PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Another chip off the old “Castle Rock,” Children of the Corn is a horror film released in 1984, based on a short story of the same name by Stephen King, which was first published in 1977 in the March issue of Penthouse (a publication I never heard of before) and later included in King’s 1978 collection Night Shift. The film was directed by Fritz Kiersch and stars Linda Hamilton and Peter Horton.
The story revolves around a young couple of outlanders, Burt (Horton) and Vicky (Hamilton), who become stranded in a remote rural town of Gatlin, Nebraska. They soon discover that the town is inhabited solely by children who have murdered all the adults, believing they must sacrifice adults to a malevolent entity they call “He Who Walks Behind the Rows.” They also seem to sacrifice them young, as the “age of sacrifice” is apparently around 18! Led by a charismatic boy named Isaac (John Franklin) and his chief enforcer Malachai (Courtney Gains), the children enforce a terrifying rule over the town, ostensibly to appease “He Who Walks Behind The Rows.”
Children of the Corn: How Corny Does it Get?
As Burt and Vicky try to escape the town, they face numerous challenges and encounters with the murderous children. Children of the Corn explores themes of religious fanaticism, the corruption of innocence, and the fear of the unknown. Fortunately, Burt and Vicky do get some key assistance from some actual good kids, Job (Robby Kiger) and his sister Sarah (Anne Marie McEvoy). In fact, Sarah even possesses psychic abilities (not entirely unlike Danny’s abilities in The Shining)!
Children of the Corn received mixed reviews upon its release but has since gained a cult following (Get it? Cult following? Because, you know, these kids are in a murder cult). It spawned a franchise of sequels, prequels, and remakes, although none of them achieved the same level of success as the original film. Some go out of their way to describe the film as cheesy, corny, or otherwise, lackluster, but some of the movie’s eerie atmosphere, unsettling premise, and memorable performances have contributed to its lasting impact in the horror genre.
For me, the opening scene depicting some of the children killing off the grownups is pretty brutal and downright chilling. Frankly, it does bring to mind certain true-life stories of people being brutally murdered over ideological differences (I’ll let you fill in the blanks, especially when there are so many different blanks to fill in). Long story short, these kids are messed up, man. Really messed up…and it might take more than a little timeout, or even a harsh spanking, to get them to settle down and mend their ways.
My Main (Relatively Light) Critique
If you really press me to say something bad about Children of the Corn, it’s really a sensible critique I’ll offer, and one that’s surely not new: “He Who Walks Behind the Rows” probably shouldn’t have been depicted as a real entity, but kept more as a relatively vague belief by these fanatical children. It just seems like it would have been scarier, and otherwise more effective, had they gone with that approach.
Granted, it’s still a watchable movie as is, but I think it’s scarier when the villain is actually rooted more in beliefs than in some actual, physically manifested form. That way, the only way to truly defeat the villain is to debunk it, and that requires changing the minds of a bunch of fanatical, brainwashed kids.
That might sound relatively easy, as young minds seem to be more pliable, but the group dynamics of Children of the Corn suggest a social setting of children who have almost no guidance aside from these murderous teachings.
Anyway, go ahead and let us know what you think in the comments. Do you like Children of the Corn?
The film is currently streaming and available to rent and own on digital platforms.
