Interviews
How ‘Clown in a Cornfield’ Strikes the Balance Between Horror, Humor and Gory Kills [Interview]
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil director Eli Craig is back in the realm of slashers with Clown in a Cornfield, the adaptation of author Adam Cesare‘s young adult slasher novel. This time, the filmmaker is taking a much more serious approach that showcases suspense with the gory kills.
Clown in a Cornfield slashes into theaters on May 9, and stars Katie Douglas (Ginny & Georgia), Carson MacCormac (Shazam!), Aaron Abrams (Hannibal), Will Sasso (The Three Stooges), and Kevin Durand (Abigail).
In the film, Katie Douglas stars as Quinn, a young teen who’s recently moved to the quaint town of Kettle Springs with her father, only to discover something is seriously amiss with the place when the mascot of the defunct Baypen Corn Syrup Factory returns to kill. Again and again.
Craig, who also helmed the comedy-horror movie Little Evil and the pilot of the “Zombieland” TV series, put a lot of thought into the film’s tone, which has much more lighthearted humor and quips than Cesare’s novel without veering too far into comedy territory.
“Well, I’ll be honest. In a way, the straightforward horror is less of a challenge than comedy,” Craig reflects of the film’s balance between horror and humor. “People don’t understand how hard comedy really is, but it was a challenge to wrap my head around like, wait a minute, I’m ready to do a horror film? Even after I’ve dismantled all the horror tropes in the world. I’ve already poked fun at them all, so now how am I going to embrace them and be okay with embracing these tropes?
“I think I figured out the way to do it because the way I do it here is I embrace the tropes up to a point, and then I reverse them, and I change them all up. I make sure that we’re doing new and original things within the framework of a horror film. And I get to add a little bit of comedy too.“
Courtesy of RLJE Films & Shudder. An RLJE Films & Shudder Release
He elaborates, “For Tucker and Dale, I always wanted the deaths to be the funniest part of the film, so when it was gory, you should be laughing. For this, it was really the opposite, and I wanted to be very careful that the action and suspense and the kills were not humorous. There’s then a release valve that happens after where there’s some humor, and so I was really targeted by this one. I want the humor to be right here but not here, and I want to drive the suspense and these horror elements home.
“It’s weird though because a lot of people forget how much good horror films have elements of comedy in them, and even films that people think, ‘Oh, that’s just straight horror.’ Poltergeist [and the like] have all these really funny moments in them that get a crowd to laugh. To me, this is a horror film, and a good horror film to me just has breakout moments of comedy.”
RELATED: Adam Cesare teases plans for Clown in a Cornfield’s fourth novel.
At the center of the horror is Quinn, a final girl with grit and the complexities of being a teenage girl, from romance woes to conflict with her dad. Oh, and a killer clown on the loose. Douglas brought a lot of herself to the role, but she’s quick to credit the novel’s author for her tough final girl role.
Courtesy of RLJE Films & Shudder. An RLJE Films & Shudder Release
“Before I got there and we started filming, Eli and I talked a lot about her character,” Douglas tells BD. “Essentially, he had the idea where I actually know all about what it’s like to be a teenage girl, so he really just wanted me to bring a lot of myself to the character, which was something I was happy to do for this one. But Adam, who wrote the books, is surprisingly very, very good at writing a contemporary teenage girl. He was a teacher and decided that he wanted to write for the youth, and he did exactly that, and I think a lot of the dialogue is actually Adam.”
For his part, Cesare has a lot of experience around teens, but is just as quick to throw credit back to the young actor breathing new life into his novel’s character.
“I was a teacher for a long time,” Cesare explains of how he’s so tuned into adolescents. “I think the idea of living your life with empathy and trying to understand what people are going through and where they’re coming from should be a baseline humanity thing. Now, I’m about to sound super cynical, but it makes you a better writer. If you just pay attention more and you try to understand what people are going through and where they’re coming from, you’ll pick up on it and I’ll get zinged once or twice for people. I’ll try to use slang or try to use a new concept that already becomes outdated once you get it in a book because books take forever to publish.”
