It's time to dust off the ring rust and get back into the saddle in this shit.
Last night I watched Clayface. It was a decent body horror movie with a mixture of crime drama. Think Darkman mixed with The Substance.
Matt Hagen is an actor who gets nominated for an Oscar and starts going all Charles Bronson / Leo DiCaprio with a bad little joint he meets, despite being warned that she is a mob boss's girlfriend. Given that it's Gotham City and there's like 90 mob bosses per block, he says fuck it and dives in anyway. He gets his face cut up by said mob boss in return.
His career falls apart. The lady goes all Aziz Ansari on him, and his agent and best friend backstab him. He decides to fight the case, and of course, given that this is Gotham Kangaroo Court, the mob boss pays off everyone and he loses the case, his roles, and worst of all his house. He has to move to the projects.
Being a vain actor, he refuses to settle for being disfigured and hooks up (literally, and later he attempts physically) with this lovely doctor, played by the beautiful yet British Naomie Ackie, who puts him through an experimental cosmetic surgery. Over the course of a few weeks he goes from scared, haggard-looking man to wiry, haggard-looking man. Despite her warning, he decides to go to a red carpet event and stunt on the hoes who took his job. In the middle of all his stunting, his face starts melting off. He has to go back to Doctor McSexy, and he decides to inject himself with the whole damn thing.
Cue the horror. Over the course of the movie, he finds out that he can alter his facial features and body shape, especially when stressed. He goes to see his corrupt agent after learning that the agent also works for the mob boss who went medieval on him, and he accidentally kills the guy. h
He finds out that his childhood best friend tipped off Gotti and helped him lose his MeToo case. From there he embarks on a revenge quest against the mob boss and leaves a trail of bodies everywhere. Along the way he falls in love with Doctor Supermodel, even though she's engaged, because of course he does.
Who wouldn't?
He eventually goes from taking revenge on the Dollar Store Soprano family to killing the doctor's police husband, shape-shifting into him and trying to force himself on her. She ain't with that shit, so she tazes him out of a window, where he melts into the sewer, his face the only thing left before he disappears.
Remind you of anything?
Eventually the whole city finds out about the murder spree and realizes their beloved hobo-looking starlet has also gone missing. The end scene shows that he survived and is shape-shifting into hobos so he can interact with Dr. Maxim Cover Model and return to the sewers.
Get it? Because DC is owned by Warner Bros? No?
Overall, the movie is okay. It's not some spectacular body horror film, even though it attempts some gross-out moments with Matt's face melting and his body refusing to stay in one shape when he gets stressed. You also get him becoming increasingly violent toward the people who crossed him. A guy's spine gets ripped out through his mouth, he uses his body to disintegrate someone's face, and he suffocates a few people. It's a classic revenge story: someone is wronged, decides to exact revenge, and his mind falls apart.
I think him falling for the doctor is a bit out of left field, but she is the hottest doctor who ever lived, and most of us would probably fall for her too. But no means no. Maybe that #MeToo case had some merit to it, because he refuses to take no for an answer.
There are some hilarious scenes of him taunting the mob family he's after at the club, where he dances, changes his face repeatedly, and laughs and points at them.
Overall, it's a pretty solid horror drama with some underwhelming jump scares and some violent deaths. I've been calling for standalone villain horror movies for a decade, so it's a decent treat, even if it's a bit derivative and bland. I went into this thinking it was supposed to be part of Matt Reeves' Batman world, but apparently it's a full-on James Gunn DCU movie. We haven't been introduced to the DCU's Bat-Family yet, so it feels a bit empty and shallow.
I also don't understand the amalgam of Matt Hagen's Clayface and Basil Karlo's Clayface. Traditionally, Karlo is the disfigured actor who goes on a killing spree, and Hagen is the one who turns into a giant clay monster. Basil Karlo is a weird-ass name, so maybe they didn't think it would be realistic. In our DCU we draw the line at purple aliens making giant objects out of light and massive kaijus terrorizing a city, but some actor named Basil Karlo? Nah, that's too silly.
Pictured: Grounded Realistic Storytelling.
This is a solid standalone entry in a larger universe, akin to the first few MCU movies, and maybe it's a sign that things are getting back on track after this year's Supergirl. But honestly, only time will tell. Maybe Clayface will show up again in future DC projects. I guarantee none of us will mind seeing Dr. Sports Illustrated again.
