Children Of The Corn

Children of the Corn (1984)

Runtime: 92 minutes

Directed by: Fritz Kiersch

Starring: Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R.G. Armstrong, and a bunch of child actors, some of whom were pretty terrible

From: Hal Roach Studios/New World

Featuring gasohol, corn demons, and... 50's oldies?

This is another picture available on the brand new Arrow streaming service and believe it or not, this was the first time it was viewed in full. It was a popular 80's horror film which somehow spawned a franchise that soon will comprise of ten (!) films. Now if only I would have liked this better. While I grew up in a city that had a population of around 15,000 people, I grew up in a neighborhood that was in a rural area. No kidding, corn fields could be seen in the distance if you looked out of more than one window in my house. I never saw any kids dressed in 18th century clothing walking around those fields, let alone demons.

Just judging by the film versions of Stephen King stories, this is not one of my favorites from him. The idea of tiny towns that used to be prosperous but now have fallen on hard times will generally be creepy and sad (as I know from driving through some in the past several years), along with the ideas of false prophets & religious extremists. If only this wouldn't have gotten so silly, especially with the goofy supernatural elements and an effect or two that is quite laughable now. Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton are stuck in a podunk Nebraska town that is entirely ran by children, because they killed their parents to appease “He Who Walks Behind the Rows.”

A shame that this isn't always that terribly exciting and has a goofy story. It usually does have a disturbing undercurrent flowing through the plot; the same goes for the chilling score. It's nice seeing Horton, Hamilton, and (especially) R.G. Armstrong; as a counterpart, some of the child acting is rather putrid, to be blunt. Also, to say that this has an abrupt ending is being awfully kind to the movie. If this had been first viewed when I was a little kid, it is likely my opinion would be different-I am sure I would have liked it better now and nostalgia would have an impact on my rating. As is, an average score is what this will get.