I had a lot of enjoyable fun with CLAYFACE. A DC movie that will likely be more warrmly embraced by the horror crowd rather than the comic book/superhero fans. Thankfully, I enjoy both, so I was more than happy to go along for whatever ride the film chose to take me on.
It's already become cliche to compare every new "body horror" film to THE SUBSTANCE, but in this case the comparison is completely warranted (they both feature lead chracaters who are popular actors resorting to experimental science to restore/repair their physical appearance out of desperation to continue/salvage thgeir careers). It certainly gets a LOT more grueseome than your standard comic book adaptation, but it is far from the EVIL DEAD-like parade of gore that some may be expecting after those ominous early tweets (which many, in retrospect, were likely made by people who are primarily comic book movie fans and usually shun horror...if that is the case then yes, the movie will seem very violent to you).
It's an odd film, and in many ways its a film that probably shouldn't work as well as it does. It's a movie that seemed like it was on the precipice of being a complete disaster, but then there are a handful of elements that work well enough to hold the thing together and actually make it an involving watch. The second night club scene is pretty impressive and ambitiously mounted, and while some of the gore and peripheral CGI is questionable, I thought the actual Clayface transformation effects were pretty good. Tom Rhys Harries is excellent in what should hopefully be a breakout role for him, and the film's box-office potential surely can't be hurt by the fact that he is quite easy on the eye. Naomi Ackie is also quite good as Dr. Caitlyn Corr, and the relationship between her and Matt Hagen/Clayforce provides one of the film's strong points. The little nod to GODFATHER 2 was also appreciated.
It's been a pretty good year for new horror movies...CLAYFACE is not up there with the likes of OBSESSION, RESIDENT EVIL, BACKROOMS or CAMP MIASMA, but its a welcome addition to the line-up. And while director James Watkins does a good enough job, one can't help but imagine the film we MIGHT have got had Mike Flanagan gotten to direct from his own original script (he gets a co-screenplay credit here, alongside Hossein Amini).
