Tickets are officially on sale for Clayface, DC Studios’ first real attempt at a horror movie, and a new featurette released this week doesn’t pretend otherwise. The film, which reimagines the shapeshifting Batman villain as the centerpiece of a body horror story, opens in theatres October 23.
Directed by James Watkins from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, Clayface follows Matt Hagen, played by Tom Rhys Harries, a struggling actor left disfigured after a run in with a crime boss. Abandoned by the industry that once wanted him, Hagen agrees to an experimental treatment that restores his face while corroding what’s left of his mind, pushing him down an increasingly monstrous and vengeful path. The cast also includes Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan, Nancy Carroll and Joshua James, with James Gunn producing.
“We are making a true horror film,” says Gunn in a new featurette. Coming from the executive steering the DC Universe’s larger relaunch, that’s a fairly blunt promise and lines up with marketing that has leaned on body horror imagery closer to early Cronenberg.
The MPA has rated Clayface R, citing strong bloody violence, gore, language, some nudity and brief drug use, which should settle any doubt about how literally the studio is taking the word “horror.” AMC Theatres is also offering exclusive concession collectibles tied to the release, for anyone who wants a souvenir to go with the film.
Whether Clayface becomes a turning point for DC’s genre ambitions or a one-off experiment depends on how audiences respond over opening weekend. For horror fans who’ve watched the character get treated as a punchline villain for decades, a gory, R-rated showcase is reason enough to show up.
