 ""He Who Walks Behind The Rows"" | 2010-01-28 |
| - Reviewed By zach classon from USA |
Classic film by a classic writer. It started with Carrie then it went from there. I dont think there is one bad movie that King has ever did.
Made in 84' Its a story about a town that is overun by a group of cult children. They kill off there parents and act crazy all round. The kids meet up in the middle of a cornfield and they all bow down to this figure they call the blue man. Isaac is the leader of the cult group. If you join there group there is no leaving. If you try and leave they kill you.
This is a real scary tail. King will take you to hell and back with this movie. If you like Kings other work I think that you should give this movie a try. Pick it up at amazon. |
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 "Children of the Corn" | 2010-01-27 |
| - Reviewed By Arnita D. Brown from USA |
| A boy preacher named Isaac goes to a town in Nebraska called Gatlin and gets all the children to murder every adult in town. A young couple have a murder to report and they go to the nearest town (Gatlin) to seek help but the town seems deserted. They are soon trapped in Gatlin with little chance of getting out alive. The movie is very good. The isolation of the town, and the chillling child chorus music score is brilliant. A little strange, but, then again, this is a Stephen King movie. |
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| "Outlander! We have your woman...she still lives!" | 2009-10-25 |
| - Reviewed By William Dorfer |
"Children of the Corn" is one of those movies that leaves a connection with you after you've seen it. I remember when I was 11 or 12 and this movie was on TV, right in the beginning in the coffee house massacre scene. I remember being so frightened I had to switch channels! Being older, I can say that the movie's not as terrifying now, but "Children of the Corn" still has an eerie atmosphere that entices you all the way through.
If you can get past what may seem silly aspects that climax towards then end and enjoy the movie nonetheless, then "Children of the Corn" will definitely be a great watch. It's one of those '80s classics that's still just as entertaining, eerie, mystical and captivating now as it was in its own time. The setting in the abandoned, little Midwestern town is the perfect setting for this sort of movie, so that beefs up the quality of the film right there. In addition, the acting is quite good, and Isaac is one of the most sinister little punks I've ever seen on screen! Malachai too, plays an awesome villain, but whereas Isaac plays the darker, more evil villain, Malachai plays the more nuts-out, kick-a## sort of villain. The two of them work great together and lead the evil flock of children...gahh, it's starting to take its effect on me again!
Although "Children of the Corn" doesn't really have the humorous breaks in it that a lot of other horror movies do, it's certainly a great and enjoyable movie, that's most likely to captivate you with its dark, mysterious atmosphere. Pick this up in time for Halloween, too, to give yourself an extra reason to be scared and to love this time of year! Thanks for the time, and peace. |
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 "Average at best, but an excellent Blu-ray release" | 2009-10-23 |
| - Reviewed By Dave. K from Staten Island, Ny |
THE CHILDREN OF THE CORN
*** Out of 5
Release Date- March 9th, 1984
Running Time- 92-Minutes
Rating- R
Screenplay- George Goldsmith (Story by Stephen King)
Director- Fritz Kiersch
Starring- Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R.G. Armstrong, John Franklin, Courtney Gaines, Robby Kiger, Anne Marie McEvoy
Released in 1984 Children of the Corn is based off a short story of the same name written by Stephen King; Children of the Corn was first published in 1977 in Penthouse and than later in part of King's short story collection Night Shift.
Children of the Corn wasn't one of King's better stories in my opinion, but it wasn't bad or anything. It was an enjoyable piece, but in the end nothing special so I suppose it's only fitting the movie adaptation ends up being nothing special as well. Some people say King's work isn't suited well for film due to his writing style. I have to disagree with that; I think most of King's work is perfectly suited for film, but for the most part it seems many haven't translated well on film. King's work while sometimes violent is almost always character driven and that is what makes his novels and short stories work so well. In general horror is always about believing the impossible and that works best when the characters are well developed.
The fact Stephen King has created such excellent characters is the reason why his work has excelled; it's not easy basing a movie off of a book. You have the groundwork already done, but a lot of character development often gets lost and some of King's work turned into films have been duds like The Dark Half or average at best like Desperation, but The Dead Zone and Carrie were two prime examples of how well King's work can translate onto film. With Children of the Corn I don't think the story was good enough to be made into a 90-minute film. If anything I think this would have worked better as a short film or even an episode of a TV series. Again that's not to say the short story was bad or anything. It was enjoyable, but not one of King's stronger stories.
