‘Clayface’ Review: DC Comics Horror Movie Is Good, Gross Fun, With No Franchise Homework Required

James Watkins’ DC horror film *Clayface* tells a grotesque, self-contained story about an actor whose face is disfigured and who turns to experimental treatment. The review says the film works as entertaining body horror in its own right, without requiring viewers to know the wider DC universe.

Tom Rhys Harries plays Matt Hagen, an Oscar-nominated actor whose career collapses after a gangster attacks him. Scientist Caitlyn Corr’s untested cellular treatment restores his face, but his cells then begin changing unpredictably, with violent consequences. The character has appeared in DC comics for 86 years, but the film takes a largely fresh approach and draws on older horror films such as *Darkman* and *Thinner*.