The title isn’t a metaphor.  This is a straightforward horror flick where yes, there’s a clown and yes, they’re in a cornfield.  The premise is centred on a teenager, Quinn (Douglas), and her father who have moved from the big city to a small industrial town following a family tragedy.  It’s the kind of place time has forgotten about.  The mobile reception is garbage, the buildings are rundown, and the residents are old-fashioned.

On the first day at her new school, Quinn becomes friends with a mischievous bunch who enjoy making scary clown films on their mobile phones and posting to social media.  It’s an odd hobby but it keeps them busy and brings out their creative sides.  With the stage set, it’s now time for the horror to kick in.  Another clown, unconnected to the teenagers, comes after them with murderous intentions.  Who will survive and who’s behind the nasty-looking mask?

The clown-theme will have audiences drawing parallels with Stephen King’s It but this isn’t as intricate or flashy.  It’s a more “routine” slasher movie that provides shock value through gruesome deaths (lots of fake blood) and a moderately interesting whodunit.  I went along for the ride but wasn’t convinced by the finale where instigators and motivations are revealed.  I understand the intention/themes of screenwriters Eli Craig and Carter Blanchard, who have drawn from a 2020 novel authored by Adam Cesare, but the more you think about it, the less sense it all makes.

As strange as it sounds, Clown in a Cornfield works best when trying to be comedy.  It’s not a full spoof (à la Shaun of the Dead) but when characters aren’t being murdered, they find time to playfully mock each other, joke about the absurdity of the situation, and offer memorable one-liners (like when trying to use an old rotary telephone).  The cast, headlined by young Canadian actors Katie Douglas (Ginny & Georgia) and Carson MacCormac (Shazam!), have the right tone and timing in selling the comedic elements.  They’re funny… without trying too hard to be funny.

It’s a shame the film culminates with a contrived, hard-to-believe finale but if you’re a horror fan in search of a simple entertainment, there are enough positives within Clown in a Cornfield to justify the 96-minute watch.