'Clayface' Will Leave You With That Was Okay-Face

Warner Bros.

I'll admit, I've become a little confused by the DCU. Superman kicked it off with some oomph. Well, that's not technically true. Technically the animated series Creature Commandos started the DCU? I think? Then Superman. And the second season of Peacemaker also counts, but not the first? Anyway, it's already starting to get confusing. It took Marvel over a decade or so before its timeline got messy.

James Watkins' Clayface is the third movie in the DCU, following Supergirl. This is at the same time a bold choice and maybe the inopportune choice. I'm sure the thought process was to have something really different following the glow we would all still surely be feeling from Supergirl, but that Supergirl glow did not materialize. Even though I liked Supergirl, I can also admit it's weird and unpleasant. So now we have two DCU movies in a row – two-thirds of them so far! — that are weird and unpleasant. Though, to be fair to Clayface, it's very much trying to be unpleasant. And I'm all for taking chances, but the audience for DCU movies seems to be going the wrong direction?

Though, other than the title character, Clayface is barely a DCU movie. Besides a good portion of it taking place in Gotham, this isn't the kind of movie in which your old pal Hawkgirl is going to show up. (Or Batman, since the DCU doesn't even have a Batman yet.) Clayface is basically a body horror film with the DC logo on it. And some of the body horror scenes¹ are very effective, to the point I had to look away. Look, anytime sharp scissors get near eyeballs in the airplane bathroom on a turbulent flight, I'm going to have to avert the focus of my attention. (Also, this particular scene did remind me of a similar scene in Airplane II: The Sequel.)

¹I am a fan of Hellraiser. Pinhead is the most reasonable villain. But a couple scenes in Clayface bothered me more than stuff in Hellraiser. Though, the fact I've seen Hellraiser a few times now, and I know what's going to happen, probably plays a role. But who's to say?

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