James Gunn's DC Universe is in full swing, with the most recent film Clayface adding body horror to the mix. The film follows up-and-coming actor Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) as he recovers from a near-death experience with the mob, which leaves him scarred and hungry for vengeance.
We feel a lot of sympathy for Hagen as he seeks a revolutionary treatment from Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), but still see his actions as monstrous as his subconscious anger bubbles to the surface. His new clay-like form at first seems to have a mind of its own, but we come to realize that his body takes the actions that he wants to take deep down. Hagen wanted to kill all those people, even if he wasn't aware of it at first.
The elements of body horror in this film are spectacular and represent feelings of self-hatred and body image. Hagen struggles with identity and self-image following his accident, but as the treatment begins to heal him, his inner-most feelings are expressed physically through bodily transformation. When Hagen hates himself, he literally turns into a humanized lump of clay. Dr. Corr helps Hagen through his emotions, but Hagen mistakes this for romantic feelings, and forms an unhealthy attachment to her.
"It's just skin, such a small part of who you are. The real you is under the skin."
As a film that is technically part of the "superhero" genre (although Clayface himself isn't much of a hero), Clayface is full of fun action. The body horror extends to Hagen's victims when he uses his abilities to kill and take their places. The climax in the club where Hagen taunts the mob by changing into many people is so fun, and his final killing of the mob boss, Markos Szabos (David Dencik) by using his power to retract his blood into his body is awesome.
Still, as a fan of body horror, Clayface felt like it was missing something. I often found myself comparing the film to another film about a star falling victim to body image issues, The Substance.
In Clayface's defense, The Substance is one of my personal favorites, so it's hard to live up to, but I think that The Substance is a great example of a film taking something to the extreme.
Many of the most skin crawling moments in Clayface can be found in the trailer, and while it's certainly not all of them, I wish the film had taken the horror a bit farther. I found myself wanting to know Hagen more deeply.
Overall, Clayface is fun and inventive. If you're into superheroes and a bit of horror, this film is worth the watch.
