Children of the Corn

Starring: Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R.G. Armstrong, John Franklin, Courtney Gains, Robby Kiger, Anne Marie McEvoy
Directed by: Fritz Kiersch
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
1984

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A couple (Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton) find themselves trapped in a town where the children have killed all the adults, and belong to a strange cult.

Review:

Tim: I was pretty interested to see this movie. I never watched it growing up in the 80s, but it was based on a Stephen King short story, and it's a well-known film. I was expecting something that might not be a horror classic, but was at least a good movie. Neither expectation was lived up to, unfortunately. Children of the Corn is a stupid, poorly written, forgettable horror movie. I was quite disappointed with the end result.

The biggest problem is the script. I never read King's original story, but it's abundantly obvious that they took that story and messed it up thoroughly. The biggest gripe I had is how incredibly stupid the two main characters were. It was truly painful to watch. I will give you some examples (minor spoilers ahead, obviously). First, the couple hit a kid with their car. The main protagonist is a doctor, and so I'm guessing that he quickly realizes the kid's throat has been cut, and not by his car. So what does he do? He tells his wife/girl to go wait in the car alone while he walks alone in the corn. Does this make any kind of sense at all? What rational person, especially one as educated as this doctor, would do something so dumb? Later in the film, they get to the abandoned town. It's incredibly creepy, there's corn all over the place, and they occasionally get glimpses of children running around. At one point, the guy suggests they split up. The wife asks if it's safe, and he responses with something like, "Yes, this town is very strange, but it's safe." Why on earth would he think that? It's so unbelievably stupid. Who would split up from someone they care about when they are clearly in a setting that is not normal. There was nothing to suggest they were "safe". It hurt me to watch these stupid decisions and idiotic dialogue. I could give you dozens of more examples- as written, these were two of the worst horror movie characters I've ever witnessed.

That's too bad, because there are some cool elements from King's story that make it to the screen. I love the idea of having one of the children as the perverted spiritual leader of this cult, having a connection to whatever deity they're worshiping. It is frightening enough to see such blind belief from such young people, but when there's evil behind their beliefs, it's pretty chilling. I love the idea of Isaac as the spiritual leader, and Malachai as the violent enforcer. It was also fun to watch their struggles against each other. I also love the idea of "He who walks behind the rows", the unseen, evil entity that wreck havoc throughout the film. Sometimes the best horror movie villains are felt more than seen, and this antagonist was very cool and frightening.

I also have to mention Peter Horton. Horton gives one of the most abysmally bad performances I've ever seen. He is a doctor, but comes across as a complete and utter moron throughout the film. He gives such a bland, boring, wooden performance that I almost couldn't believe my eyes. I have no idea why he was cast or how he ever built an acting career in Hollywood. Horton is terrible in almost every sense- his face showed almost no emotion, especially during incredibly stressful or emotional moments. It's one of the worst horror movie performances I've ever seen, which is really saying something. He sucked, and it hurt the movie immensely. In comparison, Linda Hamilton was significantly better. I'm not sure I can say she was great in this film, but compared to the flat Horton, Hamilton at least seemed like she had acting talent and some intelligence. I liked her performance significantly more than his. The kids were fine, but there weren't many great actors. John Franklin was certainly chilling as Isaac. While this film had some real positives, as a whole, it's just a mess. There are far too many illogical, idiotic events. People don't act with any intelligence, and the dialogue they utter is awful. There's some big plot holes (whatever happened to Isaac, for example), and they really ruin the overall experience of the movie. The cast was lackluster, and they hurt the experience of watching this movie. I like Stephen King, and I really wanted to like this movie, but I was thoroughly disappointed in the end result. How could this poor horror movie spark a franchise?

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice