LOS ANGELES, May 8 (UPI) -- Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand say their new horror film, Clown in a Cornfield, in theaters Friday, is as much about parents and children as it is about a killer clown. Douglas stars as Quinn, the new girl in town, who learns about a killer who slaughtered partying teens in Kettle Springs, Mo., in the 1990s while dressed as Frendo the clown.
Durand plays Arthur, the city's mayor who is annoyed at the modern-day teens bringing up the Frendo murders. At school, Quinn befriends classmates who make Frendo videos for social media.
In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Douglas, 26, said Clown in a Cornfield pits the teens against the older generations before the real Frendo comes back to stalk them.
"It definitely takes on the theme of a generational divide," Douglas said. "The kids are literally isolated from the world around them. So they in their own ways act out which I think is a really relatable thing."
In a separate interview by phone, Durand, 51, agreed the parents and teachers of Kettle Springs are not listening to the children.
"You can hear people but you don't always listen to them," Durand said. "If we all just sit back and listen to each other I think we would be able to have greater harmony, right? That's what's happening in this movie to a very extreme level."
Quinn, who moved to Kettle Springs after her widower father (Aaron Abrams) took a job as a doctor in the town, meets her new friends when they all get detention.
Though Quinn's father admonishes her for getting detention and falling in with a rebellious crowd, Douglas said the pair represent a positive familial relationship in the film.
"The dad and the daughter relationship isn't as tempestuous as you usually see in a lot of horror," Douglas said. "They still understand each other silently, but they were both going through their really individual struggles. They're patient enough with them but it's a little bit more of a healthier take on watching them resolve it."
Durand related to that type of conflict due to an incident with his own father when he was 12 years old. Durand admitted he went too far at age 12 while rebelling against his parents.
"At one point I raised my hand to him," Durand said. "It was the only time that my dad put me in my place. He did it in such a controlled way but nothing or no one was hurt in the process. I just woke up to the fact that it's like wow, I should listen to what my dad has to say and we started listening to each other from that day on."
The adults in Clown in a Cornfield do have reason to be suspicious of the local youths. After faking many videos of Frendo "killing" them, the parents, teachers, sheriff and mayor think the kids' latest claim about the clown returning is another prank.
The way the kids use social media to post Frendo videos highlights the divide.
"That's a very strong basis for the division in this town," Durand said. "Not only do they [film] themselves doing these things that get them in trouble but then they broadcast it as well online. It's like a big headache for us elders in this town."
Douglas recognizes the potential dangers of social media. As an actor, she is expected to promote herself and her work online, but is careful not to rely on social media too much.
"Social media is a fickle mistress," she said. "It can be an art gallery if you let it and it can be useful but there are so many toxic aspects to it that we talk about it in the film a lot too that I try to stay away from. I try to keep it tasteful like an art gallery."
Killer clowns have been making a comeback in the world of film. It features Stephen King's Pennywise, and the Terrifier franchise features Art the Clown. Douglas said her fear of clowns is genuine.
"There's something really creepy about something that's putting on a fake smile and a face to draw you in," she said. "It's horrifying."
Though Frendo creates problems for Arthur, Durand does not share the movie's fearmongering.
"I think clowns represent the extremities of our emotions and I think I live amidst all those extremities," he said.
Douglas was not surprised her co-star was not afraid.
"It's because Kevin could kill anything," she said. "Kevin vs. anything, he would win. That's why."
Douglas, who also plays Ginny's friend Abby on the Netflix series Ginny & Georgia, filmed Season 3 of the show after Clown in a Cornfield. She told UPI the new season picks up where Season 2 left off.
"Georgia's in jail and that alone is a really heavy topic to tackle and we will," she said.
Durand will next be seen in The Naked Gun, in theaters Aug. 1. He plays a villain in the vein of '80s and '90s action movies, while Liam Neeson portrays the son of Leslie Nielsen's Frank Drebin, now on the case.
"Liam Neeson and I were talking about how sometimes you don't know if you're succeeding at it because it's so dry," Durand said. "But then you see it and you go, 'Oh my God, that is the funniest thing I've ever seen.'"
