Director Eli Craig from Tucker & Dale vs. Evil fame is back with Clown in a Cornfield for Shudder. Fans who prefer enjoying movies in the theater will have a chance to catch it starting May 9. Based on a 2020 novel of the same name, the film is a horror-comedy with themes of a divided country with a focus on the youth of a dying town. And cornfields. Lots of cornfields.
Katie Douglas (Spooksville), Aaron Abrams (Hannibal), and Will Sasso (MADtv) joined Craig at WonderCon to discuss the upcoming slasher. As Quinn Maybrook, this is Douglas’s first leading role in a film and she said she was really drawn to the “swagger” of the film. It turns out she is also a horror fan herself and her favorite Final Girl is Shelley Duvall in The Shining. Abrams plays her father, Dr. Maybrook. Will Sasso is cast as Sheriff Dunne and Craig noted he loves to cast a comedic actor in a non-comedy role and watch them perform.
The story introduces Frendo the clown. We learned at the panel that Frendo started as a happy clown with a smile when he was used for marketing, similar to another clown we may know in fast food. He gets demented over time, but his story is a bit deeper and we learn that Frendo is more of a humanistic, “blue-collar” slasher. Craig noted that there are other books in the series and he has hopes for a sequel.
WonderCon Description: Collider senior producer Perri Nemiroff gives and exclusive look at one of Shudder’s hottest upcoming titles, ‘Clown in a Cornfield’. Surprise guests from the film will take the stage to offer a sneak peek at the bloody mayhem Frendo the killer clown sparks in the town of Kettle Springs.