Cesare continues, “But the idea, the core of these characters, I think I’m pretty good at that. I’m pretty good at writing teen characters, regardless of gender. But I also think Katie’s selling it a little short there, too, because I think Eli will tell you Katie was rewriting scenes for herself. Not in a ‘I’m taking over the set’ way. She wasn’t like Klaus Kinski. She was fine-tuning, and she has an incredible ear for authenticity. She has an incredible ear for performance; for her own performance and control of her own performance. I was only on set for a day, but you could see it. The proof is in the pudding, the proof is in the film, and then you talk to her. I’ve gotten to talk to her at a lot of these events, and just she’s just cool as shit and just knows her stuff. She’s a student of the genre.”
Courtesy of RLJE Films & Shudder. An RLJE Films & Shudder Release
With the tone settled and a worthy final girl for a new generation in place, that leaves the most important slasher element: the kills. The director has a keen understanding of how important this is to a slasher and aims to deliver. “We embellished the kills,” he confirms. “I think if anything’s very different about the book, it’s not that people are dying. It’s just exactly how they die. These moments are really playful moments for me to figure out. What can we do with the budget we have to make it awesome, to make people just gasp? That’s the moment I’d want people to sometimes scream out, sometimes gasp. I think it’s one of the most important things in a horror movie.
“Obviously, a slasher horror movie is not just about the deaths but how people die and what is the tone when they die. And for me, it’s like walking this fine line of fun but real, and so I keep trying to play with that tone.”
Interviews
The Work ‘Grind’ Is Hell, So Brea Grant & Ed Dougherty Made a Horror Anthology About It [CFF 2026 Interview]
Genre fans rejoice! Chattanooga Film Festival is back for its 13th year in 2026 with a killer lineup and once again offering audiences both in-person and virtual options. After having its World Premiere at SXSW this spring, the horror comedy anthology Grind is playing CFF 2026 opening weekend.
From a screenplay by Brea Grant (Torn Hearts, 12 Hour Shift) and Ed Dougherty (MLM) and segments directed by Grant, Dougherty, and Chelsea Stardust (Satanic Panic), Grind features four interwoven stories that parody the gig economy, hustle culture, and the evils of late-stage capitalism.
The anthology follows weary everyday people juggling side hustles just to survive, while going up against greedy oligarchs, and cleverly uses dark humor and bloody practical effects to portray a world much like our current economic nightmare.
Bloody Disgusting had the pleasure of chatting with Brea Grant and Ed Dougherty about the socioeconomic commentary in Grind, casting Barbara Crampton as a villain, and DIY filmmaking.
Bloody Disgusting: Every segment in this anthology feels relatable because people are actually struggling to survive in the gig economy right now. How did the two of you come up with the idea of creating Grind?
Brea Grant: Like you said, we were trying to come up with a cool idea that seemed relevant right now. The thing that everyone we know is talking about is the economy, the lack of work, and the nightmare hellscape that is late-stage capitalism. It felt like the right time to write something that really featured that as the main horror. As the main thing that people were scared of, this world sort of came to us over the course of a couple of years.
Ed Dougherty: We wanted to make a hit film, and we said, “Let’s make a horror anthology, that’s the most marketable thing there is.” [laughs]
BG: [laughs] Definitely not!
BD: I love anthologies!
ED: We do, too. We feel like it’s kind of an undervalued form of horror film, but it’s a hard sell.
BG: People told us not to make it. They said, “Don’t make an anthology. It’s too hard to sell.” But we did it anyway.
BD: I guess I’m just one of those weirdos who likes anthologies and watches them all.
ED: We believe that there are a lot of weirdos like you out there. It seems like every good horror anthology has a long life, but it’s just getting over the initial hump that’s difficult.
BD: Chelsea Stardust directed some of the segments with the two of you and serves as a producer. How did she first get involved with this project?
BG: The project has a long history. We shot the first segment, which is about multi-level marketing, a couple of years ago. We had decided we wanted to make a full anthology, but it took us about a year after shooting that initial segment to shoot the rest of the movie. When we did that, we knew we needed to bring on a producer aside from Ed and me, since we were directing the bulk of the movie, so that was how she came on board. I’ve been friends with her for a long time, and the one thing I know about her as a friend is that she is very organized, so it felt like a good fit. I just called her one day and said, “Would you want to produce these three segments that we have left to shoot of Grind?” and she came on board.
