Posted in : Horror , Interview , Movies| Tagged : Clown in a Cornfield
Clown in a Cornfield writer - director Eli Craig and star topology Kevin Durand spoke to Bleeding Cool about the throwback ' 80s slasher horror motion-picture show .
Article Summary
There are so few director who have the ego - awareness of horror to hit as many notes on target as writer - directorEli Craig , who ’s been behind the 2010 horror comedyTucker and Dale vs Evil , Netflix ’s supernatural dark comedyLittle EvilwithAdam Scott(Severance ) , and now , RLJE Films and Shudder’sClown in a Cornfield . found on theAdam CesareYA novel of the same name , the R - rat action mechanism horror comedy follows Quinn ( Katie Douglas ) and her doctor Father of the Church ( Aaron Abrams ) , who have conciliate into the small town of Kettle Springs . As times have fall hard since the local corn syrup factory shut down , a mystifying serial killer is on the free to terrorise the township ’s local inhabitants , include Quinn and her friends . Craig and starKevin Durand , who run Arthur Hill , verbalize to Bleeding Cool about adapting Cesare ’s novel to take , if Craig consider a PG-13 version , aLocke & Keyreunion , and howClown in a Cornfieldbecame a love letter of the alphabet to 1980s slasher flicks .
‘Clown in a Cornfield’ Director Eli Craig and Star Kevin Durand on Recreating “Popcorn Pop Culture” Horror with Frendo the Clown
Bleeding Cool : Eli , how did you and co - author Carter [ Blanchard ] stumble upon Adam ’s novel of ' Clown in a Cornfield ' , and what made it ideal for plastic film ?
Craig : Well , it goes back , Carter and I had different passes on the script , so we did n’t work now together , but the initial thing was from Temple Hill , which had optioned the ledger , and they hired Carter to indite a first draft of it , and then it came to me later . I read Carter ’s draft and retrieve , " Oh , there ’s something here ; this could be fun . " I locomote back to Adam Cesare ’s script to check that that everything was in line and I had a take on it . I reckon I could make this thing into an amazing action repugnance drollery , and I pitch my adaptation to the Temple Hill producers , who had n’t come out with ' Smile ' ( 2022 ) yet , but that was about to amount out and do as well as it did . Once I spill the beans to them about what I wanted to do , they were on instrument panel , and then I took a pass on the script and supply flavor to it . I also went back to the book of account and attempt to check that I was outride true to Adam ’s themes , the character electric arc , and everything . That ’s how it bugger off to me .
Kevin , what line you to the film ?
Durand : I ’m a fan of Eli ’s , so that drew me , and then the script was such a great read . I thought it seemed like a no - brainer . It would just be so much fun , and it ended up being a not bad amount of fun as well . To see it in the theatre , fully executed , and how it number out , was incredibly substantial .
I suppose the climactic twist at the final stage did n’t hurt either , correct ?
Craig:[laughs ]
Durand : Well , that ’s exactly it . You get like a full meal there [ laughs ] .
Eli , when doing the passes with Carter and formulating the script , was it always planned to be R - rated , or were you guys tinkering with a potential PG-13 , like the YA demographic of Adam ’s Word of God ?
Craig : There was a point early on , before I even started to write , we took the melodic theme out to a few studio and saw if Lionsgate wanted to make it or something . There was some internal talk with them about whether it should be PG-13 or R , but I always wanted to do this as an R - rated , gory merriment movie . Once we raised the money severally to make the moving-picture show , it was on my shoulders to determine what kind of film I want to make .
The producers full supported me going hard R with it , but to me , also in an entrance - level way . The first horror cinema I saw as a child was ' Friday the 13th ' ( 1980 ) , the original , of course , because I ’m that old . It stayed with me , but I was 10 year honest-to-god , and I do n’t think you should blab out down to a younger audience . I bed citizenry require to have as many fanny in seat as possible . To have it something that younger kids are reaching for , and if this is the first revulsion movie they see , I desire that someday other filmmakers can get inspired like I did and say , " Twenty years ago , I come across this film ' Clown in a Cornfield ' for the first time " and I know I had to make a horror movie . That ’s my destination .
Kevin , can you break down what it was like to act upon with some of your co - stars like Katie , Aaron , Carson [ MacCormac ] , and Will [ Sasso ] , and what they bring in to the cinema in the scenes you shared ?
Durand : Everybody was , first and foremost , incredibly kind and ground , so that reach things pleasurable . There was a great alchemy Eli put together there ; casting good human is always a great plus . Everybody liked each other , so that was full . When you have that , then people feel like there ’s a wonderful factor of drama . You got that from everyone . Sasso , it was so great to see him represent a character that looked so effortless . He was so near .
Katie brought so many layers to Quinn that I ’m assuming she realizes how many layers she brought to it , but she ’s a multi - layered human and quite an onion . It was squeamish to see her get to play within that public as that character . Everybody was wonderful . Aaron was so wonderfully subtle , dry , and you ’re with him . I had exploit with Carson on ' Locke & Key ' , he was big in that , and I thought he was such a great untried actor as well . It was such a nice ensemble .
Eli , you said that ' Friday the 13th ' influenced you as you attempt to bide as secretive to Adam ’s vision as possible . Were there other repugnance dealership that also played a part in influencing you to develop , Frendo ?
Craig : There are so many influences I took from . Some of them are more in the Zea mays everta , pop civilisation version of repulsion . You ’d be surprised to know some of them included legal action movie , I ’m search at . I watch ' T2 ' ( 1991 ) again to get into the mindset of this and to see the relentless driving force of an antagonist who never lets up . Some of those big action movie , I mean ' Jaws ' ( 1975 ) to me … I had a noticeable homage at the beginning of the motion-picture show .
' Clown in a Cornfield ' felt like a shark would be in the sea , but the films I want to grab the ethos of the character and modernize are , like I bring up before , the ' Friday the 13th ' , ' Halloween ' ( 1978 ) , ' A Nightmare on Elm Street ' ( 1984 ) , and those films in the 80s I grew up on and not suppose to determine , but I take in anyway . Like I say , I want ' Clown in a Cornfield ' to be a film people are n’t supposed to watch but watch anyway . It ’s not because it ’s not gory for the sake of gore , like the gore is n’t there just for fans , who want to see people get chewed up or whatever . It is always there for a purpose , and then I do n’t hang up on it forever , but it can be shocking and fun . at long last , I ’m trying to make a fun ride , ' Mr. Toad ’s Wild Ride ' [ at Disneyland ] . I ’m trying to make this angry , unexpected turn ride .
Clown in a Cornfieldis in theaters .
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