Who needs another comic book movie? Not me.
So, it’s good news that Clayface, the latest release from James Gunn’s DC Studios, hardly feels like an adaptation of a DC Comics story at all. It’s a body horror movie that’s DC Comics–inspired and that barely references its pedigree.
And, most surprising of all, it’s actually worth seeing.
Co-written by Mike Flanagan, the current go-to guy for Stephen King adaptations (case-in-point: the new Carrie TV series on Amazon Prime), and directed by James Watkins, the film stars Tom Rhys Harries (The Gentlemen) as Matt Hagen, an actor on the rise, whose career takes a (ahem) nosedive after a violent encounter in Gotham City leaves him horribly disfigured.
Enter Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie, I Wanna Dance with Somebody), a scientist with an experimental treatment that promises to restore his handsome mug. Good news: It works. Sort of. Matt gets his face back, along with a whole new set of problems. Turns out, there’s a downside to experimental medicine. Who knew?
What follows is a parade of melting flesh, gruesome transformations, and enough body horror to make you reconsider your next elective cosmetic procedure. If The Substance was your kind of movie, then this film will be right up your alley.
Harries is very good as a man slowly losing himself (physically and metaphorically), and the practical effects are gloriously disgusting. There’s something wonderfully old-school about watching a movie this committed to making its audience squirm. The screenplay (which Flanagan wrote with Hossein Amini, based on Flanagan’s original story) gives the material enough emotional heft to keep it from becoming a feature-length effects reel, even when the story starts getting a little silly. Because if you’re going to spend 108 minutes watching a guy turn into sentient Play-Doh, you might as well feel something, too.
On the other hand, Ackie isn’t particularly convincing, and some of the dramatic moments have all the subtlety of a chainsaw. The movie also runs too long.
Still, when Clayface gets going, it’s a blast. It’s gory, ridiculous, occasionally gross in ways that are so over-the-top you can’t help but laugh, and absolutely the kind of movie you want to see with a crowd. There’s one scene in particular that takes place in an airplane bathroom that’s horrific on its own. Throw in the sound of everyone else in the theater equally disturbed by what they’re watching, and suddenly the collective gasps, laughs, and “WHAT THE FUCK?” reactions are half the fun.
And yes, even though the film takes place in Gotham City, Max Minghella plays a detective in the Gotham Police Department, and Matt Reeves (The Batman) is one of the producers, there’s no mention of Batman, Bruce Wayne, Commissioner Gordon, or any of the other characters from that franchise. This film may be a comic book villan origin story, but it doesn’t seem to care very much about the comic book part. Kind of like the first Joker movie.
In short, Clayface is a pleasant surprise, although calling a movie like this pleasant feels like a stretch. The point is, I enjoyed it more than I expected to. Turns out, the best thing DC can do with one of its villains is let him lose his face — and give the rest of us a reason to lose our lunch.
I’m giving Clayface a B.
What say you? Leave a comment here.