick thrills, making all that setup rather pointless.
Soon, most of the things become very predictable, and some of that killer’s edge and thrills are shaved away for the dramatic elements. Past that, the movie is going to feel cliché at times, familiar kills becoming stale, and more about the gore intensity increasing to very high levels. It’s not the worst bloodbath I have seen, but I warn those who are sensitive in this area need to avoid this film, even with the moments where the visual effects dip in quality. Finally, the language gets annoying for reviewers like me, the overuse of words just stale and pointless as they lose any strategic element.
The VERDICT: Clown In The Cornfield is not the most spectacular Thriller to break the mold, but it is a very fun film, to say the least. The campiness of the 80s with the modern telling is a nice blend of styles, especially when the thrilling elements start, and our characters begin to fight for their lives. Good comedic styles with characters I care about help keep things entertaining alongside the pace, and help add some style points with some of the finishes the Clown brings. The film does have some work to do if this becomes a series, maybe a few more unique kills and a little variety as the primary Thriller element to improve upon.
The story, as well, needs to have some more finesse, finding that balance of details to include and keep it relevant, so as not to feel so pointless or irrelevant. Add in a little balance of the language and gore values, and this movie would hit the levels that other films have done for me in the past. Worth a trip to the theater? Yes, but I think your best value is at home for most audience members.
