Clayface Delivers the Cheesy, Old School Horror Ride I Was Hoping For

I walked out of Clayface, the latest movie in the DCU, having gotten exactly what I wanted: an old school, 90s style horror movie with a bit of cheese that I just wanted to be entertained by. The review embargo hadn't lifted when I left the theater, so these are my initial thoughts rather than a full review. "I enjoyed this movie," and I liked watching it.

Clayface plays like a mix of The Fly and Darkman

Going in, I didn't know what to expect. Tom Rhys Harries stars as Matt Hagen in what is a body horror thriller and a different type of movie for the DCU. What I was hoping for was an old school, maybe mid 90s horror movie, with a mix of The Fly and Darkman, a bit of cheese, and maybe not the best dialogue. I wanted something I'd simply be entertained by, and that's what I got.

There were moments where I thought a line probably wasn't the best dialogue, that they probably could have written something better there, or that a particular line was a little silly. It didn't bother me, because I was enjoying watching it.

Tom Rhys Harries is excellent as Matt Hagen

I thought Tom was excellent as Matt Hagen. The story follows this actor who eventually turns into the Batman and DC villain we all know, and the question of how he got there is what I was hoping to see. They got me there, along with the cool stuff of how he shifts his face and what he's able to do.

Beyond The Fly and Darkman, it even reminded me of the old school Punisher with Dolph Lundgren. It's something I feel like I would have watched on Showtime or Max back in the day, catching it at 10 or 11 o'clock at night when I was 13 years old. It's gory, and some of it is gratuitous, but it isn't overly gory, and I didn't mind it.

A very different tone, and I want more of this Clayface

It was cool to see this version of Clayface. I didn't know enough about the character before; now I do. I want to see him in the DCU and where he would go further if they're going to take it there. It's a very different tone, and I liked what Mike Flanagan did with the overall story.

"Is it the best movie in the world? No, not really. But I personally enjoyed watching it." I don't think it's going down in the record books as one of the best comic book movies of all time, but it's something I'll probably check out again when it's on streaming. Maybe it's just going to be me, and maybe some people will say it was terrible or point out that I called it cheesy. I don't care. I had a fun time. It almost plays like a villainous Crow.

If you don't have an interest in this movie and you see it anyway, I don't know if you're going to love it. But I think that if you do have an interest in it, you're going to wind up enjoying it. "This is for me why I like to go to the movies." Sometimes I want to shut off and watch a story I'm invested in, and Clayface was the story I got invested in.