Children of the Corn (1984)

The murder rate is as high as an elephant's eye in this flaccid adaptation of Stephen King's short story. While driving through Nebraska en route to a new job, medico Burt (Peter Horton) and his wife Vicky (a pre-Terminator Linda Hamilton) nearly run over a mutilated boy who staggers from the cornfields. Seeking help, they enter the town of Gatlin, whose under-20 residents have butchered their parents per the decree of junior-grade holy roller Isaac (John Franklin), who preaches the word of a being called "He Who Walks Behind the Rows." King's original story (from his 1978 collection Night Shift) was a lean and brutal mélange of Southern-gothic atmosphere and E.C. Comics-style gore, which scripter Greg Goldsmith effectively neutralizes by adding a youthful narrator (a grating Robbie Kiger) and putting an upbeat spin on the story's morbid conclusion. Fritz Kiersch's direction is TV-movie flat, with the sole inspired moment (hideous religious iconography glimpsed during a bloody "service") delivered as a throwaway. Aside from Horton and Courtney Gains (as Isaac's hatchet man Malachai), the performances are dreadful, and the depiction of the Lovecraftian monster-god as a sort of giant gopher inspires more laughter than terror. Amazingly, the film spawned six sequels; Franklin (Cousin Itt in the Addams Family films) later appeared in and wrote 1999's Children of the Corn 666. --Paul Gaita Amazon.com

Classic horror

This film is an absolute classic. I've seen this film numerous times and I never get tired of it. Both Courtney Gains (Malichi) and John Franklin (Issac) are great actors who should have won awards for their performances. On top of the acting, my copy of this film is autographed by the music composer, who is also my science teacher's husband. So that fact alone make this film extra special to watch. November 18, 2008

It's only consider a Classic because it's one of Stephen Kings earlier works.....

I had a feeling I wasn't going to like this but I manage to get through it. Nearly everything that Stephen King has ever written seems to have been turned into a film or TV series; in fact, I'm surprised that no one has tried to make a mini-series from the guy's grocery list. Let's face it, if they did, it couldn't be any less interesting than 'Children of the Corn.'

Based on one of King's many short stories, this 1984 horror flick sees Linda Hamilton and Peter Horton playing a couple on a long car journey who run into a spot of bother when they chance upon the sleepy Nebraska town of Gatlin, where all of the adults have been murdered by children who worship an ancient evil that lurks in the corn fields.

Although director Fritz Kiersch does manage to build a fair amount of atmosphere at the beginning (after Hamilton's silly song and dance, but before we get to meet the freakish Isaac, leader of the killer kids), he completely blows it with endless unexciting scenes in which Hamilton and Horton are hunted down by the town's homicidal half-pints. Courtney Gains, as violent redhead Malachai, manages to appear genuinely menacing, but the rest of the children are not the least bit threatening; as a result, many of the film's 'scary' moments fail to work.

Towards the end of the film, when we finally get to see the malevolent force that inhabits the field surrounding Gatlin, the film descends into a glut of terrible 80s visual effects that probably looked pretty ropey almost 25 years ago, but look positively laughable nowadays.

'Children of the Corn' might be of interest to King fans keen to see how the writer's work has been translated to the big screen, but your average horror-film fan will be most unimpressed.
October 9, 2008

Still Creepy After 24 Years

I'm 16 years old and I love Children of the Corn, it's creepy without being gory. The dvd quality is great and the special features are fun. It was really interesting seeing John Franklin and Courtney Gains in the documentary for the 20th anniversary... they both look just as they were and it's cool hearing about their experiences on set, which is continued in the commentary. Great dvd, it's a great deal for those who love this movie. March 18, 2008

Children Have Never Been Scarier...

When I first started Children of the Corn today, I had a feeling that it was going to be one of those scary horror movies that are very funny. I was certainly correct! Children Of The Corn is actually one of the scariest horror movies I've ever seen, however it is also one of the funniest horror movies I've ever seen!

The children are so unbelievably terrifying in this movie. Nothing is scarier than a child with an axe. The acting is mediocre, yes, but it is very good at the exact same time. The children's acting is very terrifying and bone-chilling. There are some very stupid parts of this movie, however they work very well with the movie and make it that much more entertaining.

Despite many good parts, the ending just was atrocious. It left you hanging, and was very lazy. It had no originality, and was just thrown together in a few seconds. Otherwise, Children Of The Corn is actually one of the scariest movies I've ever seen.

It won't disappoint!! December 22, 2007

[3.5] "It's a little weird out here..."

"...but it's safe." is how the rest of the line goes. But when the film begins with the slaughtering of adults in a small Nebraska town by all the children, it's far from that. Children of the Corn is a unique horror film in that it blends children and cornfields, but other than that, this is a pretty lame and average scarefest.

Gatlin is the small Nebraska town where the action takes place. Gatlin is now a ghost town, because the adults are "in the cornfields". In other words, sacrificed by the orders of "Isaac" (John Franklin) the leader of the strange cult consisting of all children 18 years and younger. Isaac teaches what he sees from the Bible, and even the assumption we get that the film's main character Burt is weary of Christianity, he still points out that these events are ridiculous and obsured.

Burt and Vicky are the unlucky young adults who travel through Gatlin, and end up getting trapped there due to roadsigns that have been misplaced to keep outlanders stuck. Obviously, since the town is dry of adults, the children are always looking for visitors to sacrifice. The majority of the film is slow paced, though mildly entertaining with suspense and chases. The blood and gore factor is actually quite minimal, and nothing compared to today's standards. Most of the time, the camera will pull away before someone is murdered.

The characters in this film are primarily the children and the two young adults. Only Isaac and his henchman Malachai stood out with the most interest, looking and talking with decent intimidation, but in the end their lack of acting (as well as everyone else) keeps things at bay. Horror movies aren't usually known for good acting, but this is below those standards.

Overall, the film has some originality to it and is worth a look, though its more of a way to kill 90 minutes it would seem. It scares a bit here and there for the most part. Apparently, though, someone liked it since it spawned 7 more sequals, though none of those really improved over this.

Acting - 2
Characters - 3
Horror - 3
Story - 3.5
Overall - 3.5
December 21, 2007

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