
Still scary after all these years

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.
Review ID: 10000000012590414

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