Movie Review: Children of the Corn

October 23, 2006

They say the most terrifying movies are those that could really happen. Perhaps that is why, after watching Children of the Corn for the thousandth (or is it millionth?) time I still feel chills run up and down my spine.

The other children in Gatlin had been busy having a private meeting with a boy named Isaac (John Franklin). However, Malachai (Courtney Gains) and the other children are back in town. Things start to get weird when we see the teen waitress at the diner putting some sort of powder in the coffee. It does not take long for those who drink the coffee to start choking and gasping for air.

As pandemonium sets in, Mr. Henderson, the owner, tries to escape, as does Jobie’s dad, who had been talking on the telephone with Jobie’s mother. However, the doors have been locked. As a stunned Jobie (probably no more than six or seven years old) sits on the stool and watches, his father is killed with an axe, and Mr. Henderson is stabbed as his hand is cut off in some of the dining equipment.

The movie quickly changes to the present day and we meet Burt (Peter Horton) and Vicky (Linda Hamilton) in a motel room. It is Burt’s birthday, so Vicky wakes him up to sing to him in what I deem as one of the only worthless, supplemental scenes in the movie. We learn Vicky and Burt are lovers, heading out to Seattle where Burt has gotten a job as a doctor. He is about to start his residency, and as things move from the hotel room they turn towards the back roads, which Burt has decided to drive down on a scenic trip to Seattle from the east.

As the duo head into Nebraska, the scene returns to Gatlin. Three years have passed since the adults were all murdered by the children of the town. Isaac is instructing them. Though Job, his little sister Sarah (Anne Marie McEvoy), and another boy, Joseph, are not fond of Isaac’s teachings, the other children are devout followers. Isaac speaks for the “man behind the rows”. Though it is not stated clearly in the movie, these children deem the man behind the rows as their God, though this otherworldly being is obviously evil.

Sarah has psychic visions, which she has had from the moment the first murders of adults started. She can draw pictures that show scenes in the future. While crayons, drawing, music, and games are forbidden, Job and Sarah play anyway in their old home to pass the time. However, we first see these two kids when Joseph is trying to escape from Gatlin through the cornfields. He promises if he makes it out to come back to Gatlin for them, but as I am sure you have probably guessed, Joseph never makes it out.

Isaac has had a dream that Joseph runs off betraying the cult of corn children in the process. He sends Malachai into the cornfields to kill him. By a force of divine intervention (or should it be dumb luck?), with a slit throat, Joseph stumbles out of the corn field into the road just as Burt and Vicky are driving in the vicinity. As Burt looks away at Vicky, he slams into Joseph (who seemingly comes out of nowhere). Dr. Burt goes to check and see if he hit a large animal or a person. It does not take the good doctor long to find out that Joseph would have died anyway since his throat was deliberately cut.

As he looks into the cornfields, Burt finds Joseph’s suitcase. Thinking it might hold a clue, he takes it back to the car. He puts the dead body in his trunk and heads on to the next town in hopes of finding a phone to call for help. Of course, signs for the next town all say Gatlin, so we know Burt and Vicky are in for a world of trouble if they head off in that direction.

Of course, they do. Otherwise, it would be a short movie. Without spoiling the rest of the movie, let’s just say the Corn Children meet Vicky and Burt and they do not seem to like them very much. Isaac has been forewarned of their presence thanks to Sarah’s drawings.

The drawings were confiscated by Malachai. Isaac, finding Sarah’s gift of sight incredibly useful, decides to let Sarah and Job live even though drawing, crayons, music, and games are forbidden. This angers Malachai and provides quite a bit of tension throughout the rest of the movie.

Courtney Gains has moved on to star in many other things (such as Memphis Belle with Sean Astin and Eric Stotlz). He currently looks like a kinder, younger Danny Bonaduce from the Partridge family. It seems funny and almost hard to believe that he could look so evil, yet in Children of the Corn he does. It is one of the most effective parts of the movie.

Second, this is about children forming their own cult. They kill their parents for God. Look at how messed up kids are these days. Peer pressure leads them to follow their friends. Children are committing school shootings, and the release of movies such as the documentary Jesus Camp show just how religious children are becoming. What is to say some children will not form their own cult? There are eight-year-old preachers these days. They honestly believe they are doing God’s bidding. This makes the plot of Children of the Corn not that far fetched.

Third, the music just adds to the suspense. In this movie, the camera angles, music, which builds up and swells during the most suspenseful moments, and the way the film was actually pieced together make the film scary. You know something is going to happen, but you are not sure what. Even when you have watched it a million times, your heart starts pounding when you hear the strains of music building in a swelling crescendo of sound.

Bottom Line: While Children of the Corn has the typical 1980’s look, the main kids, Jobie and Sarah are cute so you sympathize with and remain interested in them. There are a few comedic moments, but overall, the movie is scary. That is why the movie is still worth watching twenty years after it was made.

I have ranked this movie #1 out of all seven of the Children of the Corn movies. You cannot get much better than this one.

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