I wasn’t really looking forward to Clayface as a comic book film, but as the horror movie released in theaters closest to Halloween, I had mild interest knowing that Mike Flanagan was involved in writing it. I don’t read most comics so I essentially went in blind with no idea what this character actually was. If you’re in the same boat I am, it’s a film about an actor who slept with a mob boss’s girl and ended up with a disfigured face because of it. After the cops failed in their investigation, his civil lawsuit didn’t go his way, and his financial advisor stole all his money, he was left with nothing. At least until he stumbled across a doctor doing experimental medical regeneration with nanotech. It works until it doesn’t and he injects all the nanotech she had left into himself and ends up with shapeshifter abilities that he eventually learns to control even as the nanotech is learning to control him. His instincts for revenge, though, are about to go nuts.
What is great about this film is that it moves along at a nice pace while also taking its time without being boring. Its never rushed. Something that Mike Flanagan does well. Casting Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen/Clayface was a good choice as well. His sculpted cheek bones and jaw are something usually associated with villains but the blond hair and kind eyes say the opposite. The duality of his appearance mimics the duality in the character as the nanotech brings out the worst in him. He seems like a nice guy, but hidden underneath is someone who is perfectly okay with murdering everyone who wronged him. Which he does in gory, gruesome fashion.
Naomi Ackie does wonders as the scientist and doctor who agrees to experiment on Matt and ends up falling for him even though she is engaged to the cop who investigates deaths of the people Matt gets revenge on later. The love triangle is deceptively simple until the third act when it becomes a three person tragedy. I won’t ruin how it plays out for you, but its worth the wait.
The makeup effects employed for the transformations were done with practical effects and I’ll admit how great it is to see a film of any genre rely on practical effects instead of CGI. And for a comic book movie to do it? While crossing over into a horror movie? Utter brilliance. I’m pretty desensitized to most gore – horror is my jam – but there were a couple of scenes that had me cringing in fake pain from what I was watching. Highest form of compliment right there.
If you had told me that this would end up at the top of my list of comic book movies for this year, I would have laughed a little. And yet, here we are with this little known DC comic book character written for film by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini that sits at that top of that list. Maybe its my affinity for horror movies. Maybe its my love of anything Mike Flanagan does. Maybe its the terrifying tragedy of the ending. But I enjoyed all of it.
4 out of 5 stars.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I wasn’t really looking forward to Clayface as a comic book film, but as the horror movie released in theaters closest to Halloween, I had mild interest knowing that Mike Flanagan was involved in writing it. I don’t read most comics so I essentially went in blind with no idea what this character actually was. If you’re in the same boat I am, it’s a film about an actor who slept with a mob boss’s girl and ended up with a disfigured face because of it. After the cops failed in their investigation, his civil lawsuit didn’t go his way, and his financial advisor stole all his money, he was left with nothing. At least until he stumbled across a doctor doing experimental medical regeneration with nanotech. It works until it doesn’t and he injects all the nanotech she had left into himself and ends up with shapeshifter abilities that he eventually learns to control even as the nanotech is learning to control him. His instincts for revenge, though, are about to go nuts.
What is great about this film is that it moves along at a nice pace while also taking its time without being boring. Its never rushed. Something that Mike Flanagan does well. Casting Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen/Clayface was a good choice as well. His sculpted cheek bones and jaw are something usually associated with villains but the blond hair and kind eyes say the opposite. The duality of his appearance mimics the duality in the character as the nanotech brings out the worst in him. He seems like a nice guy, but hidden underneath is someone who is perfectly okay with murdering everyone who wronged him. Which he does in gory, gruesome fashion.
Naomi Ackie does wonders as the scientist and doctor who agrees to experiment on Matt and ends up falling for him even though she is engaged to the cop who investigates deaths of the people Matt gets revenge on later. The love triangle is deceptively simple until the third act when it becomes a three person tragedy. I won’t ruin how it plays out for you, but its worth the wait.
The makeup effects employed for the transformations were done with practical effects and I’ll admit how great it is to see a film of any genre rely on practical effects instead of CGI. And for a comic book movie to do it? While crossing over into a horror movie? Utter brilliance. I’m pretty desensitized to most gore – horror is my jam – but there were a couple of scenes that had me cringing in fake pain from what I was watching. Highest form of compliment right there.
If you had told me that this would end up at the top of my list of comic book movies for this year, I would have laughed a little. And yet, here we are with this little known DC comic book character written for film by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini that sits at that top of that list. Maybe its my affinity for horror movies. Maybe its my love of anything Mike Flanagan does. Maybe its the terrifying tragedy of the ending. But I enjoyed all of it.
4 out of 5 stars.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Share this: