Why is “Clown in a Cornfield” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “bloody horror violence, language throughout and teen drinking.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a near sex scene, two teen girls kiss, two teen boys kiss, many scenes of people being attacked by costumed people using chainsaws, sledgehammers, pitchforks, crossbows and knives leaving people dead and very bloody, a person’s head being cut off with a saw, a person’s hand being shot off with a shotgun, a person nearly hanged, discussions of suicide and an accidental death, discussions of a factory fire, discussions and arguments about teenagers drinking liquor and driving, many arguments, teenagers drinking liquor and beer, smoking marijuana and vaping, and over 50 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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When a man (Aaron Abrams) relocates to a small Midwestern town with his teenage daughter (Katie Douglas), he has no idea what secrets the townspeople are hiding after the town’s main source of employment mysteriously burns down. Also with Carson MacCormac, Vincent Muller, Kevin Durand, Will Sasso, Cassandra Potenza, Verity Marks and Ayo Solanke. Directed by Eli Craig. [Running Time: 1:36]

Clown in a Cornfield SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A teen boy and a teen girl dance together and end in a deep dip; the teen girl leads the boy to a barn where she pushes him back onto a pile of grain bags and straddles him, they kiss passionately, she thrusts briefly until he tells her to slow down, she stops and gets up embarrassed and leaves.
► Two teen boys kiss tenderly, and then passionately. A teen girl kisses a teen boy and they kiss passionately until they are interrupted by her father. Two young women kiss passionately. A teen girl runs into a cornfield, removes her top (she is wearing a bra and her cleavage, bare abdomen and back are seen) and giggles (implying an invitation for sex) as a teen boy watches and then follows (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details).
► Two teen boys argue about one of them having sex with the other’s grandmother; they push each other creating a distraction (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A teen boy mocks another teen boy about his “boy band dance moves.”
► Women and teen girls wear low-cut tops that reveal cleavage in several scenes. A young man wears small shorts while riding a unicycle and we see his bare chest, abdomen, back and legs to the hips. A shirtless teen boy (we see his bare chest and abdomen) lifts weights in a barn.

