Children of the Corn (1984)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Fritz Kiersch

Writers:

Stephen King (short story)
George Goldsmith (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 March 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

An adult nightmare.

Plot:

A boy preacher named Isaac goes to a town in Nebraska called Gatlin and gets all the children to murder every adult in town...

Plot Keywords:

Worship | Corn | Cult | Horror Movie Remade | Psychotic Child

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Peter Horton	...	Burton Stanton
Linda Hamilton	...	Vicky
R.G. Armstrong	...	Diehl
John Franklin	...	Isaac Chroner
Courtney Gains	...	Malachai
Robby Kiger	...	Job
Anne Marie McEvoy	...	Sarah (as AnneMarie McEvoy)
Julie Maddalena	...	Rachel
Jonas Marlowe	...	Joseph
John Philbin	...	Richard 'Amos' Deigan
Dan Snook	...	Boy
David Cowen	...	Dad
Suzy Southam	...	Mom
D.G. Johnson	...	Mr. Hansen
Patrick Boylan	...	Hansen's customer
Elmer Soderstrom	...	Hansen's customer
Teresa Toigo	...	Hansen's customer
Mitch Carter	...	Radio preacher
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eric Freeman	...	Israel (uncredited)
Corey Frizzell	...	Boy in front row of church scene (uncredited)

Directed by
Fritz Kiersch

Writing credits
Stephen King		(short story)
George Goldsmith		(screenplay)

Produced by
Donald P. Borchers	....	producer
Earl A. Glick	....	executive producer
Terrence Kirby	....	producer
Mark Lipson	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Jonathan Elias

Cinematography by
Raoul Lomas

Film Editing by
Harry Keramidas

Production Design by
Craig Stearns

Set Decoration by
Cricket Rowland

Costume Design by
Barbara Scott

Makeup Department
Herita Jones	....	key makeup artist
Erica Ulland	....	makeup artist (as Erica Ueland)
Rosemary Weibelhaus	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Joe Madalena	....	production manager
Michael Winter	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert Devries	....	second assistant director
Susan Gelb	....	first assistant director
John Hopgood	....	assistant director: second unit

Art Department
Timothy Case	....	assistant art director
Peter Freitas	....	storyboard artist
Aaron McFarland	....	art department assistant
Robin Miller	....	property master
Heidi Sue Whitmer	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Gregg Barbanell	....	foley artist
Gregg Barbanell	....	supervising sound editor
Gary C. Bourgeois	....	sound re-recording mixer
John Bowey	....	sound editor
Neil Brody	....	sound re-recording mixer
Joseph D. Citarella	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Joseph Citarella)
Gary Dowling	....	boom operator
Julia Evershade	....	sound editor
John P. Fasal	....	sound effects editor (as John Paul Fasal)
Arnold Finkelstein	....	assistant sound editor
Kimberly Harris	....	sound editor
Lorie O'Shatz	....	assistant sound editor (as Lorrie Oshatz)
Troy Porter	....	sound recordist
Jonathon 'Earl' Stein	....	sound mixer
Marty Stein	....	sound editor
Jerry Trent	....	foley artist
Marshall Winn	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Wayne Beauchamp	....	special effects coordinator
Eric Rumsey	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Max W. Anderson	....	visual effects
Zoé Alexis Buda	....	assistant optical camera
Vito 'Jack' Codini	....	optical cameraman
Paula A. Lumbard	....	visual effects coordinator (as Paula Lumbard)

Stunts
Bruce Paul Barbour	....	stunt coordinator
Kerrie Cullen	....	stunts
Mike Frizzell	....	stunt performer
Bruce Paul Barbour	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Barnes	....	second assistant camera
Douglas Burg	....	camera apprentice
James L. Carter	....	camera operator: second camera
M.J. Elliott	....	still photographer (as M.J. Elliot)
Bob Good	....	gaffer
Neil Harrington	....	grip
Guy Olds	....	assistant camera: second camera
Douglas F. O'Neons	....	director of photography: second unit
Joe-Joe Presson	....	best boy grip (as Joseph Presson)
John Savka	....	dolly grip
John Savka	....	key grip
S. Phillip Sparks	....	camera operator
Jeremy Sykes	....	first assistant camera
Gary Thieltges	....	assistant camera: second unit
Jani Vournas	....	best boy (as John Voournas)
Ted Wachs	....	electrician

Casting Department
Jeff Greenberg	....	extras casting
Barbara Harris	....	voice casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joyce Bond	....	wardrobe assistant
David Lenderink-Johns	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Christopher Cooke	....	associate editor
Debra C. Neil	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Jonathan Elias	....	orchestrator
Scott Elias	....	executive music producer
Michael Montes	....	music associate

Transportation Department
John Trosper	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Jill Basey	....	production auditor
Michelle Bourque	....	production assistant
Craig Caton	....	creature crew
Jeffrey Chernov	....	production executive
Joel Conkey	....	production assistant
Jeff Greenberg	....	dialogue coach
Peter Lenagh	....	production assistant
Jan Lewis	....	assistant to producers
Robin L. Logelin	....	production assistant
Debra Magit	....	production secretary
Frankie Nixon	....	script supervisor
Debbie O'Brien	....	title designer
Victoria Pearman	....	production coordinator
Jean Persinger	....	production assistant
Randy Persinger	....	production assistant
Bryan Renfro	....	dog trainer
Joe Santley	....	unit publicist
David Simkins	....	assistant to producers
Charlene Sutherlin	....	production assistant
Patience Thoreson	....	script supervisor
Mike Warren	....	title designer
Corey Frizzell	....	stand-in: Job (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Angeles Entertainment Group
• Cinema Group
• Gatlin
• Hal Roach Studios
• Inverness Productions

