Clown in a Cornfield’s ending is all about Quinn, her dad, and her friends coming together to kill all the Frendo clowns coming out of the cornfield. Quinn and Dr. Glenn Maybrook used to live in Philadelphia. But after Quinn’s mother’s death, due to a drug overdose from what I could gather, they were either shamed into leaving the place, or Glenn was just too afraid to face the society and, hence, decided to skip town with Quinn. The Maybrooks arrived in Kettle Springs, Missouri, to get a fresh start, even though everything about the place was rotten. There were rumors flying around that the town was haunted by a killer clown called Frendo. It was tough to differentiate between myth and reality because a group of kids—Cole, Janet, Matt, Ronnie, and Tucker—fueled those rumors by creating fake videos of Frendo attacking people. Their mischief wasn’t limited to those videos, though, which was why they were sent to detention by their schoolteacher, Mr. Vern. Since Quinn found herself in their company, they became friends, despite her new neighbor Rust’s advice to keep her distance from them. It was all fun and games until Tucker and Matt got killed and all the teens of Kettle Springs got attacked by a bunch of Frendos at a party near a cornfield. Who were the people dressed up as Frendo? What did they want? And which of the protagonists made it all the way to the end? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Gen Z Versus Clowns
After causing some murder and mayhem at the party, the Frendos chased Quinn, Rust, Cole, Janet, and Ronnie into a shed. In there, they found a manhole that led to a sewer that would allow them to get away from the killer clowns. While Cole, Janet, Quinn, and Ronnie went into the tunnels, Rust hung back to create a makeshift bomb that’d take down some of the Frendos. Since Rust didn’t reunite with the group after the explosion, he was presumed dead. After making their way through the cornfield, Cole, Janet, Quinn, and Ronnie flagged down Sheriff Dunne, who arrested Cole for being in possession of Rust’s shotgun and didn’t even bother to help the girls. As per their original plan, Janet, Quinn, and Ronnie started making their way to the Tillersons, because they had a landline there, and since there was no cell service, that telephone was their only hope. On their way there, Ronnie was killed by a Frendo. After entering the Tillerson household, Janet was killed by a Frendo too. And then a bunch of Frendos abducted Quinn and took her to the Baypen factory. Cole was there too, and he had a noose around his neck, ready to be hanged till death.
Assuming that Quinn and Cole’s demise was imminent, the Frendos decided to unmask themselves and reveal why they were doing what they were doing. I’m not sure about the identities of all the Frendos involved, but the ones in the factory included an elderly woman named Trudy; the owner of a convenience store, Otis; the sheriff, Dunne; the schoolteacher, Vern; and the mayor and Cole’s father, Arthur. So, apparently, in the 1930s, the elders of Kettle Springs had established an anti-hobo policy. That evolved into an anti-hippie policy. In the present day, it has taken its final form: an anti-juvenile delinquency policy. According to this policy, the adults of the town, who had created the myth of Frendo the Killer Clown, would dress up like a joker and murder anyone who they deemed unfit to live there. Now, after the Baypen corn syrup factory burned down due to an alleged electrical failure, Kettle Springs was on a downhill slide. Hence, the youngsters were cynical, and the old-timers saw that as the town’s biggest problem, and not the fact that, well, the place had no future. They particularly hated Cole’s friend circle, because they were making money publishing fake videos of Frendo.
However, they were perfectly okay with the fact that Arthur had burned down the factory for get the insurance money. Sure, that money must’ve served as a quick fix for the town’s financial woes, but keeping the factory alive would’ve been a much better idea. Since there was no way to fix the damage that the Millennials had done, they chose to turn Gen Z into the town’s punching bag. Thankfully, before the Frendos could kill Cole and Quinn, Glenn found the factory, crashed into it with his car, and gave the youngsters a fighting chance. Rust was also revealed to be alive, and he helped the protagonists kill the Frendos. Trudy got impaled with a pipe during the crash. Otis’ head was crushed by a piece of debris from the wreckage. Quinn ambushed Dunne and tasered him to death. Arthur got away. And while escaping from the factory, along with Cole, Rust, and Glenn, Quinn ran Vern over with a car. In Clown in a Cornfield’s ending, Glenn was shown running for mayor, while Quinn bid her father, Rust, and Cole goodbye to begin a new chapter of her life: college. En route to her destination, Quinn discovered Frendo’s signature music box in her car. Instead of being terrified by it, she chose to chuck it out onto the highway.
Themes, Commentary, and Laugh-out-loud Moments
Ever since the success of slashers with masked killers, like Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Scream, numerous films have tried their own spin on the subgenre and failed miserably. Up until the 50-minute mark, I was expecting Clown in a Cornfield to be a disappointment. But as soon as the multiple Frendos appeared, and Glenn was seen driving through an empty Kettle Springs, I knew that we had a combination of Hot Fuzz, IT, Terrifier, and Scream on our hands. So, allow me to dissect some of the scenes that stood out to me to the best of my abilities. For starters, the couple that’s killed in the 90s is a reference to a lot of 70s and 80s slasher villains being against sexual promiscuity. Given how the Frendo in the 90s must’ve grown up through the 70s or the 80s, they used that couple’s friskiness as an excuse to gut them. But you don’t see that trend being continued into the 2020s because sexual expression is not as taboo as it used to be back in the day.
