Watch Children of the Corn For Free

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

1984 was an amazing year for movies, being the nerd that I am I pay attention to my analytics and 1984 is the 3rd greatest movie year at time of writing.Being a huge horror fan the fact I haven't watched the Children Of The Corn movies is remarkable especially when you take into consideration how much I love Kings work and how I've seen every other adaptation of his books.Off the top of my head I've seen the remake (2009) and one of the later sequels and have to say (And I never say this) the remake is better. Being that this is the original cult classic I expected so much more but instead found a disjointed lifeless effort that failed to impress.I'm not saying it's bad, but its mediocre at best. If the cult classic original is of this quality I'm concerned what the long list of straight to vhs/dvd sequels are going to be like. Time will tell!One of the weaker Stephen King adaptations.The Good:Still has the Stephen King vibeConcept is strong enoughThe Bad:Far too shortWastes a good storyThings I Learnt From This Movie:Linda Hamilton cannot singFor a religious man Stephen King really craps on religionThe only thing more obnoxious than a religious person is a religious childKids are evil, been saying it for years

Children of the Corn started as a short story first published in Penthouse Magazine that was later collected in the 1978 book Night Shift. It's a story incredibly similar to Tom Tryon's novel (and the film) The Dark Secret of Harvest Home. You could also draw parallels to Narciso Ibáñez Serrador's Who Can Kill a Child? or Village of the Damned.Did you know that Children of the Corn was filmed once before? A short film called Disciples of the Crow was made in 1983 that's an abridged version of this story.This one was produced in 1984, with Gor and Tuff Turf director Fritz Kiersch at the helm. Burt and Vicky (Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton) are on their way to California when they drive through the cornfields of Nebraska and accidentally hit a young boy. However, when Burt exams the kid, it turns out that his throat had already been slit. Uh oh.As they examine the boy's suitcase, they discover a crucifix made of twisted corn husks. They head to the next town, Gatlin, to alert the authorities.They come across a mechanic who refuses them service. The truth is that he is the last adult in Gatlin. He's agreed to supply the children with services and fuel for his life, but the enforcer of the town, Malachai breaks the pact and murders him, angering their leader Isaac.When Burt and Vicky get to town, everything is out of date and there's a bad feeling in the air. Even worse, no one seems to be in town. They find a little girl named Sarah alone in a house, where Vicky stays while Burt explores. Malachai soon appears, capturing Vicky and taking her to be sacrificed in the cornfield.The only thing in town that's in shape is the church. Inside, Burt learn the truth of Gatlin - twelve years ago, everyone over nineteen was killed and the children took Biblical names after their murders.Now, they live under this religious order that demands that everyone over nineteen must be sacrificed. During a blood-drinking ritual, Burt starts to yell at the children. They chase him until another young boy named Job rescues him and they hide in a fallout shelter.Isaac and Malachai argue, with the older boy taking over and ordering his leader to be sacrificed. Isaac warns that this will anger their covenant with He Who Walks Behind the Rows and the children will be severely punished.That night, Burt goes to rescue Vicky and a horrible special effect devours Isaac. Seriously, this weird chroma key fuzz looks incredibly dated. Anyways, Burt fights to save his wife and a possessed Isaac reappears and breaks Malachai's neck.A storm appears as Burt, Vicky and the two children decide that they must destroy the cornfield with gasoline and fire. They escape the town, taking the kids with them, their marriage somehow saved and they even discuss adopting the kids (but not before a sneak attack by Ruth is foiled).This overly happy ending stands in marked contrast to the downbeat tone of the novel, where Vicky is sacrificed and Burt is killed by the creature in the cornfield. The creature punishes the town by lowering the sacrifice age to eighteen, so Malachi and the elders all walk into the cornfield to die as Ruth wishes that she could kill He Who Walks Behind the Rows.

Looking back, I really haven't seen that many Stephen King movies. I'm not going to go through all the work of seeing the miniseries, just his regular feature length movies. The main problem with this film is that it's needlessly padded. There are so many scenes that drag on that just show the characters looking at corn. We never even really get a good idea of what the monster is. Is it actually a manifestation of the corn? This has some of the goofiest scenes I've ever witnessed in a horror movie. We see the monster being represented by a bunch of roots tunneling through the ground. At the end, the monster appears in some weird cartoonish thing.This movie was based on a short story and you can tell. I guess it's hard for me to really hate it, seeing as how it did entertain me with how ridiculous it was. If nothing else, I'll give it credit for starting off a series and it does genuinely seem better than the sequels. This film series actually set a record for most bad entries in any franchise! Seriously, I think there's at least ten bits of material centered on this, probably the most of any Stephen King adaptation. Maybe I'll have to read the story. Isaac is the most entertaining as the zaniest, as pointed out by the Nostalgia Critic. If there's anything legitimately good, it's that the main guy does show some courage at the end. If you have to see this, ignore the sequels. **

I'm streaming this movie on netflix while I write this. It's been available since I signed up about 5 months ago, which means a younger generation finds this movie as interesting as original fans do. Plus the price remains right. This movie along with Halloween and Friday the 13th set the mold for the low budget horror flick. It was way better than A Nightmare on Elm street which was released the same year. COTC was universally trashed by critics, which is nothing new. If you read any of their reviews, there's no substance in the criticism. People forget professional critics are doing their jobs, and many times I truly believe they spew venom without actually even looking at the movie.Forget, the haunting theme, and creative camera work, or the subject matter from the contemporary master of horror, for just a second. Forget the cast, which was a mixture of unknowns, seasoned B actors and the up and coming leads and the fact this movie cracked the top 100 in 1984 one of the record setting years in cinema as far as box office success and critical acclaim. Instead focus on and how this movie makes you feel after watching it. Horrified and unsettled, which is exactly what a real horror film should do. If Hitchcock had seen this movie their is no doubt in my mind as a student of cinema he would have approved.My only criticism of this gem is that there wasn't more emphasis on the underlying dogma of the tittle characters. For all I know the scenes wound up on the cutting room floor. As a result the impetus for the cult seems vague, and probably could have been cleared up with 90 seconds of additional dialogue or monologue. That much said COTC is a horror flick that has stood the test of time. Just ask a millenial.I've never understood how people claim king adaptations have been so mishandled. COTC,The Shining, Stand By Me and Carrie qualify as classic. Pet Semetary and the Dead zone where good. Creepshow, Christine, Dream Catchers,Cujo and Salem's Lot where at the very least above average. Graveyard Shift, Silver Bullet, it and the Stand where flawed but at least mildly entertaining. And yes I've read all these books and stories.Stephen King has often maligned many of these movies, but this was the guy who made Maximum Overdrive which was truly awful. He's a much better author than a movie maker so his criticism should be taken with a grain of salt. He turned his nose up at this movie. And I can't for the life of me understand why.