Let’s take an underrated DC Comics villain and put them in a body horror film that takes elements from classic horror films. The idea of this had me really excited for Clayface and with Mike Flanagan (co-written by Hossein Amini) on the script, this film had a lot of potential. DC Studios has been fearless with taking bold swings. Clayface is a bold swing that needed to slow down and spend more time with the main character. Despite pacing issues, Clayface shows that DC Studios is not afraid of genre films and adult themes, if you don’t like horror films, Clayface will test you.

Tom Rhys Harries plays the title character Matt Hagen AKA Clayface, and wow he is a star! Clayface only works with a strong performance by an actor; Hagen is an Academy Award-nominated actor on the brink of stardom. Harries is believable in the role as he truly captures the emotion of an actor that tastes the success they always wanted and suddenly loses it. Harries has the ability to go from charming and sweet to vicious in seconds. He is also continuing the trend of strong performances in horror films in recent years. This is my first time seeing Harries and now I want to see him in more roles. This feeling is something I felt during Clayface, I need to see more of the character because this film moves too damn fast.

Before diving into the one flaw in the film, let’s spend some time giving this film praise. Director James Watkins does shy away from paying tribute to classic films. The film is inspired by David Cronenberg’s The Fly to The Godfather Part 2. Which is quite the impressive foray of films to be inspired by, however Clayface does it well. It does not shy away from the body horror very much like The Fly. If you watched the trailer and the airplane scene with the eye lids made you sick, that is the most uncomfortable scene in the whole film. From there, the film uses Matt Haden’s abilities in very unique ways that even a die hard Batman fan like myself would have never guessed. Also, while reading this, you are probably asking how does Clayface get inspiration from The Godfather Part 2? Very much some dialogue that was taken from Tombstone (which I absolutely loved!), an iconic scene from The Godfather Part 2 is adapted in horrific fashion.

The biggest problem with this film, is that it does the typical horror thing and that is: tell a story in less than two hours. The pacing of the film is so fast, one minute we see the introduction of Hagen as this attractive movie star, then quickly into him being attacked by a mobster for sleeping with her girl, to finding a doctor that can give him his face back, to that procedure turning him into a monster. It felt like by the time I was comfortable in my chair, Hagen was getting his face sliced. It would’ve been nice to see more of that fleshed out. His journey to fix his face felt like a montage and then suddenly falling in love with the doctor that gives him his transforming powers. It all moves too fast and just wished it slowed down a little bit. Once Hagen becomes Clayface, the film continues to be fast paced with gruesome deaths and body horror. Its not always a bad thing to want more and this made me want to see the film a second time.

Despite the pacing and one scene that had needed to be edited better, Clayface overall is a strong film. I truly don’t believe that there could be a better film based on this character that has zero connections to Batman. This lack of connection is a terrible thing as bringing Batman would feel like a cheap distraction to a story that is focused on character development. That being said, watching the Batman: The Animated Series two-part episode “Feat of Clay,” the inspiration is shown throughout the entire film. Clayface is a massive win for DC Studios after Supergirl and makes me excited about the future of the studio.