Homophobia, though, continues to be an issue. Yes, Arthur disowned Cole because he’s gay. All the other stuff that Arthur was rambling about was irrelevant. I don’t want to get too political, but Arthur reflected a certain stereotype of the kind of people who are proud of being conservative and adhering to regressive traditions. So, it was obvious that he saw Cole’s sexual preference as an aberration. But, hey, for a change, the gay couple—Rust and Cole—got the win at the end, and that made me really happy. It’s very rare for any romantic couple to make it all the way to the concluding moments of a horror film alive, but queer couples have it the worst. So, yeah, a subversion of that trope was nice to see. In addition to homophobia, racism continues to be an issue, and it’s tackled in the meta “Black person dies first in a horror movie.” Amongst the boys, Tucker is the first one to go, and out of the girls, Ronnie bites the dust first, that too right after predicting her own death. Gen Z has claimed that they do know how to use a rotary dial phone, but, as per this film, they don’t. I think the scene of Janet and Quinn failing to dial 911 on the rotary dial phone is pretty realistic, and even if it isn’t, it is pretty hilarious. That moment is followed by Janet’s “He was meditating” bit, and it concludes with the deaths of Janet and the Frendo that killed her, all of which is extremely funny. The mini-arc of Quinn going from not being able to drive stick to save her life (which is another dig at Gen Z, which is so used to driving automatic) to driving stick, with the help of Glenn, and killing Vern is quite sweet.
Coming to the main conflict of the film: the blame game. I am glad that it addresses the fact that every generation, after reaching the point of no return in terms of development, societal harmony, and more, accuses the next generation of being responsible for every problem that the world is facing instead of looking inward. The previous generation didn’t create enough jobs or sufficiently promote the importance of education, but apparently the issue is that the next generation doesn’t want anything to do do 70-hour workweeks and is looking for alternate means of employment. The previous generation didn’t teach respect, unity, and dignity; however, the issue is that the next generation is disrespecting “traditional values.” The previous generation manipulated, lied, and killed to make a quick buck; yet, the next generation is full of delinquents even though they are merely echoing their elders. It’s never us; it’s always them. And I feel that the movie beautifully utilizes Glenn to show that you can be a flawed parent and still end up being a wholesome part of your kid’s life; all you have to do is care, listen, and be willing to collaborate.
By the way, the moment between Glenn and the Frendo that he eventually kills made me laugh a lot. Also, Clown in a Cornfield is very loudly ACAB, which is why Dunne’s death had me hooting and hollering. I didn’t quite get the point of using Frendo as the titular killer. I mean, I understand that he is Kettle Springs’ mascot, and the killer being dressed as the town’s greatest identifier is a metaphor for the town turning on its own. But given how Frendo is also the symbol of the corn syrup factory, I suppose there’s some underlying commentary about capitalism being good for cities but cannibalizing farming towns? Please, let me know in the comments section below.
Sequel Expectations
Clown in a Cornfield takes a lot of time to get going. It has a brilliant second and third act. But then it wraps things up a little too quickly and conveniently, thereby raising a bunch of questions, which I am guessing will be answered in a sequel. I mean, Adam Cesare has written two more sequels: Frendo Lives and The Church of Frendo. So, the material is there, which I haven’t read; it’s only a matter of whether or not this movie will be successful enough to warrant a trilogy. Is that going to stop me from speculating? Absolutely not. So, here we go. How many of the adults were on Team Frendo? By the looks of it, and based on the themes of the film, almost all the adults were dressing up as Frendo and going after the kids. Did the teens get them all? Or are they just hiding, waiting for Arthur to return?
By the way, where the hell is Arthur? The man just drove off, and, during the concluding moments of the film, we saw Glenn running for mayor? I am pretty sure that the town is still loyal to Arthur. Therefore, what are the chances that Glenn is going to win? Is he relying on the new voters to make him the mayor? But his success will depend on how well-informed they are. Most of the kids at that party, which was attacked by the Frendos, were inside a barn. They didn’t see anything. Can Glenn, Rust, and Cole really convince the people of Kettle Springs that the former mayor was leading a cult that has been massacring people for generations? I doubt it. Hence, the heroes have to tackle a lot of misinformation, propaganda, Frendo loyalists, copycat killers, and, on top of all that, the unemployment issue. How are they going to handle all that, especially in Quinn’s absence? I suppose Quinn will return to Kettle Springs because, firstly, she is clearly being stalked by Arthur, and secondly, life in college will seem too boring after everything she went through in that town.
In addition to that, I expect the sequel to be more entertaining than the first one. As mentioned before, it had a bit of a starting and ending problem. That needs to be fixed in the sequel. Eli Craig and Carter Blanchard really need to fine-tune the writing, the themes, and the commentary so that the engagement factor remains consistent all the way from the opening credits to the closing credits. The kills need to be as hilarious and creative as the ones in this film; if they manage to surpass the bar set by the original, I’ll be very impressed. If they get a higher budget, the VFX and the CGI have to be polished. The special effects, the gore, the blood, the stunts—that’s all good. Anyway, those are my thoughts on Clown in a Cornfield and its potential sequel. What are your opinions on the same? Let me know in the comments section below.
