Clayface

Todd Phillips and Matt Reeves have shown that comic book movies are often at their most interesting when they tap into the darker side of the genre. The latest filmmaker to put a fresh spin on the DC Universe is Eden Lake director James Watkins with the gruesome body horror Clayface. This genre shake-up involving a lesser-known villain is exactly the kind of bold swing that studios should be taking. However, like its eponymous character, this feature struggles to hold onto its identity as it morphs between a homage to the gooey melt movies of the 80s and a contrived revenge film.

The plot centres around Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), a rising young movie star who’s on the verge of major success. His dreams and good looks are taken from him when he crosses vicious mobster Markos Szabo (David Dencik), who has Hagen’s face violently disfigured as punishment. Desperate to get his life back on track, the actor reaches out to Dr Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie) to volunteer himself for her cutting-edge research. While the treatment repairs his injuries, it also turns his body into a shapeshifting mass of flesh that gives him the power to enact retribution against those who wronged him.

From the agonising disfigurement scene to Hagen’s transformations that cause flesh to bubble and dissolve like something out of Street Trash or The Blob, Clayface more than earns its 18 rating. Harries does an excellent job conveying the protagonist’s pain and suffering as he gradually loses sight of who he is. Always quiet and understated, his performance brings a layer of nuance to the screen that the heavy-handed dialogue lacks. Ackie also gives a commendable turn as Corr, portraying her as a well-meaning but misguided character.

It’s when the feature shifts from all-out body horror to crime thriller in its second half that it begins losing momentum. Not only is the gore substantially toned down, with many grisly moments occurring off camera, but a shift to CGI-heavy effects results in later transformations looking more comedic than Cronenberg. The screenplay from Hossein Amini (rewritten from Mike Flanagan’s original draft) aims to comment on fame and identity but lacks the depth to say anything meaningful.

While there are some tonal missteps along the way, Clayface is an effectively grotesque horror that proves there’s still room for studios to take creative risks within a crowded superhero landscape.

Andrew Murray

Clayface is released nationwide on 23^rd October 2026.

Watch the trailer for Clayface here: