I’m excited for Clayface, which hits the 2026 movie schedule on Oct 23rd. I haven’t always been a big fan of horror movies, but 2025 changed that for me with movies like Sinners, Weapons, and 28 Years Later. I am also a superhero movie fan, so combining the two genres has me pretty fired up. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but some critics have, and their early reactions to this Mike Flanagan-penned body horror/comic book movie starring Tom Rhys Harries have me even more excited.
I love that the Peter Safran/James Gunn-led DCU has been dipping into multiple genres in its first couple of years, and making a superhero movie (or, in this case, a supervillain movie) a horror movie is a big swing. It sounds like it’s paid off. Critics are calling it a great body horror movie, sure, but they also agree that it’s a lot more. It’s romantic and funny, too. I honestly didn’t expect that. DCU Brief (which may not exactly be the most neutral account, to be fair) says in a post on X:
'CLAYFACE' is a shockingly gruesome horror that holds NOTHING back. It goes all the way with its grotesque imagery. Surprisingly, it’s also funny. The film goes from darkly depressing to wacky, colourful, and absurd. A welcome change of tone that proves the DCU can do it all.
Still, these reviews of Clayface have me wondering if this is going to be the best of the bunch so far. I’m especially intrigued by critics who are calling it funny and romantic, as I mentioned. It sounds like it's much more than just body horror. Chalice Williams at Reel Movie Junky wrote:
Was not expecting it to perfectly mesh horror and romance! Warner Bros and DC cooked with this & Mike Flanagan does not miss with his scripts! Tom Rhys Harries shines in this gritty and gruesome introduction to the character in a feature film!
Critic Jenna Anderson agrees with DCU Brief about the humor, writing on X:
#Clayface completely blew me away. It’s disgusting, inventive, and astonishingly funny and earnest. It slots into the DCU so effortlessly. You owe it to yourself to see it in a theater filled with other people’s reactions.
I’ll admit that I was nervous that the movie was going to be nothing but body horror, and as much as I’ve grown to love horror movies lately, body horror is still not my jam, so I need more than just painful and gross gore. It looks like Clayface is going to deliver that, as Chris Killian wrote in his tweet:
CLAYFACE is incredible! It molds Matt Hagen’s tragic backstory into a wildly gory spectacle. There are some crazy, unique body horror moments that’ll make you squirm, but what I loved most is it’s also a heartfelt throwback to a bygone era of classic gothic romance films.
But have no fear, body horror enthusiasts, as it’s still very much in that genre, as Killian wrote in a second tweet:
The movie does such a fantastic job introducing us to Clayface, it’ll be an absolute shame if we don’t see him go toe-to-toe with Batman in the future. However, don’t go hoping for Bats. Just go see Clayface because it’s an unsettling and viscerally grotesque monster movie.
And Movie Zine compared the movie to one of the best body horror movies of the last decade, The Substance, when it tweeted:
CLAYFACE - "Joker" meets "The Substance" in Gotham City. DC goes for dark and tragic body horror this spooky season. A bit silly at times, but lots of gore. Some scenes were so intense I couldn't watch.
So there you have it. The first reactions have been overwhelmingly positive, and while that sometimes can be taken with a grain of salt, the full reviews are still a week away from being released. Clayface seems to be exciting fans of the DCU in a bigger way than its other entry in the theaters this year, Supergirl.
