“Don’t F* with Frendo” – Clown in a Cornfield, An Adaptation that Slashes

Killer clowns are so back! Based on the successful novel by Adam Cesare, Clown in a Cornfield has all the slasher tropes we know and love: killer opening scene, new town, dead mom, cute boy, questionable friend group. It plays the parts perfectly but is far from predictable as Frendo wreaks havoc on the remote town of Kettle Springs, Missouri.

Quinn (Katie Douglas), our lead girl, moves to Kettle Springs from Philadelphia with her father after her mother’s death. Her father (Aaron Abrams), who has taken a job as the local doctor, is excited to start a new chapter of their life in a quieter place—but Quinn is mostly uninterested in the town and the people in it until she meets Cole (Carson MacCormac), a cute boy in her class. Cole introduces Quinn to his friend group, they introduce Quinn to their little inside joke: Frendo.

Frendo’s a goofy-looking mascot for the old corn syrup factory in town and as such, his memorabilia is everywhere—making for the perfect awful clown mask for Cole’s friend group to use for their YouTube channel to garner clicks and prank each other while they’re out late at night. As the town’s Founder’s Day celebration approaches, the teens decide to play a prank during the parade (whatever happened to parades?) that goes too far and ends up getting them into trouble. Little do they know, Frendo is lurking on Founder’s Day night—and he is not happy.

Cole throws his yearly Founder’s Day barn party that night and Frendo makes his first modern-day appearance. The teens at the party at first think it’s another prank, but quickly realize that this Frendo is not friendly (or joking), as Frendos (plural!) emerge from the cornfield wielding chainsaws, bow and arrows and pitchforks. 

Clown moves quickly into the kills and doesn’t overstay its welcome (who doesn’t love a 90-ish minute movie?), pulling off a reveal at the end that elevates its story. We end up seeing who the Frendos really are (spoiler alert): all the elders in Kettle Springs. Mayor Hill (Kevin Durand), the Grand Marshal of the Founder’s Day Parade and Cole’s father, is the ringleader behind it all, upholding a longstanding Kettle Springs tradition of murdering those who want their community to change. I’ve never seen horror movies execute the killers as not one or two but an entire generation of killers. The killer reveal ends up being both cathartic (adults suck, right?) and frightening.

Clown is both creepy and playful; it’s self-aware and knows the audience is there to laugh and jump at scares. The film’s visuals accentuate the creepiness of the town. The town square, homes and cornfields look inconspicuous but you can’t help but feel something is off or lurking around the corner, highlighted by the low-key lighting in the cornfields. And the practical effects are realistic enough to be freaky—especially Frendo’s mask, thoughtfully designed as an appealing mascots of the ‘40s that aged into bizarreness in the 2020s—but the scenarios are outlandish enough to strike the camp balance. The kills were creative and pointed to the larger themes around generational clashes; Frendo tends to strike when “kids are being kids,” like when he interrupts a victim rocking out on the drums at the barn party.

The cast was thoughtfully chosen and they do a great job at both playing their respective Charged by a capable leading girl (Douglas), the teenage angst is felt throughout and was clearly written with the YA audience in mind. Cole (McCormac) is both written and played like risky, secretive boyfriends before him and reminiscent of performances from Jack Quaid in Scream (2022) and Johnny Depp in A Nightmare on Elm Street. McCormac’s character though surprisingly deviates from his trope by admitting his feelings for another boy amidst the chaos at the barn party, a welcomed twist to the typical romance subplots in horror movies. Kevin Durand’s stellar performance as Mayor Hill and the leader of the Frendos was a cherry on top. He bodied this clown and his classic villain speech sounded straight from a Boomer’s Facebook rants—in the best way. The passion for Kettle Springs and high fructose corn syrup radiated through Durand’s portrayal, and his Frendo-esque clown makeup at the climax of the film drives the symbolism home.

And that’s the thing about Frendo. Frendo isn't just a killer clown—he's a town symbol. He represents old, conservative values that young people just don’t “get” and want to change. He’s the ghost of a thriving community of old where men worked at the corn syrup factory and women stayed home with two model children and a white picket fence. Frendo isn’t just one or even two pillars of the community; he’s all of them. Frendo is every shitty, out-of-touch adult in this town, and he doesn’t like change: he loathes it. The Frendo’s are insistent that the old ways are the best ways, and they justify their rampage as retribution for the burning of the corn syrup factory and the ruining of the Founder’s Day parade. The teenage troublemakers have to die if Kettle Springs is going to keep its backcountry ways. 

This movie overall has so much to offer, particularly to Gen Z and Millennial audiences who often find themselves frustrated by the powers that be. In a lot of ways, this mimics what we’re seeing happen across the country between generations in small towns and cities alike. Gen Z and Millennials often clash with Gen X and the Baby Boomers on issues like climate change, LGBTQ+ rights and what the idea of progress looks like. I’ve never seen the clashing of our generations depicted so explicitly (and accurately) in film but it’s not surprising to me that the horror genre—and particularly queer horror—is bringing the conversation to screens. It makes one of its hardest-hitting points during the film’s climax: the younger generations were raised by Frendos. The film does a great job depicting the lack of accountability from not only the adults but the oligarchs in power.

Clown in a Cornfield is an eccentric political period piece with a central story that will both age gracefully and ironically transcend generations; everyone understands teenage angst.  It’s a film that can hold its own in the current wave of slashers and will be an enjoyable watch for anyone who enjoys campy horror with a deeper meaning. A Frendo is one soul abiding in many bodies or whatever Aristotle said.

If you enjoyed this, you should watch: Thanksgiving. This one also has a parade and a weird small town mascot.