Fans of outlandish horror comedies likeShaun of the Deadsurely know of co-writer and director Eli Craig’s 2010 gem,Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. The somewhat-meta slasher buddy comedy follows the trials and tribulations of two rough-around-the-edges bumpkin pals (Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine) when a crew of ignorant college kids mistake them for hick murderers during a vacation in the woods. While the beloved flick hilariously parodies redneck slasher subgenre tropes, Craig’s newest horror comedy, 2025’sClown in a Cornfield, infuses sociopolitical issues, including generational and class tensions, into its fairly traditional masked murderer plot.
Based on author Adam Cesare’s Bram Stoker Award-winning 2020 novel of the same name,Clown in a Cornfieldfollows father-daughter duoQuinn Maybrook (Katie Douglas) and Dr. Maybrook (Aaron Abrams) as they move to a tiny Missouri town obsessed with traditional values: Kettle Springs. Hoping for a fresh start, Dr. Maybrook takes a physician job in the midwestern town, unaware that he’s dragging his teen daughter to a broken community hiding a vengeful killer clown. Sinister jester Frendo — mascot of the iconic Baypen Corn Syrup brand — has it out for the progressive youths who may be responsible for the catastrophic Baypen factory fire.
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Horror and comedy both rely on tension and release, and these films induce a really physical reaction with both laughter and fear.
At theClown in a CornfieldNew York premiere, Craig was candid with MovieWeb about the long-anticipatedTucker & Dale vs. Evilsequel, saying, “The truth is, I’ve been through my own horror process withTucker & Dale, very internal and external,” he began. Unfortunately, theTucker & Dalesequel may not make it out alive.
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On August 16, 2025, MovieWeb sat down with Craig, Cesare, andClown in a Cornfieldstars Katie Douglas, Aaron Abrams, Kevin Durand, and Carson MacCormac to chat about theirSXSW hit film. During the conversation, Craig gave a discouraging update on the sequel to his feature film directorial debut, saying that “Tucker & Dalethe sequel has been killed in a wood chipper more times than college kids in various ways.” That’s quite a visual.
“I wanted to bring a [Tucker & Dale vs. Evil] sequel to people many times, and there’s many incarnations of it. But filmmaking is this weird lottery, and sometimes things happen in different ways. So if it comes together someday, I’d be happy to bring it to people. … Sometimes the world tells you what to do, right? So far the world has wanted it, but maybe the wanting of it is what’s supposed to exist, and not the getting it.”
While Craig’s update is not exactly promising, it is open-ended. Stars Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine have expressed their desire to make a sequel, but only if it feels entirely authentic. “We don’t want to ruin the first one by doing a crappy second one. That isn’t usually the rule in Hollywood, but I’m glad we’re following that path,” Tudyk told CinemaBlend at San Diego Comic-Con 2017. “It’s a long, slow grind on its way to becoming a cult favorite — who knows. So then to go and do a weird, money-grabby sequel, just seems like a bad idea,” Labine added.
Similarly to Craig, Tudyk, and Labine’s cautious interest in making aTucker & Dalesequel, Adam Cesare was quite particular about what an adaptation of his novelClown in a Cornfieldshould look like. Cesare previously stated that he feels an adaptation should be a “film made with a point of view and a purpose.” He went on to tell MovieWeb about how Eli Craig’s Clown in a Cornfield adaptation, which was co-written by Carter Blanchard, fits that vision:
“It feels very much in the spirit of the book. The characters feel like they kind of leaped off the page. And the story is very faithful to the thing. But I think there’s a faithful adaptation, and there’s transposition, just, like, dryly adapting a book. … You don’t want to see the exact same thing; you already read it. … You want a filmmaker with a point of view, with a sense of humor, with a sense of seeing the world, and you want them to bring that to an adaptation. You don’t want the same product over again.”
you’re able to catchClown in a Cornfieldin U.S. theaters on June 14, 2025.
