Clayface is based on the DC supervillain of the same name and is the newest movie in the superhero franchise. Photo: Warner Bros.
Comic book movies based on supervillains very rarely work.
With the exception of Joaquin Phoenix’s first Joker film, most are shallow, mediocre outings released to make a quick buck.
Since 2017, we’ve had three Venom films, none of which were great. Kraven, which is somehow worse and Morbius, which, if you haven’t seen it, consider yourself blessed.
With the track record of supervillain movies being rocky, to say the least, you’d have to be very ambitious or greedy to pull from that well again, right?
But despite being only two movies deep into their brand-new comic book universe, DC Studios thought it was worth the risk, so we have a new horror movie based on the obscure Batman villain Clayface.
Clayface follows Matt Hagan (Tom Rhys Harries), a Gotham City actor who celebrates recently winning an Academy Award by hitting the club. Matt meets Mia Torrez (Joana Ribeiro), the girlfriend of feared mob boss Markos Szabo (David Dencik).
Even after being warned about her criminal links, Matt spends the night with Mia. An enraged Markos then gets payback by disfiguring Matt’s face with a knife.
Left scarred, Matt is desperate to return to his life of fame and fortune. He turns to a new and untested experimental procedure that allows him to repair his face.
While it initially seems successful, things quickly get worse, and Matt’s skin slowly turns into a clay-like substance. Now angry and mangled but with new abilities, Matt decides to instead hunt down those who wronged him.
As a film, in a word, Clayface is brutal.
Unlike almost every superhero movie I’ve ever seen, Clayface uses its MA rating to deliver a truly violent, gory and unpleasant experience. A particular moment set in a bathroom on an aeroplane will sit with me for weeks.
These moments make the film stand out and separate it from other films in the genre. It doesn’t try to redeem its main character like other villain-focused films do, and it’s not interested in being kid-friendly.
Unfortunately, the movie’s narrative doesn’t match the quality of its gross-out moments. Harries is great as Matt, and he does well with the script he’s given, but there’s only so much he can do with a very standard revenge story.
This makes the movie more of an experience than a film. Audiences will see Clayface, cover their eyes, scream out loud and do their best not to squirm in a cinema, but they won’t revisit it once they’ve seen it.
At the movie’s best, it’s a comic-book version of 2024’s The Substance and David Cronenberg’s The Fly. At its worst, it’s a run-of-the-mill revenge plot, like a straight-to-streaming action flick.
For the most part, the visual gags are horrifically fantastic. It really does create the feeling that this man is slowly turning to mush. They make the movie truly worth watching, if you can stomach it.
The score is also pretty solid, and the production really makes the underbelly of the famous Gotham City pop.
It’s worth touching on where Batman fits into all of this. DC Studios has confirmed he is in the universe and Gotham is his home. However, there is no mention of him throughout the movie.
Fans who want the Caped Crusader to come up against Matt should temper their expectations, because it doesn’t happen here.
All these factors make for a slightly above-average horror outing.
The gore and the horror elements are very strong and Harries is a very entertaining lead. The faults are solely script-based.
If you want horror, Clayface is worth the price of admission. If you’re after something a little deeper, maybe wait until it hits HBO Max in the new year.
Clayface is showing in cinemas now.