The screenplay by George Goldsmith was rather sub-par filled with some silly dialogue, but works well due to the silliness. The one area I do feel the screenplay improved upon the short story were with the lead characters of Burt played by Peter Horton and Vicky played by Linda Hamilton. Like I said earlier Stephen King's strong suit are his characters, but Burt and Vicky weren't among his best. I personally found them rather annoying and mostly un-likeable and here in the film version I thought they were a lot more likeable. The short story was 29-pages and the film runs at 90-minutes so obviously changes will be made; the changes made by George Goldsmith never improve on the original story, but I wouldn't say they were inferior either.
The script by Goldsmith as stated before is filled with some silly dialogue and overall Children of the Corn is poorly written, but in the poor writing it does actually make it fun. There is very little character development and the plot isn't really expanded on all that much, but it works well due to the poor writing and makes it campy fun. Like I said before the only real improvement for me was the main characters; I found Burt and Vicky more likeable in the film than the short story and in the story they spend most of their time arguing where as here in the film their relationship is still strong. My biggest complaint with the script though is the ending; the ending isn't dark like the short story and I personally felt was a cop out.
Fritz Kiersch makes his directorial debut and I'll give him credit due to the fact Children of the Corn had a very low budget, which shows at times, but doesn't look any cheaper than other low budget flicks of the same era. But besides making a decent looking film on a low budget he doesn't get much right besides that, which some limitations are due to the script though. The pacing isn't all that bad, but it's never really exciting either; Fritz Kiersch stated that when it came to the violence he wanted it more suggested than shown to do something like Alfred Hitchcock used to do. Most of the violence is just that suggested; we never see anything, but some blood splatter, which would be ok in a better movie. No offense to Fritz Kiersch, but he isn't Hitchcock and shouldn't attempt to do what he did. Children of the Corn is a movie that really could have used a lot more gore.
Some scenes are quite silly and over the top that it can be hard to keep a straight face while watching it, but some of that can also be blamed on the very poor acting from most of the cast. There is very little in the way of suspense and tension, but to Fritz Kiersch credit he does at least attempt it. Some scenes with Burt and Vicky going around the town of Gatlin can be semi creepy, which is more to do with the location than directing, but these scenes at least work some what decently, but another problem was the whole film was shot in the daytime except the final act and some of these scenes would have worked slightly better with a nighttime shoot.
The acting was rather terrible with the exception of Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton who give good performances despite the weak script; Courtney Gaines ended up becoming a solid actor, but here he wasn't very good and does add to the whole so bad its good vibe, which can partly be blamed on the silly things he has to say. I suppose it isn't easy to sound good with the idiotic lines he has, but Gaines has improved over the years. John Franklin as Isaac didn't fair much better; he is sort of creepy, but his performance was the icing on the cake for the so bad it's good.
The rest of the cast range from terrible to below average; one of my problems with the short story and film was I just couldn't fully buy into the concept, but with such weak acting it doesn't exactly help matters. Horton and Hamilton both work well together and manage to sell some really silly stuff.
My review for Children of the Corn may not sound good, but the movie really wasn't very good, but it is an enjoyable movie in how poor it was. The whole so bad its good vibe is on full effect and despite how poor the film was it does work due to that and is enjoyable, but you can easily find movies on the same level far more enjoyable. Amazingly there were several sequels made I don't think the original was good enough to warrant any (or if anything as many) and while I haven't seen all of them of the ones I've seen this is probably the best of the bunch, which is actually quite scary.
The Blu-ray release is top notch; Anchor Bay delivers a solid transfer, but obviously don't expect a pristine print. Due to the age of the film anything less than a full re-master there is only so good the picture can look. But the transfer is very good and there is some grain to be found and some dirt, but Anchor Bay delivers an excellent transfer. There are also some new features that cover the behind the scenes and they are all informative; Even though the movie is enjoyable in the so bad its good level the disc is far better than maybe the movie deserved. |
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| "If for no other reason ...." | 2009-10-17 |
| - Reviewed By woodstockgeneration from Orangeburg, SC USA |
| There are classic scenes that transcend time. Linda Hamilton's little "throwaway" scene in the first 15 minutes of the movie is one of these classics. Her song and dance routine to "School is Out" is as cute and memorable as they come. Thanks to the film editor who picked it up from the cutting room floor. Even if I don't watch the entire movie for the hundredth-something time (but I usually do), that scene always delights me. |
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| "A little cheesy..." | 2009-09-29 |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
| It's more eerie than spooky. but other than that it was a good movie and had a good story to it. i'd rent it before i bought it though. The one kid's voice gets on my nerves. |
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