We’ve had a lot of clowns in horror — from It’s Pennywise to House of 1,000 Corpses’ Captain Spaulding, Terrifier’s Art, Killer Klowns From Outer Space’s Jojo … the list goes on. But a new clown has joined the circus.
Quinn (Katie Douglas) is the new kid on the block in Kettle Springs, Mo. She’s moved in right next to the burned-down Baypen Brand Corn Syrup factory, whose mascot, Friendo the Clown, is still the town’s beloved icon. It doesn’t take long for Quinn to make friends with local troublemaker Cole (Carson MacCormac) and his group. But after a prank gone wrong, the high schoolers of Kettle Springs find themselves hunted by someone dressed as Friendo.
If you’ve read Adam Cesare’s book of the same name, you’ll find that the broad strokes here are more or less the same. Director Eli Craig — also known for 2010’s Tucker & Dale vs. Evil — has made an adaptation that is mostly faithful, with some new elements sprinkled in for a more playful tone. There are new, creative kills, and some scenes from the book have been cut, likely due to budgetary or thematic-cohesion reasons. But the low budget never intrudes on the genre fun, thanks to bang-up performances from the ensemble cast of Canadian up-and-comers, who clearly weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.
Friendo serves his purpose as a symbol of the old ways of small-town life, and as Craig noted during a Q&A at last month’s Overlook Film Festival in New Orleans, the movie is all about the “Gen-X rage of not being able to take the power from the baby-boomer generation.” Though it doesn’t have the more direct anti-MAGA sentiment of Cesare’s novel, Clown still focuses on that generational divide, while delivering the genre thrills that fans of slasher films know and love.
Craig and Cesare, who have become close friends, have expressed interest in adapting the rest of the trilogy — Friendo Lives and The Church of Friendo — if this one is successful. It’s the perfect blend of classic blood-soaked slasher fun and modern allegorical terror, and it has the potential to reach the grindhouse and indie horror crowds.
