Ironically, or maybe on point, because he is supposed to be a man made out of muddy substance, “Clayface” can’t quite get its footing on what kind of film it wants to be. Its impact is never felt. “Clayface” is nearly a forgettable film, but there is just enough quality and interesting things to keep it going.  I fully embrace the risk of going to an “R” rated supervillain story, but it’s more queasy than horrific. Maybe it should have gone full Cronenberg and all out for the body horror. There are hints of inspiration laid before us of Cronenberg’s “The Fly” a man on the brink of great success and sparks of relationship is now being fused together with another organism and turning to something horrifying and gross.  “Ckayface” seems like a glossy and sanitized version of body-horror all the awhile maintaining the visual and story trappings of the comic book aesthetic.

A more meaningful title would be “The Fall and Tragedy of Matt Hagen”. We are constantly reminded how awful things were at the beginning of Matt’s life towards how much worse it gets by a sense of invincibility and invulnerability once Hollywood success rings out. The arch is so…..comic booky that one would fault how ridiculously harsh the fall comes to Matt. In a matter of minutes he goes to Magazine cover and Oscar nominated star to gutter slums with giant cockroaches for roommates. “Clayface” goes too fast for the important scenes and too slow for the monotonous and idling. It’s not a terrible film, it’s just ok. It’s an Ok film relying on the empathy of Matt’s tragedy to understand his villainy. And we get a CGI dominated ending and closure scene for a payoff that will give the audience a shrug upon viewing.

It was smart to give an almost unknown actor the lead. A famous person to carry and lead wouldn’t work, especially since the role is demanding. Tom Rhys Harries is not only brilliant in this, but perfect. His charm and charisma pours out of him. He is ripe to carry another film. “Clayface” will be regarded as the great first test of a DC comic book character going rated “R” but not going far enough, not risking it all.  It plays it’s safe to appease masses and fans. There is a great comic book and horror film in its concept, you can have both and push the boundaries.

A lower class villain having his own film without showing the superhero hes attached or not even mentioned is a head-scratcher. “Clayface” is a tragedy tale. The psychology of a good looking and good hearted man that falls to tragedy by not adhering to good advice can be a compelling and rich field to play in. Maybe when you have a villain character that can provide so many options, like he can mold his body to any  shape, why don’t you dial up the horror more, I mean a lot more.  7/10