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A young couple is trapped in a remote town where a dangerous religious cult of children believe everyone over the age of 18 must be killed.
Released in 1984, “Children Of The Corn” marked the beginning of Stephen King adaptations where the film was really just a loose derivative of a King story. That’s strange because the short story is a derivative of King’s magnum opus, “The Stand.” And some of these similarities still make it into the film. For example, Hemingford Home in “Children of the Corn,” is where Mother Abigail resided in “The Stand.” The idea of crucifying people in cornfields is also remarkably similar to how Randall Flagg kills some people in “The Stand.”
Despite its somewhat shaky relationship to the story, though, “Children of the Corn” is an iconic ’80s horror film. Many people are familiar with “He Who Walks Behind the Rows” and “Malachi,” even if they haven’t watched the film in its entirety. And, strangely, “Children of the Corn” also seems to have had a forward influence on film as well. One noticeable example is the cornfield scene where men dressed as scarecrows are crucified in one of David Bowie’s last and most brilliant songs, Blackstar.
The film was directed by Fritz Kiersch, who surprisingly never went on to create anything that was nearly as well known as “Children of the Corn.” That’s surprising because it’s a very tight little film with some genuine scares (the girl in the car at the end of the film), some memorable images (Malachai hanging on the crucifix), and some good action sequences (the chases). The only sequence that felt like it totally missed the gap occurs at the end of the movie when hokey special effects are used.
The film revolves around Burt Stanton (Peter Horton) and Vicky Baxter (Linda Hamilton from “The Terminator”). Stanton is driving across the country with Baxter in the direction of Seattle, where Stanton will work as a doctor. There’s such a believable chemistry between the actors that I was not surprised to learn Horton had actually been married to Hamilton but the couple had divorced several years before the film was made.
While on the way to Seattle, the couple ends up in a small midwestern town where all of the adults are missing and the children all dress in gothic, Amish-like clothing. It turns out that the children are part of a religious cult led by Malachai Boardman (Courtney Gains) and Isaac Chroner (John Franklin). The children fell all of the adults in the town to “He Who Walks Behind the Rows,” a bloodthirsty deity. After being caught by the children, Vicky is captured and placed hanging on a cornstalk. Burt tries to save Vicky and ends up confronting the whole cult.
While Stephen King steered away from showing “He Who Walks Behind the Rows,” the film chooses to depict an entity in the form of the deity and that’s where the film falls apart. And this is actually why the Mick Garris version of “The Stand” falls apart too, in its “hand of God” sequence. Very early FX tricks are used to depict this creature and they’re not believable in the least. If “Children of the Corn” was filmed today, however, this sequence would have been capable of being executed well and the film would be even scarier. This is probably exactly why after the rampant success of “It,” reboots of “Pet Sematary” and “Children of the Corn” have been heavily discussed.
Ultimately, watching the film in 2017, it has lost much of its bite and is no longer scary. Instead, it’s very obvious for most of the film that the actors are simply actors. The FX doesn’t work. The children actors are often not believable. But the film still succeeds. Maybe despite that. While the dynamic began officially with “Carrie,” you could argue that this film both propelled and doomed the career of King. On the one hand, these films were massive commercial successes, particularly in the horror industry. On the other hand, watching “Children of the Corn” it’s not surprising how King got branded as someone who just writes “scary stuff without any greater meaning.” I like “Children of the Corn” a lot. I just watch the film now aware that it was retreading many of the ideas that are better used in “The Stand.” And I watch the film aware that it’s not terribly scary, but that it is one of the kings of 1980s popcorn midnight movies.
Not to be missed on this Blu-ray from Arrow Video, which I’ve been waiting anxiously to watch for a month or two now, are the amazing short documentaries and the commentary track. Of particular note is the short documentary, “Stephen King on a Shoe String Budget.” Arrow Video is one of few companies that’s able to bring out so many beautiful nuances in a film that many people simply write as a one-off note.
Available in a Special Edition Blu-ray from Arrow Video Tuesday, October 3rd
