Clown in a Cornfield | Film Review

After moving to the small town of Kettle Springs, Quinn (Katie Douglas) and her father Glenn (Aaron Abrams) find themselves in a community fractured by age and long-held grudges. But when the town's mascot, an insidious clown, begins to wreak havoc through the cornfields, the town's inhabitants have to work together to survive the night.

This was probably my most highly anticipated film of the year. The book was the best thing I read last year, the second book is one of the best things I've read this year and I'm so so invested in these characters and this world. So when I found out after reading the first book that there would be a movie adaptation, I couldn't even put into words how excited I was.

And I think it's partly because of that excitement that I ended up being really disappointed. But only partly, because I also have genuine criticisms of the film that don't come from my love of the book.

But if we start from my love of the book, I'm completely fine with characters not looking like you thought they would when the source material is adapted, but some of these characters were just way off what I thought they would be. Which I admit is a petty gripe but it really did take me out of the story, especially because there were also fundamental personality changes that took this away from the unique story it is and made it much more of a generic teen slasher.

And what goes hand-in-hand with this is that none of the characters were properly developed. Because I'd read the book, I knew who these characters were and was excited to see them on screen. But none of the characters outside of Quinn and her father got the time needed for the audience to truly get to know and love them. Once it ended, I found myself trying to convince people that some of the characters are ones we're supposed to love, because they weren't written the right way in the film.

And in that vein, the screenplay didn't work for me. I've already said this but the writers took what was a really unique story with an interesting variety of characters and some great surprises, and turned it into a generic slasher. Nothing was a surprise. One of the surprises that had me re-reading the end of the book time and time again was hinted at so heavily in the film that when it happened, it wasn't a surprise at all, and that disappointed me more than anything else.

The story felt rushed. While the runtime was short, it wasn't used to either develop the characters or the world. As viewers, we don't know Kettle Springs, we don't care about these characters. So when a clown starts killing people, we're not scared for the town and we don't miss the people we lose.

It also didn't feel realistic. The book did a good job of making the reader feel like Kettle Springs was a real place, and that we were there living through this nightmare with the characters. The film didn't even try to do this.

So overall, disappointed is an understatement, I'm actually unhappy with some of the choices that were made. It kind of felt like it was setting up for a sequel, but because they didn't invest in developing the characters, a sequel doesn't feel like it makes sense. But in saying that, because I love the books so much I'd definitely watch another, in the vain hopes that they get things right next time around!

4/10


Comments

Popular Posts

The Woman in the Yard | Film Review

3 Month Favourites | April - June 2025

Locked | Film Review

Twilight | 100 Movies Bucket List