{The Overlook Film Festival 2025} Clown in a Cornfield (2025)

As someone who’s driven through countless Kettle Springs across Missouri—those small towns stitched together by grain elevators, rusted-out trucks, and football Friday nights—I didn’t expect a slasher movie to get it this right. But Clown in a Cornfield, directed with surprising finesse by Eli Craig (Tucker and Dale vs. Evil), threads the needle between faithful adaptation, timely social commentary, and chaotic, blood-soaked entertainment. It’s more than a horror movie—it’s a cathartic scream into the corn stalks for anyone who’s ever felt suffocated by tradition, nostalgia, and the endless churn of culture wars. Oh yea, also it could be the funniest horror movie I have seen in a while.

Based on Adam Cesare’s hit YA novel of the same name, the film sticks closely to the original text in all the right ways. It doesn’t sanitize or over-polish its characters for mass appeal—thankfully. Instead, it lets them breathe and fumble like real teenagers do. Quinn Maybrook, played with grounded charm by Katie Douglas, is the new girl in town, thrust into the suffocating small-town horror show of Kettle Springs. After the tragic death of her mother, she and her father relocate from Philadelphia, only to find themselves in a community rotting under the surface of its former glory. Kettle Springs dreams of a former time where they were relevant, life was easier, and their futures looked bright. Its toxic nostalgia at its worst.

Let’s get this out of the way early: Clown in a Cornfield is gory. But it’s the good kind of gory—practical, creative, and relentless in the best tradition of ‘80s slasher flicks. Limbs fly. Corn gets soaked red. The violence doesn’t just titillate; it punctuates. It says something. This is a town where adults wear their morality like armor (its not the only thing they wear), and the kids are cannon fodder in a generational culture war. Sound familiar?

That’s what makes the politics of this film so refreshing. Instead of pandering or preaching, Clown in a Cornfield commits. It shows us the ugliest parts of nostalgic America—how towns that never moved on weaponize “the good ol’ days” against their youth. And it doesn’t flinch. It’s a horror movie that actually has something to say, and it says it loud, fast, and with a chainsaw-wielding clown.

And let’s talk about that clown.

Baypen Corn Syrup titular clown Frendo—formerly the face of a junk food mascot empire, now a literal boogeyman—cuts a path through the corn with iconic flair. He’s equal parts creepy and hilarious, a blend that only works because the movie knows exactly what tone it’s going for. There’s a self-awareness in Craig’s direction that echoes Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. Just like that cult classic, this film juggles humor and horror without ever undercutting the stakes. The laughs don’t deflate the tension—they ride shotgun with it.

And then there’s Kevin Durand. Oh boy.

Durand devours every scene as Arthur Hill, a not-even-slightly-subtle Elon Musk stand-in who’s brought tech-obsessed libertarianism to the cornfield. He’s a pitch-perfect villain for 2025—equal parts smarmy disruptor and unhinged zealot. Watching him wax poetic about personal freedom while unleashing murder clowns on teenagers is the kind of satire that feels too close to reality. His performance is big, bold, and endlessly watchable. He’s the kind of antagonist that horror franchises are built around.

The rest of the cast brings youthful energy to the screen, and—miracle of miracles—they feel like actual teenagers. There’s no over-written ultra hip slang, no awkward millennial attempts at Gen Z lingo. Just honest portrayals of young people trying to figure out who they are while dodging death in a corn maze. The chemistry between Quinn and her friends—especially Cole (Carson MacCormac) and Rust (Vincent Muller)—feels natural and earned. You care about them, which makes the kills hit harder. Its also nice to see a love triangle play out in unxpected ways.

Eli Craig’s fingerprints are all over this thing. The same darkly comedic touch that made Tucker and Dale a cult hit translates perfectly here. Clown in a Cornfield is a bit more acidic. It’s meaner. And in a post-2020 world, it kind of has to be. This movie isn’t just having fun with horror tropes—it’s putting a very specific flavor of American decay under the microscope. And it finds a clown with a butcher knife staring back.

Adam Cesare has always had a gift for capturing the spirit of teenagers in a way that feels deeply authentic. His characters aren’t just archetypes, they’re messy, emotional, resilient kids with real fears, real desires, and real agency. In Clown in a Cornfield, that authenticity carries over beautifully to the screen. Eli Craig’s direction captures this spirit, which takes Cesare’s grounded, heartfelt portrayal of youth and punches it up with razor-sharp scares and perfectly timed laughs. Craig understands that horror is best when it’s rooted in characters you believe in, and he leans into that emotional core of the story while still delivering the outrageous thrills and brutal set pieces the genre demands. Together, Cesare and Craig craft a coming-of-age horror tale that respects its characters as much as it terrifies them.

And yes, I cannot wait for the marketing blitz of Baypen Jack-in-the-Boxes. You just know Funko is already prototyping. Frendo has that kind of instant-icon appeal: equal parts childhood mascot and nightmare fuel. The perfect face for a franchise that’s clearly ready to explode.

Make no mistake: this is a franchise starter. Clown in a Cornfield is perfectly positioned for sequels, spinoffs, and whatever meta-horror madness the team can conjure up next. Cesare’s own sequels novel (Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives, Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo) already set the stage for a wider universe. With this cast, this director, and this villain? The sky’s the limit. Or at least the top of the corn stalks.

Fresh, innovative clown horror is a rare crop, and Clown in a Cornfield harvests it with bloody glee. It’s the perfect tonic for the current MAGA mania, a satirical sledgehammer to the idea that the past was better and that kids just don’t understand. This movie understands. It sees the anger simmering in youth, the fear clutching at tradition, and the bloody mess that brews when those two worlds collide.

I caught Clown in a Cornfield at The Overlook Film Festival. Find it in a theatre May 9! Are you a frend of Frendo?