Latest news with #ClowninaCornfield
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Monroe couple revives Memory Lane Drive-In just weeks after closure announcement
Only weeks after stunning its fans with news of its closure, Memory Lane Drive-In Theater is staging an unexpected return — revived by a local couple with plans to reopen on Memorial Day weekend. "We have worked with a local couple from Monroe since the announcement of Memory Lane closing and they are ready to light the big screen back up again," read a May 7 post on the theater's Facebook page. For its reopening weekend, May 23-25, the outdoor theater will feature two double features across its two screens. Screen 1 will showcase the family-friendly animated film "Lilo & Stitch" at 9:30 p.m., followed by "Thunderbolts" at 11:30 p.m. Screen 2 will cater to horror fans with "Sinners" starting at 9:35 p.m., and "Clown in a Cornfield" at midnight. Gates open an hour before showtime, and audio will be broadcast over FM 88.5. More: 9 Michigan drive-ins are keeping a nostalgic tradition alive: See the locations The news comes after Memory Lane announced its closure on April 18, citing the same struggles many drive-ins nationwide have faced in recent years. "In the last four years, 35% of the remaining drive-ins in the United States have closed their doors forever citing a combination of multiple reasons including but not limited to poor attendance, streaming, and lack of concessions support," the drive-in wrote in a post at the time. "The last one is key, especially for drive-ins. Memory Lane has suffered the same fate for the same reasons." Located at 6501 N. Monroe St., Memory Lane Drive-In first opened in 2021 on the site of the former Denniston Drive-In, which closed in 1985. While the couple behind the revival has not been publicly named, the Monroe drive-in is encouraging community support to help the venue thrive. "Please show them the support necessary to keep Memory Lane Drive-In around for years to come," the reopening announcement continued. "If this message has reached you and you're not in the vicinity to support us, then please support your local drive-in as they are truly a very special part of American history and lots of fun for all ages." It's unclear what the drive-in schedule will be after Memorial Day weekend. The Detroit Free Press reached out to Memory Lane Drive-In Theater for comment but did not receive a response. Reopening weekend tickets can be purchased here. For more information, visit or A list of all of the remaining Michigan drive-in theaters is available here. Nour Rahal is a trending and breaking news reporter. Email her: nrahal@ Follow her on Twitter @nrahal1. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Monroe couple revives Memory Lane Drive-In just weeks after closure
Otago Daily Times
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Splatter that splits the sides
Photo: Shauna Townley/IFC Films/TNS Director: Eli Craig Cast: Katie Douglas, Aaron Abrams, Carson MacCormac, Kevin Durand, Will Sasso Rating: (R16) ★★★+ REVIEWED BY AMASIO JUTEL Despite the very silly title, Clown in a Cornfield (Reading) has the feel of a Texas Chainsaw slasher paired with the slapstick sentiment of Terrifier's ridiculously costumed clowns who, without fail, wear size 100, squeaky clown shoes at every killing. A fire in Kettle Spring's maple syrup factory has relegated it to "flyover country" and the town's older residents suspect a group of troublesome teens are guilty of the arson. A masked killer dressed as "Frendo", the maple syrup mascot, has it in for the teens, who've cried wolf too many times for anyone to believe their story. Clown in a Cornfield is a solid entrant into the revitalised contemporary horror/slasher canon of equal parts fright and laughter — think Terrifier and Heart Eyes. Like Texas Chainsaw, highly aesthetic, filmic quality is not lost on the director — like the sunrise-orange horizon shots that scream Days of Heaven. The film is formally innovative (marking its singularity from the first title card) and cinematically creative (maybe my favourite was the long "oner" camera shot kill sequence), but where the film particularly shines is its narrative sophistication — even the "mean girl blonde" has some solid characterisation as a creepypasta horror YouTube director. Although slightly sanitised for an R16 rating, the horror and kill sequences are ferocious and fun. And while the speechifying villain felt extraneous, the formalist flair, narrative excellence, and slapstick humour packed into the short, sweet runtime means one can hardly complain.
Canberra Times
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Canberra Times
Creepy clown slasher is silly and funny in all the right ways
Occasionally Clown in a Cornfield attempts to make a little social commentary. These attempts are not particularly successful, especially when the overarching message is "listen to the young people" - nothing groundbreaking there. It also doesn't help that most of the teens are pretty insufferable and, at least from the little glimpse we're given of them, not worth listening to.
