Warner Bros latest addition to the DC Comics cinematic universe, “Clayface,” is a disgustingly impressive story. It follows the disturbing journey of a successful actor into the world of villainy. The movie features an amazing young actor, Tom Rhys Harries, who was honored with a Breaking Big Award at the festival. In his words, it is the story of someone who thinks they’re in “The Notebook” only to find out they are in a horror film.
So much talent went into this film, but what stands out specifically is the special and visual effects. Throughout his journey, Harries undergoes brutal attacks, surgeries, and violent murders. Harries mentioned that sometimes he enjoys watching and hearing the audience react to the film more than watching the film itself. There were several moments where people had to look away, cover their eyes, and even gagged at the level of gore on screen. The video village, where cast and crew could see the live playback during shoots, was full of squirms and dry heaves for certain dramatic scenes. To the team behind the effects, this was a high form of compliment.
Harries spent hours in the makeup chair for the wide array of prosthetics he wore throughout the film. There were certain scenes that were shot practically with prosthetics alone, and others that utilized a combination of post-production editing to really take them over the top. Harries’ mother made a comment to him at the premiere and asked that he do a period piece next so she could actually watch him.
The music in this film is not what you might traditionally expect from a horror film. Instead, the audio follows the ups and downs of the story. It feels upbeat when things are great, and suddenly becomes tense when things take a turn for the worse. To really sell the gruesome nature of the story, there were a lot of scenes where you could clearly hear the cutting of skin, medical tools at work on bone, and even the smashing of people into mush. There is an original score for the film, as well as multiple songs from various artists that can be heard throughout.
One of the more lighthearted moments in the film is a brief flash mob on the dance floor of a nightclub amidst a tense chase. The scene resulted from Harries making a silly suggestion due to collective exhaustion after a long night of shooting. He was working with some dancers who were surrounding him in the scene, and collectively they came up with the concept of a flash mob. Harries brought the idea to Director James Watkins, who said, “Yeah, fuck it, let’s try.” The sequence ended up making the final cut and adding to the already strange and borderline creepy vibe of the sequence.
At the end of the day, Harries says this film is truly about the consequences of who you take home from the club, so make good choices out there.
Photos by: Marissa Stoll