What’s It About

Clayface is a body horror story about Rising Hollywood star Matt Hagen’s descent into a horrifying, revenge-filled monster when his face is disfigured by a gangster. As a last resort, Matt turns to scientist Dr. Caitlin Bates, whose scientific ambition transforms Matt’s body into clay, stripping him of his identity and humanity.

MOVIESinMO REVIEW

Five minutes into Clayface, my mind went straight to 2019’s Joker. Like that movie, this one stands on its own; it gets dark fast, and it leaves you twisted up about how you feel toward the man at the center of it all. There’s no Batman swooping in to save anybody. There’s just a broken man, a cold city, and a whole lot of goo. That man is Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), a kid who clawed his way out of one of Gotham’s rough neighborhoods and became a Hollywood star. He’s fresh off a Best Actor nomination; he picks whatever scripts he wants, and the fame has gone straight to his head. Back home to celebrate, he hooks up with Mia (Joana Ribeiro), who just happens to be the girlfriend of mob boss Markos Szabo (David Dencik). Bad move. Szabo answers with a switchblade and carves up the one thing that made Matt rich: his face. His agent bails, his manager follows, surgery can’t fix the damage, and even the courts let him down. The pretty boy is suddenly nobody. Out of desperation, Matt goes after Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), an expert whose nanocell treatment, which consists of small machines with artificial intelligence capable of regenerating tissues and bones, is still not approved for human use. He persuades her to give it a try anyway, but the experiment is partially successful. While he manages to regain his face, his body starts transforming itself into different shapes and forms known from his imagination. On top of everything else, the anger he has been hiding begins to grow stronger until it reaches its peak. Even though Clayface has always been a Batman villain, this film fits right into James Gunn’s new DC Universe, next to Superman, Supergirl, Peacemaker, and the Creature Commandos cartoon. So fans of Matt Reeves’ The Batman and The Penguin can relax. Nobody is pouring sentient mud into their gritty, grounded Gotham. Honestly, that’s a smart call, because Clayface works best in a weirder world. His best version before now lived in Batman: The Animated Series, and its 1992 two-parter “Feat of Clay” was a big inspiration for this film. The team behind the camera knows horror. Mike Flanagan, the man behind Doctor Sleep and The Haunting of Hill House, wrote the original story and script. Hossein Amini, who wrote Drive, reworked it, and James Watkins (Speak No Evil, The Woman in Black) directs. Together they land on something that feels like an old Universal monster movie, where you feel sorry for the doomed guy even as he wrecks everything, mixed with modern body horror that will have you peeking through your fingers. And the gore? It goes all the way there. Some scenes show Matt using his new body as a weapon against the folks who wronged him, including a wicked sneak attack inside a gangster’s nightclub. Others show his body turning against him, with his face sagging or suddenly flashing into the faces of the men who hurt him. Cartoon fans will even catch a nod to his famous spiked club arm. If all of this sounds like Cronenberg, you’re right. The look borrows heavily from Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral, a creepy film about celebrity and bodies. The story leans on his father David’s The Fly, and the third act follows that film’s love-during-transformation plot almost step for step. Still, if you’re going to borrow from one of the greatest horror movies ever made, you’d better do it this well. Tom Rhys Harries carries the whole thing on his back. Under all that makeup and digital slime, his eyes do the heavy lifting, showing pain, loneliness, and desperation that words can’t reach. No matter how ugly Matt’s actions get, you never fully stop rooting for him. Max Minghella plays Detective John Borrelli, Caitlyn’s fiancé and the kind of straight-arrow cop Commissioner Gordon would love to have on his squad, and Dencik plays the gangster with a sleaze that will make your skin crawl. The next person on the list is Naomi Ackie, who deserves one’s utmost attention. To see a Black woman playing the scientist who brings the whole operation to life is impressive indeed, since this fact alone gives Ackie’s character much more depth than it actually should have. Moreover, she appears to be the right support to Harries, since she starts being attracted to the man due to his troubles before realizing she is getting involved in an inappropriate situation. However, it has to be said that the plot sometimes doesn’t give her enough freedom for her character development and fails to define her motives. The movie has problems, too. The first half is tight and gripping, but the second half drags as the revenge plot gets predictable. Too many scenes have no action, no weight, and no real reason to be there. Thankfully, the final act gets its energy back and closes on an open ending that will stick with you after the credits roll. Clayface may not be on par with genuine horror classics, but it certainly doesn’t pretend to be. Rather, what Clayface delivers is a captivating tragedy and a terrific lead performance. In addition to plenty of gore, Clayface reinforces the idea that horror can be included in comic book films. While not groundbreaking, Clayface is nevertheless an entertaining movie released just in time for Halloween! Be sure to grab some popcorn, just go easy on the butter!

OUR RATING – A WARPED FACE 7