Clown in a Cornfield (2025)    RLJE Films/Horror    RT: 96 minutes    Rated R (bloody horror violence, language throughout, teen drinking)    Director: Eli Craig    Screenplay: Carter Blanchard and Eli Craig    Music: Brandon Roberts and Marcus Trumpp    Cinematography: Brian Pearson    Release date: May 9, 2025 (US)    Cast: Katie Douglas, Aaron Abrams, Carson MacCormac, Vincent Muller, Kevin Durand, Will Sasso, Cassandra Potenza, Verity Marks, Ayo Solanke, Alexandre Martin Deakin, Catherine Wreford, Daina Leitold, Jean-Jacques Javier, Noah Craig, Bradley Sawatzky.

Rating: ***

 I’m going to tell you right up front. Even though some of the action takes place in a cornfield, He Who Walks Behind the Rows does NOT make a cameo appearance in Clown in a Cornfield. Please try to suppress your disappointment.

 I’ll tell you something else, something you already know I’m sure. I LOVE the title Clown in a Cornfield. For as long as I can remember, I’m naturally drawn to films with nutty titles like Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, The One Armed Executioner, Dead End Drive-In and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama. You don’t see too many titles like that on marquees anymore. Come to think of it, you don’t really see marquees anymore. The whole moviegoing experience has changed since the 70s/80s and not necessarily for the better. But I digress.

 Directed by Eli Craig (Tucker & Dale vs. Evil) and based on the YA novel by Adam Cesare, Clown in a Cornfield is a good and bloody (and bloody good) throwback to 80s slasher movies. The heroine of this twisted tale is Quinn (Douglas, Ginny & Georgia), a high school senior who moves to the small rural town of Kettle Springs with her widowed father, new town doctor Glenn (Abrams, Code 8). It doesn’t take her long to fall in with the wrong crowd (according to every adult in town). They’re blamed for the fire that consumed the old Baypen Corn Syrup factory. It used to be the town’s lifeblood until it closed (before the fire) causing the town to fall into economic ruin.

 The teens- leader Cole (MacCormac, Shazam 1 & 2), queen bee Janet (Potenza, Bring It On: Cheer or Die), her flunky Ronnie (Marks, Toys of Terror), jock Matt (Deakin, The Next Step) and jokester Tucker (Solanke)- used to hang out there making YouTube videos depicting town mascot Frendo the Clown as a creepy killer. They don’t realize how close to the truth they are. There is a Frendo who’s going around killing teens. Obviously, these kids aren’t Mensa candidates. They decide to throw a big party after the town’s Founder’s Day parade. Guess what uninvited guest shows up and wreaks bloody havoc? That, of course, is a rhetorical question.

 Clown in a Cornfield is a splatter movie through and through. It has plenty of the gooey red stuff (regrettably, the CGI kind). The kill scenes kind of rock though. We, the audience, get to witness deaths by chainsaw, pitchfork, bow and arrow and taser (right in the mouth). Somebody gets creamed by a car. One guy’s head gets smashed into a bloody pulp. Another victim is beheaded by a saw blade. The severed head factors humorously into a later scene. Yeah, this one ought to satisfy the gorehounds.

 I’ll concede that Clown in a Cornfield doesn’t reach the same delirious heights as Tucker & Dale, but it’s still good. For one thing, the teens in this one aren’t nearly as insufferable as the little a**holes in Hell of a Summer. They are, however, just as idiotic. The only one that appears to have any real intelligence is Quinn, a Philly girl who sees through everybody’s BS. The way she rolls her eyes when the town’s useless sheriff (Sasso, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage) calls her “sweetie pie” is priceless and 100% accurate. You just don’t do that anymore. In his meager defense, Kettle Springs is stuck in the 90s, an observation made by one of the teens.

 Frendo, while creepy (as are all clowns, even Bozo), is no Art the Clown. I’m not going to get into specifics, but his reason for being is more grounded than the popular Terrifier boogeyman. Still, it’s freaky watching him emerge from the cornfield, weapon in hand. The rural setting enhances the terror in Clown in a Cornfield. What could be scarier than being in a place without cell phone service? Not that 911 would be any help. Local law enforcement, which seems to be a one-man outfit, is anything but helpful. The guy is a giant horse’s ass who gets his kicks from harassing Cole and his friends. Same goes for the teacher (Sawatzky, Orphan: First Kill) who lashes out at Quinn on her first day for no good reason.

 Douglas has the makings of a great Scream Queen. She’s like a young Neve Campbell. She imbues her character with intelligence and fearlessness in the face of extreme fear. She’s not only smart, she’s smart enough to know when to run away. She’s also tough, but that goes without saying when you talking about a girl from Philadelphia. If there’s a sequel, they definitely need to bring her back for Round 2 against Frendo. MacCormac does a good job as Cole, the son of the mayor (Durand, Abigail), another a**hole adult who blames all the town’s troubles on the teens. The young man has a secret involving his friendship with Rust (Muller), an outcast who always keeps his hunting rifle handy.

 I liked Clown in a Cornfield a lot. It’s a good not great horror film. It’s scary, fun and gory. The plot itself is no great shakes, but Craig’s tongue-in-cheek approach gives it that extra something. It never takes itself too seriously. It’s greatest sin is overexplaining itself near the end, but that’s easily forgivable. It’s such a fun movie, you don’t mind when it missteps. Me, I’m hoping for a Clown in the Cornfield 2.