With the warmer months approaching, something feels right about a comedic horror slasher brimming with blood, chainsaws, and defiant teenagers. With a title that’s impossible to ignore, co-writer and director Eli Craig’s SXSW Film & TV Festival 2025 entry, Clown in a Cornfield, hits U.S. theaters on May 9, 2025. While chatting with Craig about his latest horror movie, we asked him to reflect on his short-lived acting career – in particular, his role in 1999’s The Rage: Carrie 2, the forgotten sequel to the Stephen King classic Carrie.
Based on the Bram Stoker Award-winning 2020 novel of the same name by Adam Cesare, Clown in a Cornfield follows Quinn Maybrook (Katie Douglas) and her father, Dr. Maybrook (Aaron Abrams), as they embark on a new chapter in the tiny, stereotypically midwestern town of Kettle Springs after a family tragedy. After learning that the Baypen Corn Syrup factory — an economic pillar of the community — mysteriously burned down, generational divides and class tensions become evident, and Kettle Springs soon reveals itself to be a middle-of-nowhere nightmare as a masked figure dressed as Baypen’s mascot, Frendo the clown, begins targeting the town’s teenagers.

Related

10 Evil Clown Movies to Watch After You’re Done With Terrifier

Whether it’s horror, action, or science fiction, movies have been making villains out of these jesters for decades.

Known for beloved horror indies like Tucker & Dale vs. Evil and Little Evil, Eli Craig has made a name for himself as a modern horror director, gravitating toward stories that blend humor with scares. However, you may not know that he began his career as an actor, starring in the widely panned Carrie sequel, The Rage: Carrie 2. During a joint interview with Craig, author Adam Cesare, and stars Katie Douglas, Aaron Abrams, Kevin Durand, and Carson MacCormac at the New York premiere of Clown in a Cornfield, the director told MovieWeb all about his gory experience as a Hollywood newbie in the late ’90s.
A Plaster Cast of Director Eli Craig’s Head Is “Floating Around Somewhere” To This Day

Naturally, Craig, Cesare, and the co-stars of the R-rated slasher were amused by MovieWeb’s question about the director’s early career. “Been waiting for someone to ask this,” Aaron Abrams exclaimed before Craig confirmed that his role as high school bully and football player Chuck Potter in the 1999 Carrie sequel was his very first acting job:

“I was convinced by an actor friend, sort of girlfriend, that said, ‘You could do this. This should be easy. Go get some acting jobs.’ And I went out and in short order, I ended up on the set of The Rage: Carrie 2. I was 23 I think, and I got my head chopped off in the movie. I had a plaster cast made of my head that’s floating around somewhere, my 23-year-old head. It was really fun to pay it forward [when] Alex Deakin’s head gets chopped off.”

Before anyone screams “spoiler,” Alexandre Martin Deakin’s disturbing bench press scene is in the Clown in a Cornfield trailer, hinting at his violent demise.
Eli Craig, Adam Cesare, and the Cast Discuss Practical Effects in ‘Clown in a Cornfield’

Just as Craig’s decapitated head showcased the art of practical effects in The Rage: Carrie 2, Deakin’s head and a slew of other severed parts and bodily fluids were accomplished the same way in Clown in a Cornfield.
“I think a lot of the kills were so fun just because there’s a lot of practical effects in this movie,” Katie Douglas, known for Ginny & Georgia, told MovieWeb. “I love practical effects. It made it so much more hands-on and creative and visceral.”

Related

10 Slashers With Really Surprising Twists

The slasher subgenre tends to offer straightforward thrills. But once in a while, there is a twist to remember.

Craig was visibly excited to speak about the “blood cannon” that was used for a particular scene.
“We were setting someone up to get hit by the blood cannon. The special effects guy was like, ‘Come, I’ll show you how much blood is going to be thrown out of this cannon at you.’ And I said, ‘No, no, no! She cannot see it. It’ll mess up the surprise.’ … So she didn’t get to see, and when she did get that blood cannon kind of splattered in her face, the reaction is so real. It’s so genuine,” Craig explained, going on to express his feelings on the authentic magic of practical SFX.

“Sometimes, with visual effects, you do it 20 times to get the right angle. With special effects, you get one take. And that’s the very real reaction, and that’s what’s on film.”

It’s all so reminiscent of the famous chestburster scene from Ridley Scott’s Alien, which also featured blood-soaked practical effects that genuinely startled the actors.
Gore-hounds can catch Clown in a Cornfield in U.S. theaters on May 9.

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