Children of the Corn (DVD, 2000)

No matter how many times I've seen this movie it's still one of the SCARIEST and CREEPIEST I've ever watched! I assure you that after watching this movie you will get the creeps at the mere mention of a cornfield! Adapted from a short story in King's book, The Night Shift, the premise and acting are GREAT- especially the child actors. The only thing that stops me from giving it an excellent rating is the ending. Like other Stephen King storylines what starts out in this movie as terribly frightening, breaks down into something so bombarded with supernatural elements that it becomes completely unrealistic/ unbelievable. Even so, it is definitely worth the watch. (Although I do not recommend any of the sequels, which are not related to any of King's writings.)

Burt, a young doctor afraid of commitment, and his girlfriend, Vicki, are driving across the country to get to a new job he has accepted. While driving through the isolated town of Gatlin (Nebraska) they have a horrible accident. They hit a young child with thier car when he appears to jump out in front of them from a cornfield. Upon examining the dead child Burt immediately realizes that it was not the impact of the car that killed him. He was already dead. Not knowing what else to do he wraps the child's body in a blanket, places him in the trunk of the car and heads into town to find help. However, once they reach town they make some startling discoveries. The streets are lined with abandoned houses, there is no electricity or phone service and most troubling of all, no adults...

CHILDREN OF THE CORN was a lot scarier when it first came out. Modern horror fans expect a bit more in the way of special effects, and are no longer satisfied with off-screen killings where the audience hears screams and sees a bit of blood spatter but no gory details. Thus, this film moves into the average category, especially because it features one of my pet peeves: the completely unnecessary weird gas station attendant. However, there's no denying that if a bunch of children decided to kill all the adults in town, it WOULD be pretty terrifying; and the main kid villains, Isaac and Malachai, are played by a pair of kid actors so creepy-looking I doubt they ever found work in another genre. The hero, Peter Horton, gets the mob of murderous kids to back down by giving them a teacher-ish lecture about how they should be ashamed of themselves (yeah, I'm sure that would work on a bunch of inner-city gang kids---NOT!) But this is Nebraska, not Compton, so the kids, who have committed multiple murders, slink off in shame when Horton tells them they've been bad little boys and girls. There are some loose ends --- Horton and his girlfriend (Linda Hamilton) seem to forget they've left a boy's corpse in their car trunk, and never get around to removing it. Nevertheless, there are moments that still have the power to induce nightmares...like the teen waitress calmly poisoning the adults' coffee, Isaac lecturing with fanatic religious fervor, and Malachai stalking people with a wicked-looking knife. Verdict: Still scary after all these years.

THE ORIGINAL THAT STARTED IT ALL! AN ADULT NIGHTMARE FROM THE CLASSIC STORY BY STEPHEN KING
WHEN A YOUNG COUPLE FIND THEMSELVES STRANDED IN THE ISOLATED COMMUNIITY OF GATLIN,NEBRASKA,THEY DISCOVER THAT ALL OF THE TOWN'S ADULTS HAVE BEEN SLAUGHTERED BY RELIGIOUS CULT OF TWISTED CHILDREN WHO WORSHIP A MYSTERIOUS CORNFIELD DEITY. CAN THESE ADULTS ESCAPE THE FRANATICAL WRATH OF THESE ADOLESCENT ZEALOTS, OR WILL THEY BECOME THE NEXT BLOOD SACRIFICES TO "HE WHO WALKS BEHIND THE ROWS?"

A couple gets lost and ends up in a town where the kids have killed all adults. They worship an unseen evil in the cornfields - those darn kids! Creepy in a Stephen King short story way - which is what it was adapted from. Relly one of the more original 80's horror movies with only a glimpse at the killing spree that started it all. What is unseen is what makes this movie work, just seeing the corn swaying in the breeze gives you a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach.

Children of the Corn is a good movie to watch if your a Stephen King horror fan. Besides the leader and his so called sidekick, evil should've went after the followers because they were the ones who kill those grown ups and their parents. with that said the movie should've been longer.