Summary

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff hosted the Clown in a Cornfield panel at WonderCon 2025.

Director Eli Craig and stars Katie Douglas, Aaron Abrams, and Will Sasso joined Nemiroff for a conversation about Frendo the Clown, how the film channels iconic slasher movies, and what makes it a standout in the subgenre.

Shudder’s Clown in a Cornfield hits theaters on May 9th via RLJE Films.

Eli Craig’s Clown in a Cornfield is the best of both worlds, and the exact type of film he enjoys making. “What I really like to tell is a story that you don’t have to think about the themes at all, but if you do, it actually is pretty deep.” The upcoming RLJE Films and Shudder release is just that. Clown in a Cornfield is a plain old good time at the theater watching a slasher movie-scenario unfold, but it also rocks a sharp mythology that has a lot to say about the very real generational divide occurring right now.
Based on the first book of the Adam Cesare-penned series, Clown in a Cornfield stars Katie Douglas as Quinn Maybrook, a teenager who moves to Kettle Springs with her father, Aaron Abrams’ Dr. Glenn Maybrook. Adjusting to a new town is tough, but Quinn manages to make some fast friends. The trouble is, the town sheriff, Will Sasso’s Sheriff Dunne, has it out for that group of kids. Dr. Maybrook insists Quinn heed the Sheriff’s warning and stay home, but she defies dear old dad and sneaks out for a party in the cornfield. It’s a good time until their late-night escape from their fractured community gets a party crasher, the local Baypen Corn Syrup Factory mascot-turned-serial killer, Frendo the Clown.
With Clown in a Cornfield revving up for its big screen release on May 9th, Collider had the honor of hosting an exclusive preview of the film at WonderCon 2025. Yours truly had the pleasure of moderating a conversation with Craig, Douglas, Abrams, and Sasso to give the Anaheim crowd an early tease of the film. Now, it’s time for everyone to get a taste of what’s to come when Frendo terrorizes the big screen via the panel highlights below, and our full WonderCon conversation in the video at the top of this article.
Making the Leap from ‘Tucker & Dale’ to Frendo

Craig’s 2010 release is a cult classic. Could Clown in a Cornfield be heading down a similar path?

Craig gave us Tucker and Dale vs Evil in 2010 and then Little Evil in 2017. We’ve had to wait a bit for his third go-around behind the lens of a feature film, but it was well worth it. Adam Cesare’s source material and Craig’s filmmaking sensibilities proved to be a perfect pairing, a combination that would allow Craig to utilize the skillset he already had while also pushing his limits in other respects. “Tucker and Dale is really just a comedy, out and out, but this is more horror first with comedy beats.” Craig added:

“Adam wrote such an amazing novel, and it had so much heart and the themes of this divided country that was at odds with each other. This movie very much isn’t a message movie. It is just what’s there. It’s sort of the grittiness of the world. But I was thinking, I love to take some of that and then add some of my tone of levity, so add a little bit of Tucker and Dale, maybe, if you will, but really focus on the propellant of it, because the thing is high octane. I read [the book] in one night. It reads with a lot of energy, and I just wanted this super high-octane action movie.”

You’ll Get a Clown, You’ll Get a Cornfield – But Also So Much More

“The corn is real.”

Image via RLJE Films

If the title Clown in a Cornfield catches your eye, the movie will deliver. Sasso joked, “You’re gonna get a lot of clown in a cornfield. If that’s a deterrent, then maybe this film’s not for you.” Clown in a Cornfield is packed with downright wild set pieces featuring Frendo the Clown hunting down victims in the cornfield. However, as Craig noted, if you’re interested in leaning in a bit further, the movie has far more to offer than its title might suggest.
While sharing her take on that aspect of the film, Douglas teased, “The movie has a theme of a generational divide, which I can’t think of a more relatable, real, timeless thing.” She highlighted, “I think that’s where, actually, a lot of the horror and the anxiety comes when watching the movie is how real it feels and how relevant it is.”
Craig jumped in to add:

“Clown in a Cornfield seems like it wouldn’t be a deep story at all, but actually, it really is. It has all kinds of layers to it about generational trauma, about what the US is going through, what I think the world is going through right now, which is this cataclysmic change, people trying to hold onto the past, people trying to push toward the future. So, to me, it’s a really timely topic with these huge themes, but it’s also a fun-ass movie. It’s a really fun ride. When I made my first film, Tucker and Dale vs Evil, I had a blast making a film that people could watch and just laugh their butts off, but if you took a step back, you could say, ‘Oh, this film’s about racism. It’s about classism. It’s about culturalism. It’s about judging people before you really know them.’ So, for me, I just like to see all these layers in the onion. That’s what gets me really excited.”

