Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this film is filled with bloody violence, including a wholesale massacre of adults by their own children. The portrayal of a community run by kids who have killed all the parents isn't remotely pleasant or idealized, but it's still disturbing.
Families can talk about the film's ultimate message, that fire-and-brimstone fundamentalist Christianity (at least Hollywood's stereotype of it) has let the barn door open for a demonic force to enter and take over rural Gatlin, Nebraska. Those in religious households can check out the Bible passages that this movie uses to support its dire warning about false prophets. On the whole, is this movie favorable to faith or against it?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Charles Cassady, Jr.
Bestselling author Stephen King was quoted calling CHILDREN OF THE CORN the worst movie based on his writings. Trouble is, since then there have been something like 50, 100, or 1,500 more Stephen King-derived movies, mostly horror slop. Graded on a curve (and what student doesn't want that?), Children of the Corn is hardly at the bottom of the trough anymore.
With a chanting soundtrack and an effectively creepy vibe (more of a challenge since much of the movie takes place in bright sunlight) this film does raise some shudders -- then wrecks the momentum with cheap gore and a feeble finale. A shocking tone is set from the start, as children in the farm community of Gatlin, Nebraska, methodically poison, bludgeon, slash, and kill all of their parents and take over. (Nobody in the outside world seems to notice this; an explanation later hints that Gatlin is an intensely religious town, insular and not friendly to visitors.)
Three years later, a young doctor (Peter Horton) and his wife (Linda Hamilton) on their way to a new job stumble across Gatlin's secret in the worst way, running over a mortally wounded boy trying to escape. They find bloody religious icons made from corncobs in the victim's possession and proceed to investigate the seemingly deserted town (translation: a lot of dull skulking around).
It seems that all of the killer kids were indoctrinated into a strict cult founded by Isaac (John Franklin), an influential boy preacher who forbids music and games and leads Christian-like worship of "He Who Walks Behind the Rows," a demonic entity that demands human sacrifice of anyone over 18.
Depending on what the low-budget special effects allow, He Who Walks Behind the Rows sometimes looks like a burrowing underground shape, a weird cloud, or a glowing cartoon. Far scarier are the juvenile actors, who really do a good job making the "children of the corn" a threatening tribe of youthful fanatics with farm-implement weapons.
Besides killer kids, the film manipulates anxieties and stereotypes about the American heartland: miles and miles of fields, isolated agricultural villages, and radio stations broadcasting nothing but fire-and-brimstone sermons. Instead of yesteryear's movie-fantasy Satanists, with their goat horns and red capes, this group is a caricature of ultra-conservative and Evangelical churches, resembling the Amish or Mennonites -- that is, before they transform into a child cult that crucifies victims on corn stalks.
Families in religious households can check out the Bible passages that the script uses to support its premise, suggesting that false prophets can lead believers astray. Some dialogue criticizes biblical fundamentalism as having left the zealous Gatlin natives vulnerable to the malice of He Who Walks Behind the Rows. As commentators such as Michael Medved have pointed out, though, moviemakers in recent decades have a decidedly negative and cynical view of mainstream religion. On the whole, is this movie favorable to faith or against it?
Children of the Corn generated enough of a profit for B-moviemakers to crank out several direct-to-video sequels, most essentially remakes of the same basic idea, with somewhat more intense gore and swearing. We dare you to tell them apart, though King himself allegedly gave his stamp of approval to one, Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest.
If you want a more profound and palatable tale of feral children and false gods, try Lord of the Flies.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentA radio preacher says "fornicator" (without defining it), and that's about all. |
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ViolenceAbundant throat-slashings, stabbings, beatings, climactic explosions. A juvenile is struck by a car. A dog is killed (offscreen), and another character's hand forced is toward a deli meat slicer (though we don't get to see the results). A willing human sacrifice cuts himself in ritual bloodletting. |
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LanguageChrist's name in vain (ironically). |
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Social BehaviorA couple of stalwart, happily married (but reckless driving) grownups are in the lead roles, surrounded by mostly fanatical and violent kids, who are more interesting characters, alas. Two of the smallest children are friendly and helpful. The hero, an emergency-room doctor, has no problem abandoning an unconscious marauder at the end. |
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