Latest news with #AaronAbrams
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Clown in a Cornfield' director Eli Craig: Comedy isn't 'respected' in show business
Based on the novel by Adam Cesare, Clown in a Cornfield (now in theatres) has all the elements of a classic horror movie setup, including scared teens in a small town and a creepy clown. Directed by Eli Craig, starring Katie Douglas, Aaron Abrams, Carson MacCormac and Kevin Durand, it feels like we're leaning into the 1980s slash flick aesthetic. The story begins as Quinn (Katie Douglas) and her dad, played by Aaron Abrams, move to the small town of Kettle Springs. The community is facing a particularly hard time after the Baypen Corn Syrup factory burned down, which provided several jobs for the town's residents. When Quinn arrives she becomes friends with the local teen rebels who tell her the tale of Frendo the clown, the town mascot who's believed to haunt the cornfields surrounded the old corn syrup factory. But the threat of Frendo quickly becomes a very real fear. While Craig is largely known for his horror-comedy films, like Little Evil, he took Clown in a Cornfield as his opportunity to step into a more classic horror format. "I did have something to prove, I'm not gonna lie. I had something to prove to the world, because a lot of times people would be like, 'Oh, you just know how to do comedy,' and it's a belittling thing in show business," Craig told Yahoo. "Whereas I think it should be respected, because comedy is hard, but it's not [respected] in show business." "I've done this for a long time and I wanted to just take a bite out of horror and create a world, and have some big set pieces that are action-packed, really create the grittiness of a present day throwback, kind of '80s slasher movie. But then keep some of my tone, which has elements of comedy, where you give people a release valve after mayhem ... and destruction and horror." The first relationship that's really established in the film is between Quinn and her dad, with Douglas and Abrams dealing with father-teen daughter tensions after the death of Quinn's mother, which led to their move. Admittedly, sometimes Quinn can be quite rude to her dad, but there's also a lot of sarcasm between the two. "The chemistry came very naturally to us, because he honestly kind of reminds me of my own dad, and it's a sense of humour that I have with my own dad," Douglas said. "In the script, it's the two of them against the world. They're kind of all each other has at the moment where we meet them." "So it's obviously a very heavy, loaded situation, but I think those are some of my favourite scenes, because they also incorporate humour in a really raw way, in a really relatable way." Quinn also has a crush, Carson MacCormac's Cole, whose father, Arthur Hill (Kevin Durand), is the town's mayor. As we've seen in all of Durand's previous work, from Dark Angel to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, he's just an actor that completely immerses himself, and the audience, into his character. "I'm really attracted to opportunities where I can just set myself free and just go and play something different than me, because I get bored with me easily," Durand said. "There was a spectrum that I got to cover with this and in a short amount of time. It was a lot of bang for my buck in terms of the time that I was allotted in there, and the amount of play that I got to involve myself in. ... It was a really great, big, delicious meal. I love that challenge of, when I get into my obsessive realm and I won't leave a room until it starts to really make sense and sink in to my body." But a significant question for Clown in a Cornfield is how did Craig craft his version of a creepy clown, starting with what was provided in Cesare's writing. "Clown horror is basically a genre now, which makes me feel good, because if there was only one other great clown horror movie then I'd feel like I was pitted just against that," Craig said. "But I wanted this to be a unique clown, and so Adam Cesare, who wrote the book, gave us a lot of that backstory where he's this mascot ... for the whole town and that the town loves Frendo, and he's everywhere." "The one job everybody has at the factory, those jobs are gone, the factory is burned and decimated, and the American dream has become an American nightmare. And so that's the evolution I wanted Frendo to have, that he was this happy-go-lucky guy that now looks like it's he's not so happy or lucky anymore. And now he's this sort of washed up, angry, no longer hopeful ... villain." There's an added element in Clown in a Cornfield that links to youth and social media. While yes, a killer clown is certainly the big terror, the concept of being focused on social media and YouTube popularity becomes an interesting element in this horror story. "I think a lot of the movie is about youth and a generational divide, and I think the characters really encapsulate ... what it feels like to be a youth right now, and all the anxiety that comes along with having social media, and all the anxiety that comes along with just living in today's world," Douglas said. "I'm definitely one of those people that wants to tell a story that doesn't involve social media and stays away from cell phones and all those things, but this was just a problem that I had to embrace, because it's so much a part of the story, and it's a part of what these kids do," Craig added. "I don't like it when it's a part of the backdrop, I like it when it's a part of the storyline. And in this case, it's a part of the storyline that then has a great reversal moment, and I could use it to kind of elevate some humour and some comedy about people not getting what really happens."
Forbes
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Horror Comedy ‘Clown In A Cornfield' Gets Early Drive-In Screenings
Clown in a Cornfield drive-in poster The critically accclaimed horror commedy Clown in a Cornfield is getting a special drive-in theater engagement a week before the film opens in theaters nationwide. Based on author Adam Cesare's 2020 Bram Stoker Award-winning young adult novel Clown in a Cornfield, the critically acclaimed R-rated horror comedy is directed by Eli Craig (Tucker and Dale vs. Evil) from a screenplay by Craig and Carter Blanchard. The official description of the movie reads, 'In Clown in a Cornfield, Quinn (Katie Douglas) and her father (Aaron Abrams) have just moved to the quiet town of Kettle Springs hoping for a fresh start. Instead, she discovers a fractured community that has fallen on hard times after the treasured Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down. 'As the locals bicker amongst themselves and tensions boil over, a sinister, grinning figure emerges from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens, one bloody victim at a time. Welcome to Kettle Springs. The real fun starts when Frendo the clown comes out to play.' According to RLJE Films and Shudder, Clown in a Cornfield is getting special advanced screenings in drive-in theaters only on Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3, a week ahead of the film's May 9 nationwide release in movie theaters. Clown in a Cornfield, according to a press release from RLJE Films and Shudder, will be playing at the West Wind, Four Brothers and Galaxy drive-in theater chains. Attendees of drive-in showings will receive a limited edition Clown in a Cornfield poster (pictured below), while supplies last. Advanced tickets are available through the Clown in a Cornfield film's drive-in page. Special drive-in Clown in a Cornfield movie poster. Reviews of Clown In A Cornfield started breaking after the film's world premiere at the SXSW Film and TV Festival in March. As of Thursday, Clown In A Cornfield has a 93% 'fresh' rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 29 reviews. The RT Critics Consensus for the movie reads, 'Clown in a Cornfield doesn't reinvent the corn-maze, but its clever insights, subversion of expectations, and solid foundation help slash its way to the top.' In addition to Katie Douglas and Aaron Abrams, Clown in a Cornfield also stars Carson MacCormac (Shazam!), Will Sasso (The Three Stooges) and Kevin Durand (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes). Rated R, Clown in a Cornfield will play in select drive-in theaters on May 2 and 3 before its nationwide release in movie theaters on May 9.