Katie Douglas Is a Big Screen Movie Star

You’ll never guess which iconic final girl Douglas channels while playing Quinn.

Image via RLJE Films

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“What Are Teens Worried About?” The ‘Clown in a Cornfield’ Cast Explain How This Slasher Updates the ’70s Horror Formula

The new slasher film is a twisted take on the genre with a touch of commentary on the generational divide.

Douglas has racked up a nice list of accomplishments at this point in her career, but her work in Clown in a Cornfield marks a significant milestone for the actor-on-the-rise. It’s her first time headlining a feature film.

“I read it and I realized it’s just super fun and it pays so many homages to all of the horror movies that we already know and love. And it also had a very specific swagger to it that I think I recognized in Tucker and Dale and also in Adam’s writing. I have to say, the movie is very contemporary. Adam wrote the book for youth and did a really good job speaking in their voices, so I wanted to make sure that I maintained that and it was a contemporary take on youth, but it was also still super fun and campy.”

There were no safer hands for the character of Quinn Maybrook to be in than Douglas’s. Not only is she a gifted actor, but she’s also a well-studied genre lover. During our chat at SXSW, Douglas shared some favorite horror films, and then at WonderCon, she zeroed in on one particular horror icon she kept in mind while playing Quinn.

“I think my favorite final girl is probably Shelley Duvall in The Shining just because she’s so unique and so weird, and I wanted to make my character feel — I didn’t really want to play a caricature, like a final girl caricature, so I kind of just made her really normal. I just want her to be really normal and feel like your neighbor, someone who’s a little bit awkward. I just think it’s so much funnier when someone like that has to be thrown into a crazy situation. So, when it comes to final girls, I look to Shelley Duvall.”

Aaron Abrams Is the Slasher Movie Dad You Actually Want to Spend Time With

“Aaron makes it very, very easy to have chemistry.”

Image via RLJE Films

In addition to Quinn’s connection with her new group of friends, a core component of the Clown in a Cornfield narrative is her relationship with her father. We only get to spend about 90 minutes with these characters, but Douglas and Abrams must do Quinn and Glenn’s current situation justice while also conveying enough about their past to make that father-daughter dynamic feel real and full.
Douglas jumped in first while digging into how the duo managed to achieve that. “Aaron makes it very, very easy to have chemistry. Aaron’s lovely, and I feel like everyone who’s met him would agree that it’s very easy to find chemistry with him.” Abrams was quick to follow up Douglas’ comments by complimenting her work in the film:

“To speak on what you’re talking about, about caring about characters when you watch these slasher movies, I think what separates final girls is, you’re almost rooting for him to kill a bunch of these random asshole teenagers, but don’t kill that one. Not that one. I’m looking for that final girl, if you will, that you want to care about her so much, and Katie brings so much of herself, so it’s so unique. It’s so easy to care for her. It never feels like a Xerox of a Xerox of any other final girl, but it also feels like all the best parts of Jamie Lee Curtis, of Sidney Prescott, or anybody. She comes with all of that, just in all her work. It’s so specific.”

From there, Abrams pinpointed something that winds up being a big challenge for many young adult slasher movies. Oftentimes, you’re so enthralled by the young ensemble trying to navigate their battle with the slasher, that a cut to the adults could feel like a drag. However, that’s not the case with Glenn and Quinn Maybrook. Abrams continued:

“You don’t want them to be the part of the movie that you’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where’s the clown at?’ But because there’s such an amazing shorthand that Katie and I had right off the bat — and that really speaks to [Katie] and [her] work and what [she] brings just as a human person — those scenes are really, really lovely and fun and also make you care about her even more.”

