Clown In A Cornfield

There are some memories we may remember from our childhood that we will never forget, no matter how many years have gone by. I can still remember when i was 6 years old back in 1983 when my mother took me to a circus show in my hometown. This was a true old fashioned circus with elephants, acrobats, a magician, a jongleur and other circus performers. One of the things i will never forget at this circus show was two clowns doing their number. It wasn´t the performance itself it was more about their creepy clown make up that made me feel uncomfortable. At that time i didn´t tell my mother why these clowns creeped me out, they just had this clown face that looked completely different than the usual clown face. After this circus visit i didn´t return to another circus show, i put my focus on watching The Incredible Hulk, Thundercats, G.I. Joe and other VHS cartoon tapes at our local VHS rental store. Let´s move forward to the year of 1991 when i bought my copy of the TV mini series of Stephen King´s IT on VHS. When this TV mini series hit VHS shelves everyone was talking about Pennywise The Clown ( played by actor Tim Curry ) and was one of the biggest horror selllers on VHS that year. Based on the novel by horror author Stephen King, IT begin in the American town Derry, located in Maine. The year is 1960 and George Denbrough ( Tony Dakota ) playing on a street with a paper sailboat during a heavy rainstorm. The paper sailboat goes down a storm drain, where George meet Pennywise The Dancing Clown ( Tim Curry ) in the drain opening. Pennywise trick George to reach for his boat while killing him. George older stuttering brother, Bill Denbrough ( Jonathan Brandis ) had no chance to save his little brother and is filled with anger and guilt. Bill and his astmatic friend Eddie Kasprack ( Adam Faraizl  ) put together a club of children who feel like outcasts, calling themselves The Losers Club, where they together face Pennywise The Dancing Clown. Stephen King´s IT from 1990 is a true TV mini series classic and Tim Curry as Pennywise is absolutely brilliant. You should see this 3 hour film on streaming or physical media. Speaking of clowns early this year i watched the trailer for the slasher horror film Clown In A Cornfield. This film looked like fun, who does not want to meet a clown with a chainsaw out in a cornfield? Based on the book ( with the same title as this film ) by author Adam Cesare, is this a must watch this summer or is Clown In A Cornfield a big disappointment?

Student Quinn Maybrook ( Katie Douglas ) relocates to the small town of Kettle Springs, where her father Dr. Glenn Maybrook ( Aaron Abrams ) has taken a new job as the town´s new doctor. The Maybrook´s relationship is strained following the death of her mother, Samantha. As the town of Kettle Springs begin to celebrate 100th Founders Day Festival, they are about to face the local legend Frendo The Clown.

This might shock some horror fans what i am about to say but this is my personal opinion. Clown In A Cornfield is a better slasher horror film than the entire Scream franchise. I have never been a true Scream fan at all and i never really liked the mask design of Ghostface. Don´t get me wrong i love some of legendary horror director Wes Craven´s classic films such as The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare On Elm Street, The Serpent And The Rainbow and Wes Craven´s New Nightmare, but  i couldn´t feel connected to the characters in the Scream franchise or the main killer Ghostface. I am really surprised how good the young cast is in Clown In A Cornfield and this is something you don´t see very often in this specific horror genre. In the 80´s and the 90´s we were used to see dumb young people mostly making stupid desicions in slasher horror films. We have a couple of young dumb people as well in Clown In A Cornfield, but surprisingly the lead female character Quinn ( played really good by actress Katie Douglas, also worth watching in the 2024 thriller Lazareth ) is way cooler than i expected her to be. She have such a likeable personality and screen presence that this is exactly what this film needed to be more entertaining. The majority of the cast does a great acting performance in this film, and for once im so happy to see a slasher horror film with good characters that matches the plot. We have to talk about the clown of known as Frendo The Clown and i had a really good time watching Frendo killing people with different weapons. The clown mask looks alright and there are some really brutal kills in Clown In A Cornfield . Thankfully this film have a good sense of humor and i love the fact that this all takes place in a small ordinary American town. The plot is nothing out of the ordinary but works well thanks to the characters. I might be saying this too early this year but in the category slasher horror i will say this is my favourite film in this category, for this year so far. Director Eli Craig ( director of the horror comedy classic Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil ) deliver one a hell of a good time with Clown In A Cornfield, a film that looks really good considering the low budget and gives slasher horror fans exactly what we need. I really hope we get a sequel, i get the feeling Frendo The Clown have not stopped to party...yet.

Rating: DDDD