France 24
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- France 24
Marvel's 'Thunderbolts*' retains top spot in N.America box office
The film, starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, raked in an additional $33 million for the three-day period. The 55 percent drop from its debut was a "far better hold than recent Marvel adventures," entertainment news outlet Variety reported. Seeking to boost interest heading into the second weekend, Marvel revealed that the asterisk in the movie's name referred to the titular ragtag team of antiheroes becoming the "The New Avengers." The group will also appear in next year's "Avengers: Doomsday," which Marvel and parent Disney hope will repeat the epic performance of its predecessors. The Warner Bros. period vampire thriller "Sinners" also maintained its second place, taking in another $21.1 million for a total domestic haul of $180 million. Director Ryan Coogler's first original film, starring Michael B. Jordan, continued to benefit from rave reviews. "A Minecraft Movie" also held onto its third place position, raking in an additional $8.0 million to bring its domestic haul over $400 million. The Warner Bros. live-action film starring Jack Black and Jason Mamoa has made over $900 million globally, continuing a trend of highly successful video game adaptations. Fourth place went again to Amazon MGM Studios' "The Accountant 2," at $6.1 million. Ben Affleck plays a neurodivergent math genius with criminal ties, and Jon Bernthal is his hit man brother. New release "Clown in a Cornfield" took fifth place with $3.7 million. "This is a solid opening for an indie horror film, particularly for a micro-budget production," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. Rounding out the top 10 were: "Shadow Force" ($2.0 million) "Fight or Flight" ($2.0 million) "Until Dawn" ($2.0 million) "The Amateur" ($2.0 million) "The King of Kings" ($1.1 million) © 2025 AFP
Los Angeles Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
A generic teens-in-peril slasher, ‘Clown in a Cornfield' can't cut the crop
Is there anything as dependable as the slasher formula? It waxes, wanes and winks its way through cultural cycles but it endures; malleable yet sturdy, high or lowbrow (usually low), requiring just a few key elements: some teenagers and a masked killer. A small town would be nice. Change up the costumes and the weapons and it practically writes itself. Enter 'Clown in a Cornfield' from 'Tucker & Dale vs. Evil' filmmaker Eli Craig. This slasher does exactly what it says on the tin: A murderous clown emerges from the cornfields of Kettle Springs, Mo. and mauls misbehaving teens to shreds. In an opening prologue set in 1991, Craig signals the silliness with which we should enjoy the film: A future victim marvels at the size of a footprint in the damp soil and the clown's shoes give him away with a squeak as he impales our unfortunate soul. What sets this particular movie apart is its provenance, adapted from a 2020 horror novel by Adam Cesare. That literary origin does give this otherwise light, disposable genre romp a bit more heft, though the backstory and generational history that's alluded to isn't entirely explored onscreen. Craig and Carter Blanchard collaborated on the screenplay adaptation, and the film relies on the kind of quickie reveals and twists that audiences would expect from this kind of thing. Craig is self-reflective while being appropriately reverent to the tropes of the genre. The closest recent comparison would be Eli Roth's 'Thanksgiving,' another outrageously costumed killer movie, and while Craig doesn't have Roth's gleefully sadistic creativity when it comes to kills, his teens are a bit more fun to be around, especially the snarky Quinn (Katie Douglas), who moves to Kettle Springs with her doctor dad (Aaron Abrams) and immediately falls in with a group of popular YouTube-obsessed classmates who make horror films on their phones about their town mascot, Frendo, of the corn syrup factory. Quinn starts crushing on Cole (Carson MacCormac), the scion of the town's founders. Every year, they celebrate tradition with the Founder's Day parade, foregrounding Frendo's iconic visage. But it seems as soon as Quinn shows up, things start to go wrong. Teens start turning up dead, evil clowns start revving their chainsaws. It's initially challenging to tell what's real and what's an elaborate prank. There's a theme that drifts through 'Clown in a Cornfield' about teens and their phones and how we live our lives through screens and ever-present cameras, but Craig never fully threads that needle. At a time when it's increasingly difficult to discern what's real and what's not, especially on our phones, that more sophisticated story never gets told, in favor of more throwback-style bloodbaths and showboating bad-guy speeches. 'Clown in a Cornfield' is fun, to be sure, but feels about as substantial as a corn puff. Douglas is beguiling enough with her humorous, spunky performance, and MacCormac capably keeps up with her. Will Sasso and Kevin Durand are welcome supporting players as a few of the oddly aggressive town elders. While things get a little too 'Scooby-Doo' at times, Craig smartly keeps it moving: This is a light and breezy affair with a few unexpected twists, some social commentary that doesn't entirely land and not enough staying power to be truly memorable. Ah, well: Cesare already has two sequel novels published, so there's already plenty more Frendo the Clown ready to be harvested. Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.
