James Watkins delivers a gruesome and surprisingly compelling villain origin story, with Tom Rhys Harries at the centre of its unsettling transformation. There is something particularly cruel about an actor losing the very thing that has made his career possible. For Matt Hagen, his face is more than simply his appearance. It is his livelihood, his identity and, increasingly, the measure of his worth. When a violent encounter leaves him horribly disfigured, the consequences extend far beyond the physical damage. His career begins to collapse, and his desperation to reclaim the life he once had leads him towards something considerably more horrifying.

It’s a fascinating premise for Clayface, a film that takes one of Batman’s more unusual adversaries and gives him an origin story rooted firmly in body horror. Directed by Watkins, it’s an unexpected addition to DC’s cinematic universe, and all the more interesting for its willingness to embrace a genre that superhero films have rarely explored quite so enthusiastically.

And make no mistake, Clayface is incredibly gory. The film makes no attempt to soften the grotesque nature of Hagen’s transformation. Flesh becomes something disturbingly unstable, and the human body is pushed into increasingly unnatural forms. Watkins makes excellent use of the character’s abilities to create moments that are as fascinating as they are unpleasant to watch.

What makes the horror effective, however, is that it serves a story rather than existing purely for shock value. Hagen’s transformation is frightening because of what it represents. Having spent his life relying on his appearance, he suddenly finds himself in a position where his body no longer feels entirely his own. The very thing he hopes will restore his former life ultimately threatens to take even more away from him.

Rhys Harries is particularly compelling in the central role. There’s a vulnerability to Hagen that makes his desperation understandable, even as his decisions become increasingly difficult to defend. He’s driven by ambition, humiliation and an overwhelming desire to regain control of his life, and Harries gives those emotions enough weight to prevent him from becoming merely another comic-book villain.

That’s an important distinction. Clayface is at its most interesting when it allows us to recognise the person beneath the horror without necessarily excusing what he becomes. The film also has something interesting to say about appearance and identity, particularly within an industry that places such enormous value on both. Hagen has built his career around being seen and admired. When his appearance changes, the world around him seems remarkably quick to decide that he no longer has anything to offer.

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There’s an uncomfortable familiarity to that idea. Hollywood has never been particularly forgiving towards those who fall outside its narrow expectations of beauty or marketability, and Clayface takes that obsession to a horrifying extreme. Naomi Ackie, as Dr Caitlyn Corr, is another important presence. Her character’s experimental treatment offers Hagen the possibility of restoring everything he has lost, but the consequences raise troubling questions about the pursuit of scientific possibilities without fully understanding their implications.

Watkins also deserves credit for approaching the material as a horror film rather than conventional superhero spectacle. Gotham provides an appropriate backdrop, but the story doesn’t depend on familiar characters or an extensive understanding of DC mythology to work. It stands comfortably on its own.

My main reservation is that certain developments in Hagen’s transformation could have benefited from more time to unfold. Given how much of the film depends on understanding his desperation, allowing some of those emotional transitions a little more breathing room might have made the consequences even more affecting. Nevertheless, there’s a great deal to enjoy. The gore is memorable, the central premise is strong, and the film finds an emotional foundation beneath its increasingly disturbing imagery. It also demonstrates how much potential there is in allowing comic-book characters to exist outside the familiar boundaries of superhero filmmaking.

Clayface may not explore every aspect of its central ideas as fully as it could, but it’s an entertaining, gruesome and surprisingly thoughtful piece of horror. With a strong performance from Harries and a story that gives its grotesque imagery genuine purpose, Watkins has delivered something refreshingly different. For a character who can become almost anyone, the real horror lies in watching a man lose himself entirely.

★★★★

In UK cinemas on October 23rd / Tom Rhys Harries, Naomi Ackie, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan / Dir: James Watkins / Warner Bros Pictures, DC Studios / 18