Clown in a Cornfield

""

Director: Eli Craig Year: 2025 Runtime: 96 min IMDb: ⭐ 5.6

Movie Poster

Synopsis

Quinn and her father have just moved to the quiet town of Kettle Springs hoping for a fresh start. Instead, she discovers a fractured community that has fallen on hard times after the treasured Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down. As the locals bicker amongst themselves and tensions boil over, a sinister, grinning figure emerges from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens, one bloody victim at a time.

In 1991, a group of teenagers in Kettle Springs, Missouri, party near the town's old Baypen Corn Syrup factory. Two teens sneak off into the nearby cornfield and are killed by Baypen's mascot, Frendo the Clown. In the present, Quinn Maybrook relocates to Kettle Springs, where her father Glenn has taken a new job as the town's doctor. The Maybrooks' relationship is strained following the death of Quinn's mother, Samantha. Quinn befriends Cole—the son of Kettle Springs' mayor Arthur Hill—and his friends Janet, Matt, Ronnie, and Tucker. Cole also explains to Quinn the story of the burned-down Baypen factory, which the town blames on the group. While she overviews a horror parody video featuring Frendo, Quinn spots a second mysterious Frendo in the background. Meanwhile, Tucker is stalked outside his home by another Frendo, who secretly breaks in and kills him. At the town's 100th Founder's Day festival, Matt accidentally causes a Frendo float to become fully engulfed, ruining the festivities. Kettle Springs' sheriff George Dunne accuses Quinn and her friends of sabotage and holds them in jail while Matt is decapitated by Frendo in his garage. That night, Quinn and Cole sneak off to a party at an isolated farmhouse. When one of the partygoers is killed with a crossbow, everybody flees in terror until Quinn's neighbor Rust Vance, also revealed to be Cole’s ex-boyfriend, shoots Frendo with his shotgun. Several other Frendos suddenly emerge from the cornfield and pursue the group while Rust shoots another Frendo and severs his hand. The group take shelter in a nearby shed, where Rust offers to stay behind to detonate a makeshift bomb and let the others escape through a sewer grate to find help. They reach a road and stumble upon Sheriff Dunne, who refuses to listen to them and arrests Cole for trespassing. Meanwhile, as Glenn searches for Quinn, he is forced to operate on the injured Frendo, while being held captive by another Frendo at knife-point. Glenn soon outwits his captor and fatally stabs him. At the same time, the group is discovered by the Frendos in the cornfield, and Ronnie is ran through by one wielding a chainsaw. Quinn and Janet reach a neighboring house where they are attacked by another Frendo, who impales Janet with a pitchfork. Quinn kills Frendo, but is captured by three other Frendos waiting outside. She awakens inside the Baypen factory surrounded by the Frendos, who take off their masks and reveal themselves as Mayor Hill, Sheriff Dunne, high school teacher Mr. Vern, shopkeeper Otis, and diner waitress Trudy. They blame the teens for the town's troubles and ruining its public image. Mayor Hill also reveals himself as the Baypen factory's arsonist and plans to kill both Quinn and Cole as a staged murder-suicide. Just as Sheriff Dunne is about to kill Quinn, Glenn drives his car through a wall, causing Otis's head to be crushed by a steel beam and Trudy to be impaled on a pipe while Quinn electrocutes Sheriff Dunne with a cattle prod in his mouth. Mayor Hill escapes while Rust shows up and saves Cole. As they are leaving the factory, Quinn runs over Mr. Vern, killing him. One year later, Glenn is running for mayor, and Quinn is leaving for college. Cole and Rust show up to see her off. On the drive, she finds a Baypen music box in her back seat, which she throws out the window. Soon after, the music box pops open.

Summary adapted from TMDb and Wikipedia sources.

🎄 Holiday Cheer Breakdown

☠️ Takes place on or around a holiday —
☠️ Features holiday symbols and decorations —
☠️ Features a traditional holiday activity —
☠️ Features an iconic holiday character —
☠️ Someone is killed in a festive or holiday-specific way —

🚗 Joe Bob Appearances

Season 35

Featured on The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs

Season 35 · Episode 1

Content Warnings

⭐ IMDb Parents Guide 🛡️ Common Sense Media

a dog dies

spoiler There is a dead animal in a fireplace when they first move into their house. Looks like a dog but could be a large racoon.

someone is sexually assaulted

spoiler No. but there is a guy who asks to slow down after previously initiating sex. and the girl and others make him out to be using them or rejecting rather than just withdrawing consent. It's a gross double standard that could be triggering for some.

a child is abandoned by a parent or guardian

Yes

someone leaves without saying goodbye

Yes

there's child abuse

spoiler SPOILERS 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Coles dad blames cole for his sisters death and he tries to hang him

a woman is brutalized for spectacle

spoiler There are several gory/graphic deaths, some of them women. But there is no gender-specific violence

there's domestic violence

spoiler Spoiler: a father is trying to kill his son

there's abusive parents

Yes

someone gets gaslighted

Yes

someone is stalked

Yes

there's addiction

Yes

alcohol abuse

Yes

someone uses drugs

spoiler Not on screen, it's mentioned that a family member of one of the characters overdosed before the movie takes place

an animal dies

spoiler A dead deer is shown being carried by a character

there's a dead animal

spoiler There’s a dead raccoon at the beginning. You get a good look at it.