Clown in a Cornfield VIOLENCE/GORE 8

 – A person wearing a clown costume stands over a teen boy lifting weights on a bench; the clown holds a saw across the bar of the barbell and presses down cutting the teen’s head off (the head plops into a cooler nearby). A teen boy sees a person wearing a clown mask on his front door camera and walks through his house trying to find the person; he sees muddy shoe prints on the floor, finds plastic sheeting in his room and he is slashed across the throat by a person wearing a clown costume and blood gushes from the wound as he is wrapped in the plastic sheeting. A teen boy follows a teen girl into a cornfield and she reaches for him, coughs blood in his face and collapses to the ground with a bloody wound in the back of her head; the teen boy is run through with a pitchfork and lifted off the ground yelling as blood sprays. A teen girl runs out of a cornfield and falls to the ground with an arrow in her back; other teens approach her thinking that she is pretending until they are unable to feel a pulse and a severed head is thrown toward them spraying blood on one teen’s face and clothing. A person wearing a clown costume and carrying a crossbow enters a party and shoots a teen boy in the head (we see blood); a teen girl uses a garbage can lid as a shield to deflect an arrow before it hits another teen girl. Many people dressed in clown costumes and carrying weapons (chainsaws, pitchforks and sledgehammers) come out of a cornfield and approach teenagers at a party; a teenager shoots a person in the hand with a shotgun, the hand blows off and sprays blood, a clown swings a mace at a teen girl, and others run to a barn to shelter.
► A doctor finds his office broken into and is held by a person wearing a clown costume with a knife to his throat; the person tells him to help another person wearing a clown costume with a severed hand wound (we see the bloody flesh on the stump) and the man removes buckshot from the wound. A doctor helping a wound victim stabs another man in the office in the neck with a knife and tells him not to pull it out; the man pulls the blade out and blood gushes from the wound as he tries to attack the doctor. Three teen girls run through a dark cornfield, they are surrounded by armed people dressed in clown costumes and one is grabbed around the mouth from behind and she hits him and runs away, while another girl is stabbed through the abdomen (blood sprays) with a chainsaw and when she falls to the ground dead, the clown cuts her again on the leg as the other girls run away. A teen girl is stabbed and lifted off the ground with a pitchfork (we see blood and she screams) and another girl pulls the pitchfork out of her abdomen as the first girl screams in pain and the second girl stabs a person wearing a clown costume and he falls dead (blood is shown in their mouths). A man with a gun prepares to shoot a teen girl as a truck slams through the area and a beam falls crushing another man’s head (blood splatters), and a woman is run through with a pipe and falls dead (blood pours). A man is tasered in the mouth and we see his mouth smoldering and his flesh burning. A man backs a car away from under a teen boy hanging from a noose and a man pushes the boy up on his shoulders until the rope is shot and the two fall to the ground. A teen girl speeds a car toward a person wearing a clown costume and the windshield is covered with blood after the collision.
► A teen boy with a rope around his neck and his hands tied behind him stands on the roof of a car, and a man talks about a suicide note that he wrote. A teen girl gets into a truck and tries to drive away as many people dressed as clowns and carrying weapons approach her; they break the back window out, drag the girl through it and we see her tied up in a factory later where she is shocked with a cattle prod a couple of times. A teen boy leaves a party to urinate (we hear a trickle), someone charges toward him from the shadows and he stumbles back into the party bloodied and holding what looks like his intestines as he collapses to the ground and others scream (this is staged for a video). A video shows someone wearing a clown costume and laughing maniacally; the clown swings what looks like a meat hook and hits a young man and the clown is sprayed with blood (this is a staged event). A person riding on a unicycle carries two lit smoke bombs and rides through a parade procession; he falls off the cycle and drops the bombs on a float setting it on fire and causing a large clown replica to topple into the crowd (we do not see injuries). A person wearing a clown costume sits motionless in a chair in a house and we see an acid burn on his face. A teen girl carries a self-defense baton with her as she leaves home.
► A sheriff holds a gun on four teenagers, handcuffs a teen boy and slams him on the hood of his cruiser before driving him away and leaving the others pleading for his help. A barn explodes throwing many people dressed in clown costumes through the air. A teen driving a car on a dark road stops short to avoid hitting another teen walking across the road and carrying a dead deer. A man reprimands his teen daughter and a teen boy for drinking and driving. Several teenagers enter a shop and two teen boys argue and push each other creating a distraction so others can take alcohol from the shelves. Two teen girls push each other and argue briefly. We hear that tires have been slashed and batteries have been pulled from cars at a party to keep people from leaving. Two teen boys argue and one asks the other, “Why don’t you admit who you are?”
► Several teens crawl through a sewage pipe and complain of the filth and the smell. A man and a teen girl enter a house and react to a bad smell; the teen pokes into a fireplace and a dead animal falls out, swarmed by flies. A teen girl opens her front door and a teen boy is standing outside; she is startled. People gather while drinking and smoking at a bonfire outside a barn in several scenes. Several scenes show a spent cornfield in the dark. Several scenes show a person playing with a musical pop-up box that plays music before a clown pops up laughing maniacally.
► People describe a factory fire and say that it was determined to have been caused by faulty wiring. A man complains about a train full of “hobos” stopping in a town and never leaving, and then a group of hippies and burnouts. A teen boy describes activities in a small town being hunting and fishing. A teen girl describes her mother having committed suicide by overdose and that led to her father having a breakdown. A teen boy describes his younger sister dying when she jumped from a ledge into water in a reservoir but not clearing the rocks. We hear that someone committed suicide after losing his job when a factory burned. A man says that he disowned his son. People complain about not having cell service in several scenes. Teen girls complain about a rotary phone and not knowing how to use it. A teen girl complains about 80s rap music. A teen girl and her father argue about moving to a small town and he tells her to be more respectful. A sheriff describes having trouble with local teenagers. A man teases a teen for being vegetarian saying, “Saving the world one cow at a time.” A teen girl says, “I am so dead.” A man describes having a plantar wart.
► A man pulls down a map roll in a classroom and reveals an altered picture of him, shirtless and with bare chest and abdomen as the students in the class laugh; he becomes angry and punishes several with detention. A teen boy guzzles beer from a bottle and belches loudly.

Clown in a Cornfield LANGUAGE 10

 – About 53 F-words and its derivatives (one mouthed), 3 sexual references, 37 scatological terms, 4 anatomical terms, 17 mild obscenities, name-calling (rednecks, oligarch, dude, weirdos, idiots, dumb, a cancer, a scourge, bad crop, sweetie pie, girlie, idiot, insane, shiny new plaything, backwards, liar, psycho, sucker, prankster, sad, spoiled rotten, sick, stupid, 90’s horror movie, losers, sweetheart, toots), exclamations (oh come on, really, shut-up, not cool, no way, we hate him, punch it, sucks), 3 religious profanities (GD), 17 religious exclamations (e.g. Jesus Christ, God, I swear to God, oh my God, oh God, Jesus [F-word deleted] Christ, Holy [scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |

Clown in a Cornfield SUBSTANCE USE

 – A teen boy shows a teen girl a marijuana cigarette and invites her to “get high,” and a teen girl says that her mother died of an overdose. Several scenes show underage people drinking liquor and smoking marijuana at outdoor parties, a teen boy guzzles a can of beer while lifting weights, a teen boy guzzles beer from a bottle and belches loudly, and teenagers take a case of beer and a bottle of liquor from a store and later drink shots of the liquor. Teens smoke from vapes in a few scenes.

Clown in a Cornfield DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Death of a parent, suicide, trauma, death of a sibling, small towns, tradition, vigilance, stereotypes, consequences.

Clown in a Cornfield MESSAGE

 – Tell people what they want to believe and you can get away with murder. Small towns can be revived by creating new traditions.