Latest news with #TuckerandDalevs.Evil
New York Times
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Clown in a Cornfield' Review: Stalkers
'Clown in a Cornfield,' a new teen slasher film from the writer-director Eli Craig, is both silly and as sincere as an honor student's term paper. To its credit, it uses horror to examine the economic woes of the deteriorating Midwest and the emotional shortcomings of the working-class Gen X-ers and baby boomers who never left there. What it could have used is the kind of whip smart satire that made Craig's superior film 'Tucker and Dale vs. Evil' (2011) a horror-comedy paragon. The film is set in a small Missouri farming community that was once home to, and defined by, a thriving corn syrup operation with a clown mascot known as Frendo. New in town are Quinn (Katie Douglas, terrific) and her doctor father (Aaron Abrams), who quickly discover how damaged the town became after a mysterious fire crippled the company. Just as Quinn starts to make friends, along come some psychopaths who dress like Frendo and kill select young folk to prevent them from leaving town and achieving their dreams. Or something like that. It's hard to discern: In adapting Adam Cesare's novel, Carter Blanchard and Craig have crafted a screenplay that focuses more on grisly (and often gnarly) slaughters than on providing answers to the killer cabal's motivations. A gay romance provides a sweet if underdeveloped detour. A lackluster horror movie gets points if the leading villain is a real bugaboo. But the Frendos, alas, look like poser versions of Pennywise, Art the Clown and other, scarier horror bozos.
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.
