Clown in a Cornfield is a new film from Eli Craig (Tucker and Dale vs. Evil), based on the novel of the same name by author Adam Cesare. Starring Katie Douglas, Aaron Abrams, and Kevin Durand, the movie hits theaters May 9th! We recently had the chance to have an awesome (and hilarious) chat with Eli Craig and Kevin Durand about it!
iHorror: So, Clown in a Cornfield! What can you tell us, without spoiling too much?
Eli Craig: Well, I don’t want to spoil it but there’s something in a cornfield, that’s like, lurking predatorily and might cause some problems. I don’t want to spoil it.
It doesn’t wear makeup, does it?
EC: Not, really no. Most of the time, no. There might be some makeup involved. Mostly he’s in slasher killer mode, 80’s style with a mask on. The films about this generational divide in a small town, Kettle Springs. We very much set up the tropes of horror films to kind of upend them in this movie.
One of the tropes being that the lead character’s coming from big-town Philly and she’s lost her mother and moves in with her father in the small town of Kettle Springs for a new start, but she sees a lot of economic hardship in this town and the town is very divided between the older folk that kind of are angry about the changes that have been happening and the younger folk that really want the changes to be happening. It erupts in this violent and bloody way when good old Friendo emerges to mix things up.
Kevin, what can you tell us about your role?
Kevin Durand: I play Arthur Hill, who’s the mayor of Kettle Springs and he’s kind of fed up with the way things are going and wants to help inspire change in the most efficient way that he can and he goes about that in a very… (laughing)
EC: In the best way that he knows how. (Laughing.)
KD: In the best way he knows how, thank you.
The movie is based on the novel (of the same name) by Adam Cesare. How did you all get together, and how did the movie come about?
EC: Well, the producers, Temple Hill, Marty Bowen, they also did the movie, Smile, and before that they did the Twilight series. So, they sent me the book and the first pass on the script by Carter Blanchard was pretty much a thrill ride already, and I went back to the book and I thought there was a really fun, action packed slasher movie here. Frankly, I was trying to get away from my kind of “comedy-first” horror films and do something “horror-first” with action and have moments of levity and comedy. To be honest, I think the comedy in this plays out even better than I expected.
This is me at like 30, maybe 25% comedy. I was really trying to hold back so I could keep the scares going. Man, when that comedy played at SXSW, I mean, Kevin you were there. People unleashed. Their laughter was like a boom. I’m like, “no, this isn’t all funny, this is scary. We’re getting back to the scary stuff!” With that said, the laughter was all at the moments where I was going for laughter. Just, man – it was bigger than I expected. I think I’ll tone the next one down to 10% comedy.
KD: It’s too good!
EC: Some people love comedic beats within horror films, and I’m one of those fans, obviously. I guess it was my late teens, early twenties, I can’t remember, but I saw Scream in the movie theater and I brought my younger brother and sister who were like, eight and ten years younger than me, so it was totally unacceptable. After the first kill, of course, I was hiding their eyes, but thinking it was awesome. I didn’t let them leave. I think I scarred them for life. For me, it was a moving experience. (Laughing.)
They’ll be okay… (Laughing.)
EC: They’re great now. That movie, and the other one I watched over and over in college was Evil Dead 2. We would just laugh our butts off. Then after graduating from film school, I was basically writing comedy, and I wanted to do something in the horror genre that still has the comedy I like. I found a way to reverse the tropes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre by wondering, what if Leatherface was really just misunderstood. That’s where Tucker and Dale vs. Evil came from. I’m always trying to add an element where I’m reversing the horror tropes in movies, and we tackled that a bit here, as well.
What attracted you to the role, Kevin? What made you want to be in this film?
KD: Two major things. Eli. I love his films, and the script. I thought the script was so good, entertaining, and compelling. The character, obviously, travels a really big distance in a certain amount of time in terms of the spectrum of what I would get to bring to it. It just felt like it would be a lot fun to jump in and go for the ride, and it was. Then seeing it was even more fun and satisfying.
I’m glad you mentioned fun. Fun is huge, especially behind the scenes with the cast. If you’re having fun, I feel like it translates to the movie.
What was it like (on set) with all of you? I know there was Katie Douglas, Aaron Abrams, and more. What was the vibe like?
EC: We all hated each other, and then I’d say action and we acted like we didn’t hate each other, it was amazing!
Some sets are like that, though, right?
EC: Sometimes it is, and it’s really important to me that it’s not like that on my sets. It is so important to me that we’re on this mission impossible together.
I know we don’t have a lot of time left, but if you could say one thing about this film, what sets it apart from other clown movies?
EC: For me the thing that sets this clown movie apart is that it’s a classic sort of slasher killer. A lot of clown movies are supernatural, this is a genuine person and there is something very fathomable about him, like, in the end, you’ll get why they’re doing this.
What’s next for you guys?
EC: I’m going to sleep for a while…
KD: Thinking sleep, and looking ahead to do some premieres. That’s what’s next for us, right now. I can’t wait for everybody to see it!
We wish you guys the best of luck, I think people are going to dig it. Thanks for your time!
EC: Thank you!
KD: Thank you!
CLOWN in a CORNFIELD releases only in theaters on Friday May 9th, brought to you by RLJE Films, and Shudder!