October Horror Challenge - Clayface (2026)

 

 Synopsis

Matt Hagen is an up and coming actor from Gotham who's life is destroyed when he sleeps with the wrong woman. When an experimental treatment seems like a miracle cure, Matt's trauma soon proves that it's actually a curse.

Review

I didn't know I need a DC body horror/psychological thriller, but I'm glad James Watkins (with writing from Mike Flanagan and Hosssein Amini) gave us one. The greatest strength of this film are the performances of Tom Rhys Harries and Naomi Ackie. I don't know that I've really seen either in anything else, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of their performances.

Tom Rhys Harries plans Matt Hagan. He's a vulnerable, handsome, and charismatic lead. Hagan is a truly likable lead. Yeah, his downfall might have been because of a moment of pride, but he's a good man that didn't deserve what happened to him. The characters trauma and fall are truly heartbreaking. His obsession with getting his life back is understandable. Even as the bodies start piling up, honestly you don't really judge him for what he does. Of course evil leads to more evils, so by the end Hagan has a broken his psyche.

Naomi Ackie's Dr Caitlyn Corr is the other big standout. Her nano-treatment is the catalyst for Hagen's transformation into Clayface. She's a dedicated scientist that created a treatment to change the world for the better. She's persuaded by Matt's tragic story and decides to help him. While comments are made about her bluntness, she's a charming character and her relationship with Matt grows. 

There are some nice nods to the great DC universe in the film. The two that really stuck out to me are in-universe movies. The first is One Bad Day and the second is No Man's Land. Both are iconic Batman stories. Coast City also appears, appearing to be the Hollywood of DC. 

As far as horror goes, in general this doesn't do too many new things. We've seen some twisted transformations in the past and this doesn't really tread new ground. There's some nice ick though. in particular the air place scene is pretty jarring. I know I downplayed the body horror, but this is the most frightening version of Clayface I've seen. The character's flesh is malleable clay right? Not in this movie. It's (nano-cell infused and cloned) flesh. Finally, the director definitely has visuals that homage the French classic Les Yeux Sans Visage.

I thoroughly enjoyed Clayface. I genuinely cared about the characters, the visuals were great, and the movie is a great stand alone tale.

In Your Game

These stats are for Matt as he appears in the film and not later on when he's a hulking villain.

Matt Hagan aka Clayface

Medium Humanoid, Chaotic Neutral

Armor Class 14             Initiative +2 (12)

Hit Points:  75 (10d8+30)

Speed 30 ft.

                    MOD SAVE                                     MOD SAVE  

STR  16        +3     +3                        INT 12          +1    +1

DEX  16       +3      +3                       WIS 12         +1    +1

CON  16       +3      +3                       CHA 18        +4    +7   

Skills Deception +7, Intimidation +7, Performance +7, Perception +4, Stealth +6

Vulnerabilities Lightning

Resistances Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage.

Immunities Poison, Poisoned

Senses Passive Perception +4

Language: English

CR 4 (XP 1,100; PB +3)

Traits

Regeneration. Clayface regains 5 Hit Points at the start of each of his turns. If Clayface takes Lightning damage, this trait doesn't function on Clayface's next turn. Clayface dies only he he starts his turn with 0 Hit Points and doesn't regenerate. 

Actions

Multiattack. Art can make two Slash attacks. 

Slash. Melee Attack Roll: +7, reach 10 ft. Hit: 8 (2d4+3) Slashing damage.

Unsettling Visage (Recharge 6). Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature in a 15-foot Emanation originating from Clayface that can see him. 

Failure: The target has teh Frightened condition and repeats the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. After 1 minute, it succeeds automatically.

Bonus Actions

Shape-Shift. Clayface shape-shifts into a Medium or Small Humanoid, or returns to his true form. His game statistics other than his size, are the same in each form. Any equipment he is wearing or carrying is transformed with him.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2026

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First Time Views: 15