Review of Children of the Corn (1984) by Patrick E — 17 Jun 2010

Children of the Corn is a mixed bag, most of the film is very good but the ending is little too over the top and it drags a little in the middle. Sadly the child actors are pretty awful which is not good for a film that relies on the children being scary.

Based on a Stephen King novel, Children of the Corn is a bout a child cult in a small American town that kill all of the adults in the town. Their leader Isaac receives "messages" from "he who walks in the corn" that tells him and the others what to do. Queue a couple accidentally knocking down one of the kids and being stranded in the town. Isaac the other kids to kill teh couple and a game of cat and mouse ensues as the the couple, with the help of two kids who have managed to avoid the cult, try to stay alive.

The opening shot is great as an entire Diner is butchered by the kids. From then on though the pace is all over the place as there is plenty of slow scenes followed by small pieces of actiona nd back to slow again. The children aren't really scary as they none of them can act, it seems a sif the director just found the ugliest children possible and assumed they would be scary. The ending resorts to supernatural means and uses plenty of woeful special effects that even by 1984's standards must have been pretty awful looking.

Still there is a lot to admire here, the religious story is handled well and there is plenty of social commentary about cults and religion. The action is decent although the kids are never menacing enough and despite the crap special effects I enjoyed the ending.

It's a decent effort but don't expect to be frightened as there is very little scares. Avoid the many sequels like the plague.