Classic Movie Review: "Children of the Corn" (1984)

I have watched this film a couple of times over the years and yet, after a recent watch I have come to realise that there are good and bad points about this movie that I haven't addressed with myself or on this platform. Regardless, it is a folk horror film so I will try to be fair. Though I do have my doubts mainly about the talents leading the film and the insufficient length of the movie which left the ending feeling rushed and unfulfilling. However, the entire movie is not a waste (but the remake is, do not watch that one). Let's have a look at Children of the Corn (1984).

The film is about a cult of children who worship a devilish entity living within the cornfields of their town. They are enticed to kill their parents, go on rampages and murder any grown-up above the age of 18 in the perimeter. When two outsiders named Burt and Vicky come in they do not know anything about what has happened and immediately notice that there is something wrong - though they have yet to find out what it is. Led by Isaac, the children often sit around in the dirt listening to sermons about what they should and should not be doing with the laws enforced by a child called Malachi. When things start to turn awry, Job and Sophie must help Burt and Vicky get to safety before they get caught by the tribe of children who want to crucify them. Through the overgrown weeds of the car, the cornfields that lead to nowhere and the effigy of the 'blue man' who once tried something unfathomable to the children of the corn - this horror does not really pack a punch but remains in a healthy middle rather than very good or absolutely awful.

The first disadvantage that this film had though was that the two lead actors playing Burt and Vicky were outdone by the children of the cult. They were nowhere near as emotional, or emotionless, they were nowhere near as talented in their acting and the vast majority of the time, a lot of it seemed very overdone from those two. The actors who played Sophie, Malachi and Rachel happened to be three actors I would put as being a lot better than the adult actors in this film. That caused a concern for me that I had not cared to notice too much in the times that I had watched it before.

The other disadvantage that this film had was, as I have already said, the entire ending was completely rushed. There was not enough time to savour the tension and from the cult's leaders killing each other to the ending, it seemed like a blur of nothing. There was no visceral horror, it did not have the correct pacing and the acting of the two adults again, really kind of ruined the experience of ending the cornfields for me. I did not have enough time to take the whole thing in and I would have liked more story being told and more atmosphere being made. The part with Rachel at the end just seemed a bit sad and laughable to be honest, it did not really need to be there.

The advantage that this film had however was that a lot of the children were actually really good actors. They were well-trained and they fit their roles really perfectly. Again, they were much better than the two main adults in the film and portrayed the evil nature of those who buy into the cult-like nature of murder and abuse in a very believable way. They were more than often brilliant and had some great talent.

All in all, I think that this movie may have been massively flawed, but I like to ignore that a lot when I look at how the film has come to be a brief but enjoyable watch. I just only hope that I do not analyse it like this more than often because I am afraid I may lose my liking for it. If I were to just watch it and do nothing, think nothing and have no opinion on it, I think I could manage to just sit back and watch.