Distributors

• New World Pictures (1984) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Astro Distribution (1994) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• Atlantic Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Embassy Home Entertainment (video)
• Flashback Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• I.D Films (1985) (France) (theatrical)
• Image Entertainment (laserdisc)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Starmaker Video (video)
• Succéfilm AB (Sweden) (theatrical)

Special Effects

• Makeup Effects Laboratories
• SPFX Inc.
• VCE (additional optical effects)

Other Companies

• Elias Sound Studios  score recorded at
• Image 3  titles & opticals
• Power Station  score recorded at
• Ryder Sound Services  sound by

Also Known As:

Stephen King's Children of the Corn

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Spain:18 | South Korea:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | USA:R (certificate number not listed) | Australia:R (2984) | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Iceland:(Banned) (original rating) | Iceland:16 (cut) | Norway:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Finland:K-15 (re-rating) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Angeles Entertainment Group

Trivia:

In the original theatrical trailer, Stephen King's name is misspelled as "Steven".

Goofs:

Continuity: The length of the cut on Vicky's cheek.

Quotes:

Burt: Hi, we've had an -
[gets cut off]
Diehl: I ain't got no gas.
Burt: No, I don't need gas.
Diehl: Ain't got no diesel fuel neither.
Burt: No, you -
[cut off again]
Diehl: Don't buy no gas you can't use no restroom.
Burt: Your telephone.
Diehl: Telephone! I ain't got no telephone.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Edited into "30 Even Scarier Movie Moments" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Foot Stompin'

Weak entry, could've been better

"Children of the Corn" is a mildly decent genre attempt.

**SPOILERS**

Traveling through Nebraska, Burton Stanton, (Peter Horton) and his girlfriend Vicky, (Linda Hamilton) come upon the small town of Gatlin. Accidentally hitting a small kid, they drive into town but find it completely deserted. In the nearby cornfields, unbeknownst to them, Isaac, (John Franklin) a young child and his friend Malachai, (Courtney Gains) have started a vicious cult that centers around a strange, unseen God that they believe walks behind the rows of corn that ordered the children to kill the adults in town. Discovering the new adults in town, they drag them out to the corn to sacrifice them. Realizing the cult's true intentions, they race to stop the members from fulfilling their original destiny.

The Good News: There's not a whole lot to enjoy about this one. The setting goes a long way towards making this film watchable. As intended, the cornfields are quite dominant throughout the film. The endless scenes of looking out over a never-ending sea of giant corn-rows after corn-rows manages to evoke a really unnerving sense of suspense whenever a view is present. This is one of the most chilling films during these scenes, as the tension nearly becomes unbearable when there's a glimpse of the cornfields. Early on we catch a whiff of the supernatural as we find sprouts of corn-husks growing out of the car after only a couple of minutes. The sinister nature of the corn becomes more evident later on when several rows of the stuff actually part to lure an unsuspecting victim into a potential trap. The end result is a nice creepy vibe that remains steady throughout the course of the film. The opening slaughter itself isn't all that terrible, which contains some really brutal moments and the general idea of what's going on make it a definite highlight. The only other part that works for the film is it's ending fight in the cornfields. This is quite action-packed and features many great scenes. This is just as good as it's opening and really manages to end the film on a real high note.

The Bad News: There's a couple flaws with this one. The film's main problem is that it's way too unbelievable to really register. The biggest slap to the forehead that this movie presents is the fact that we are dealing with a cult that has acted independently in this town without discovery for three years. This is to further suggest that every single adult who lived in town was related to every other adult who obviously had no relatives who lived out of state. It would've been pretty suspicious when someone from town fails to take a relatives' phone calls. It's hard to believe the power company wouldn't think it kind of odd that every client in the entire town forgot to pay their electric bill all these years. We are further led to believe that the town drops off the face of the map and only one cop goes in to investigate, and how nobody followed up when they failed to report in. To really sell a film's supernatural abilities, it needs to be rooted as much in reality as it can to work, and this one doesn't even come close at all. This is simply way too unrealistic and is enough to make it seem that much more flawed. Beyond this, the fact that it's also a little hard to believe that the cult forms itself the way it does without some really weird issues being brought up. These are spoilers and won't be mentioned, but there's way too much confusion as to how the cult operates that's hard to really swallow. This also really could've used a little more shown on-screen, as it really feels underwhelming at times. There's very minor gore, and this one probably could've used some more for the deaths on display. The last big problem is it's underwhelming nature. Things pass over the viewer without much excitement, and beyond a few chases early on, nothing of note happens until the confrontation in the cornfields. It's really languid and easy-going, resulting in it appearing to be pretty slowly-paced. These are what really hurts the film.

The Final Verdict: While certainly creepy in places, there's too much wrong with this to really make an impression. It's good enough it a shot, but the only ones who should consider it are hardcore King fans or fans of these types of cheesy films, otherwise this is imminently skip-able.

Rated R: Violence and Language