Reviews: Children of the Corn (1984) Movie Review
Genres: Horror, Thriller
Subgenres: Survival, Cult, Folk Horror, Killer Kids, Road Trip
Our review of Children of the Corn (1984) dives into the story, the scares, and whether it truly delivers the horror fans crave.
Children of the Corn (1984) is a 1hr 32 min American horror movie based on a Stephen King short story of the same name. The movie was director Fritz Kiersch’s film debut and was written by George Goldsmith. The movie had an $800,000 budget and made about $14,568,589 at the box office. The movie is a bit dated but still enjoyable to watch.
The movie begins with a young boy, Isaac (John Franklin) who leads the children of Gatlin, Nebraska into revolt against their parents. The purpose of the bloodshed is for human sacrifice for an unknown spirit or demon called “He Who Walks Behind the Rows.” Two children do not kill any adults; Job and Sarah. Sarah is believed to be able to see the future. Job and Sarah are very uncomfortable and scared living in Gatlin, whereas most kids are fine with the change in lifestyle.
One boy confides in Sarah and Job that he will be fleeing Gatlin. He runs through the corn fields in an attempt to make an escape but is struck by a car of Vicky (Linda Hamilton) and her boyfriend Burt (Peter Horton). The couple was traveling cross-country to Seattle. The couple puts him in the car and searches for a nearby town to seek help, when they stumble upon Gatlin. Needless to say, things do not go well for the couple.
Children of the Corn has a plotline that draws the viewer in. I was immediately enticed to watch the film because the idea of children running a town and killing adults is pretty unique. In the first few minutes of the film, the children draw their weapons and off the adult population of the town. After this, the plot starts thinning and becomes less interesting. The best part of this movie is Isaac’s right-hand man, a red-headed boy named Malachai (Courtney Gains). Malachai is evil and is the most interesting antagonist. Gains kind of pours on the cheese factor when playing this sociopathic teenager; adding a bit of humor and over-acting to the character. The movie itself is a lot of mediocre acting from all parties, particularly the children. The dialogue is not particularly well written either, minus some interesting sermon-like speeches from Isaac.
I enjoy watching this movie simply because it is an easy to watch, cheesy horror movie. The special effects are poor; this is obvious in a certain scene where Isaac is consumed by a blurry red squiggle. The plot is not complicated and does not require much focus on the part of the viewer.
Overall, I would rate it a 7/10. It is simple and entertaining, but not a great movie.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Children of the Corn Rating Scores
- Our Score: 7/10
- Overall Score: 5.46/10
- IMDB: 5.6/10
- MetaCritic: 4.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 3.8/10
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