BD: There are some fun cameos in Grind, but we have to talk about Barbara Crampton. She’s so good as a villainess. Why did you want her for this role, and what was it like working with her on this film?
BG: She’s in her villain era, which is so fun. [laughs] Obviously, we’re huge Barbara Crampton fans, and when we were making MLM, it was a smaller part of the movie that we knew we needed to call on people who could do a good job but were also friendly to us [laughs]. I’m friends with Barbara Crampton, and we’ve done three movies together before this. So, it felt like someone within our reach, but could also really draw a horror crowd. She has a huge fanbase, and she’s also super supportive of all the projects that she’s been in, so that was also really exciting. She’s a great actress, and she’s super funny. I think a lot of these horror actresses, especially those who came up in the eighties and nineties, weren’t given an opportunity to be funny. I think she was ready to jump on an opportunity that was different than what she was used to; it’s not running around and screaming. She is a cult leader, and she is quite funny in it. She just takes the comedy so well and seriously, and she does such an amazing job with it. She has a scene across from Rob Huebel, who is obviously a comedy master, and I feel like the two of them together were hilarious. It’s been fun to watch Barbara go from these iconic roles to a different kind of role at this point in her career. We’re super happy to be a part of that.
ED: And she loves the movie and has been so supportive. Every time she posts about it, I’m like, “I can’t believe this. This is amazing.”
BD: This is an accurate parody of the current socioeconomic situation in this country, as well as our obsession with online culture. It repeatedly asks the question, “What are you willing to do to make money,” in a world with wealth inequality and evil oligarchs. It’s fun, and it’s a horror movie, but it’s thought-provoking. What do you hope audiences take away from Grind, besides having a good time?
ED: I read every review and every Letterboxd review; Brea does not. So, I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen some reviews that say, “Good movie but doesn’t propose a solution.” I think we do propose a solution, which is that the power of unions and organizing is the only way that we will be able to fight back against oligarchs. I do think that is the message of the film. Organizing is the only way to defeat these villains. I do think we have a lot to say in the film. I’d want someone to say, “Man, I’ve never seen a horror anthology that had a political message before.” [laughs]
BG: I think the other thing is that what is currently happening is that we live in a world in which people kind of feel alone in this. They’re like, “Well, I’m doing bad, “or “I’m having trouble paying my rent.” We wanted to hang a lantern on the fact that this is happening to everyone, that wealth disparity is at an all-time high. We’re pointing out to people that you aren’t in this alone; you’re not the only person doing side hustles. Every filmmaker friend I have is working a side job of some sort at this point, and that is just in Los Angeles. Outside of this city, I think things are more dire. I think it was about infusing some politics into something that could make people realize that they aren’t alone and that there are ways of fighting back and fighting the system that has been set up against them.
ED: I think the tone of the movie, which is darkly comedic, also really matches the tone of life right now. Everything seems almost at a parody level as far as the disconnect between oligarchs and trying to make a living and reality. The absurdist nature of the film kind of captures the real tone of life.
BD: There are some cool creature effects and makeup effects in this movie. Can you talk a little bit about the practical effects and makeup?
ED: I think especially because of the message of the film, which is pushing back against the current hellscape we’re in, we wanted to use as many practical effects as possible. We used matte paintings, miniatures, and practical creature effects. I’m always afraid of the matte painting because we used the old school matte painter, but they do look a little AI. I heard someone make a noise behind me during one of the shots, and I was like, “I hope that noise wasn’t them using AI because that’s a matte painting.” [laughs] There’s also the fact that it’s pretty DIY. It’s a film that we financed ourselves and shot in our houses as much as possible. We wanted the whole thing to feel handmade and very tactile.
BG: We’re old school horror fans, so we love seeing practical effects. The practical stuff is really fun for us. It’s the stuff that we think is actually cool. [laughs] So, practical stuff made the most sense for us. We both grew up in the punk scene in the nineties, and I think it just kind of comes naturally to us to try to do things ourselves. And we both work on projects for big companies, with smaller companies, but always for other people, so trying to do something ourselves to see what that felt like was also part of the experiment of Grind.
ED: This was our chance to do everything we wanted our way.
Grind screens at the Chattanooga Film Festival on June 20.
You must be logged in to post a comment.