Get Ready to See a New Side of Will Sasso

“Casting Will in the role as Sheriff Dunne was just a strike of gold.”

Image via RLJE Films

Think you know everything Will Sasso has to offer? Even if you’ve seen his work in everything from MADtv to Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, I’m willing to bet you’ve never seen him tackle a role quite like Sheriff Dunne in Clown in a Cornfield. While discussing casting the film, Craig emphasized:

“One of my favorite things about casting in the whole world is to cast a brilliantly comedic actor in a non-comedic role and watch them shine, and the comedy come out no matter what, but in a way that is so real and genuine. Casting Will in the role as Sheriff Dunne was just a strike of gold because he carried this tone that was so genuine and so earthy, but so funny at the same time. Nobody but Will could balance that humor with genuine, authentic behavior.”

Sasso said, “Big Southern-fried sheriff is hilarious no matter how serious I’m trying to be, and stay true to the material.” A warmly self-deprecating reply, but it’s important to note that Craig speaks the truth. The film version of Sheriff Dunne is pitch-perfect, and feels one-of-a-kind to Sasso.
Meet Your New Favorite Killer Clown – Frendo

“America’s not really living up to the American Dream anymore, and now he’s pissed off.”

We’ve touched on the final girl and also the town sheriff, but there’s another top-priority staple of the slasher movie we must address – the killer. Or, more specifically, finding the perfect mask. Craig recalled:

“We started with a guy that didn’t look like this, that looked way happier and way less scary, and then we thought, ‘Really, we’re trying to scare people in this movie, not just make Frendo look sad, and you want to save Frendo.’ For a while, we had this guy that we were like, ‘Oh, poor Frendo! Let’s root for him.’ But the idea behind it was that it’s this 1930s mascot for Baypen Corn Syrup, and he’s supposed to be selling stuff, kind of like Ronald McDonald used to sell stuff, and so he has this cheery smile. But then, in the past, a little less than 100 years, things have gotten a little worse for Frendo, so he’s had a little wear and tear. America’s not really living up to the American Dream anymore, and now he’s pissed off and he’s hunting down teenagers. So, he gets a little more demented looking, and this drippiness happened, and when we found it, we just made it. When I first saw him fully done, I was terrified, and so I thought everybody else would be.”

While the mask is mighty important, so is the physicality of a slasher. For example, Ghostface, Leatherface, Michael Myers and Jason all have a very different way of carrying themselves, and that unique style of movement speaks heavily to their history and their motives. So where does Frendo fall in that respect? Craig lightly teased:

“I don’t want to give too much away, but this is like a working man slasher/killer. It’s very humanistic, so there’s some human vibes to him that aren’t, say, another killer clown we might know that lifts off into the spiritual realm.”

Abrams jumped in to pick a fight; “I’ll say his name. Pennywise! Let’s start a beef right now with that dude! I ain’t scared of you.”
Will We Get More ‘Clown in a Cornfield’ Movies?

“Adam is on his fourth book now. He’s written three amazing books.”

Image via SXSW

Making one good film should always be top priority, but when one adapts a novel that’s the first of a four-book series, you’ve got to wonder, does Craig have hopes to turn this first movie into a film franchise?

“Here’s the thing, Adam is on his fourth book now. He’s written three amazing books. We have an amazing lead actress here for this. We have so many elements of this set up. What we don’t have yet is all y’all’s participation and love. We just need a little love, and then I think we’re on our way to a sequel and more. There are so many great things that Adam has already created for us to get into, and I’d love to take another stab at the Frendo Lives sequel. So, we’ll see what happens from here, but we’re putting it out in the world and let’s see what happens.”

Give Clown in a Cornfield a little love when it arrives in theaters on May 9th!

Clown in a Cornfield

Release Date

May 9, 2025

Runtime

96 Minutes

Director

Eli Craig

Writers

Eli Craig, Adam Cesare, Carter Blanchard

Producers

Georges Bermann, Wyck Godfrey

Katie Douglas

Dr. Glenn Maybrook

Katie Douglas

Quinn Maybrook

Carson MacCormac

Cole Hill

Cassandra Potenza

Janet Murray

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