Children of the Corn (1984) Directed by Fritz Kiersch
Horror / Thriller / Fantasy
Film Review
Whilst it is not held in particularly high esteem amongst horror
aficionados, Children of the Corn
is a creepy little thriller which does capture the essence of the
Stephen King story that inspired it. The budgetary limitations
are all too evident (most noticeably in the now dated special effects)
but lack of money did not prevent director Fritz Kiersch from crafting
an eerie tale of demonic possession which is sustained by a distinctly
unsettling atmosphere. If a little more money had been thrown at
it and more effort gone into the script, this could have been quite a
remarkable horror film, a chilling hybrid of the slasher and possession
sub-genres. As it is, the film was ill-received by the critics
(many of whom objected to the portrayal of children as knife-wielding
killers) but performed remarkably well at the box office. The
film was enough of a hit to lead to six sequels (of rapidly diminishing
quality) and a television remake in 2009.
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Film Synopsis
Accompanied by his girlfriend Vicky, Burt is on his way to Seattle to
take up his new post as a physician. Whilst driving down a
deserted road bordered by cornfields, Burt knocks down a child who is
standing motionless in the middle of the road. To his surprise,
the child has recently had his throat cut and must have been dead
before the car hit him. The couple head off to the nearby
town of Gatlin to notify the authorities of the boy's death only to
find that the whole town appears to be deserted. In fact, the
entire adult population of the town was murdered three years previously
by their children, who had fallen under the influence of a demonic
force lying beneath the cornfields. The children are
aware of Bert and Vicky's arrival and are awaiting the command from
their leader Isaac to capture them and sacrifice them to their god...
Cast: Peter Horton (Burt),
Linda Hamilton (Vicky),
R.G. Armstrong (Diehl),
John Franklin (Isaac),
Courtney Gains (Malachai),
Robby Kiger (Job),
Anne Marie McEvoy (Sarah),
Julie Maddalena (Rachel),
Jonas Marlowe (Joseph),
John Philbin (Amos),
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),
Dennis Carl (Boy),
Eric Freeman (Israel)
Country: USA
Language: English
Support: Color
Runtime: 92 min
The best of Indian cinema
Forget Bollywood, the best of India's cinema is to be found elsewhere, most notably in the extraordinary work of Satyajit Ray.
Continental Films, quality cinema under the Nazi Occupation
At the time of the Nazi Occupation of France during WWII, the German-run company Continental produced some of the finest films made in France in the 1940s.
In the 1920s French cinema was at its most varied and stylish - witness the achievements of Abel Gance, Marcel L'Herbier, Jean Epstein and Jacques Feyder.