a dragon dies

Yes

there are bugs

spoiler A swarm of flies in the second scene.

there's finger/toe mutilation

Yes

there's amputation

Yes

someone breaks a bone

Yes

hands are damaged

spoiler Someone gets their hand shot off

someone dislocates something

Yes

someone is drugged

Yes

a woman gets slapped

Yes

someone is restrained

Yes

someone's mouth is covered

spoiler This leads to a funny moment though.

a kid dies

spoiler Teenagers.

a non-human character dies

spoiler I don't think there *are* any non-human characters?

a major character dies

Yes

someone dies

Yes

someone sacrifices themselves

spoiler Spoiler: the person survives

someone overdoses

spoiler Not onscreen , but it’s mentioned that one of the main characters lost her mom to an overdose prior to the events of the movie.

a parent dies

spoiler Quinn's mother dies before the start of the film.

a family member dies

spoiler Before events of the movie.

someone is kidnapped

Yes

there are jump scares

Yes

there's a claustrophobic scene

spoiler To escape the clowns, 4 teens crawl into a drainage pipe. Look away when Rust lights the gas cans.

there are razors

Yes

there are clowns

spoiler So so so many clowns

there are mannequins

Yes

someone vomits

spoiler A girl in the opening scene spits up blood onto the face of the dude.

There's audio gore

Yes

there's spitting

Yes

heads get squashed

Yes

there's decapitation

spoiler A character lifting weights is forced to drop the weight with a saw attached, decapatating him. You see the head again later after Ginger stumbles out of the field.

there is copaganda

spoiler You are absolutely not on the side of the cops in this movie.

there's incarceration

spoiler The teens spend a brief period in a holding cell after the parade fire. Another man in the cell is kept inside after the teens are freed.

an LGBT+ person is outed

spoiler Someone calls out another person because they used to be together. Everyone around them is supportive, including the person being called out.

needles/syringes are used

Yes

there's a hospital scene

Yes

someone has a heart attack

spoiler No, but someone is faked to be flatlining.

someone has an anxiety attack

Yes

someone has a mental illness

Yes

someone has a meltdown

Yes

there are hangings

spoiler Spoiler:the person survives.

someone's throat is mutilated

spoiler can someone lmk what it is and at what time? idc if you spoil it please

someone struggles to breathe

Yes

someone asphyxiates

spoiler No, as they survive.

somebody is choked

spoiler Not choked but there is an attempted hanging

there's flashing lights or images

spoiler Police lights flash at night after the 4 teens exit the corn field. It is brief and mild.

there are sudden loud noises

Yes

shaky cam is used

Yes

there's screaming

Yes

there is obscene language/gestures

Yes

someone is watched without knowing

Yes

the fourth wall is broken

spoiler Not really, but there is one scene in which a character is given a sort of speech and at the end, it looks like they're addressing the audience

there's ableist language or behavior

Yes

there's fat jokes

spoiler A quick comment made towards a man about losing some weight since he doesn’t fit into his shirt very well

an LGBT person dies

spoiler THIS MOVIE HAS POSSIBLY THE FIRST TWO GAYS TO EVER SURVIVE A HORROR MOVIE, OR REALLY ANY MOVIE FOR THAT MATTER, LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

a minority is misrepresented

spoiler A white plays a character who was Asian American in the source material

the black guy dies first

spoiler SPOILER The movie starts with an extended flashback in which two unnamed white characters – whom the viewer knows nothing about – die. But in the main story, a Black character is the first to die, making him the first important/major character to die.

someone dies by suicide

spoiler nobody dies by suicide. an overdose is mentioned, but in the book it’s strongly implied it was accidental. it is mentioned that an offscreen character killed themself.

Someone attempts suicide

Yes

there is sexual content

spoiler Kissing and heavy making out, including a scene where two characters are starting to have sex, but no nudity shown

sexual assault is mentioned

spoiler No, but someone’s saying “slow down” is misinterpreted and needs to be repeated three times. The character who misinterpreted is apologetic.

sexual assault on men is a joke

spoiler a man withdraws consent to having sex and is initially treated like a jerk or user because of it.

existentialism is debated

Yes

someone is homeless

spoiler You see a homeless person on a bench, part of the plot of the movie is that the town folk are angry that this town used to be a "good" place without homeless people.

the ending is sad

spoiler Many main characters die in the movie, but the people doing the violence are brought to justice in the end.

there's end credits scenes?

Yes

a person is hit by a car

spoiler Its a bad guy though

a car crashes

Yes

a car honks or tires screech

Yes

there's blood/gore

Yes

someone drowns

spoiler Not on screen; it's mentioned as backstory

there's gun violence

Yes

there's a nuclear explosion

spoiler No, but there is an explosion

there's excessive gore

spoiler Just a regular amount.

there's torture

spoiler Most of it is "just" general slasher violence, but in one scene, someone is briefly tortured with a stun gun

there's body horror

Yes

someone is burned alive

spoiler Someone is killed via electrocution. Their skin looks burned afterwards

there's shaving/cutting

spoiler someone please tell me the times anything like this happens ;-;

someone is crushed to death

Yes

someone is stabbed

Yes

someone falls to their death

Yes

Someone becomes unconscious

Yes

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