Children of the Corn (1984)
Children of the Corn (1984), directed by Fritz Kiersch.
"Youth is wasted on the wrong people!" says the exasperated neighbor in It's a Wonderful Life (1946). You know who is not wasting it? Linda Hamilton -- age 28 -- singing "School is Out":
(She didn't even want to do that scene).
Her natural exuberance is later dampened -- understandably -- when she is crucified on cornstalks:
That jump scare when the dead kid grabs at her on the highway: they say she was the only one there who did not know he was really under the blanket, thinking it was a dummy. So that jump: no acting required. And she liked it.
In an extra she says she is a physical actor and likes the running, punching, and wrestling part of the job.
Any other reasons to like this apart from Hamilton?
Micro-budget horror is often fun.
I like the small, declining Iowa town locations.
The Job and Sarah kids are awfully cute and do a really good job.
RG Armstrong always delivers. They shot all his stuff in one day.
No sexploitation: it's good to take a break now and then.
"He Who Walks Behind the Rows" is never explained, but is some sort of Lovecraftian menace, which is fine.
Downsides: poor survival choices by the young couple, clumsy power struggle in the kid murder cult, Shatner-esque "You see, Timmy" moral little message from the smoking doctor. Cheap can be fun, but cheap fx can also take you out of the story.
Hybrid corn has to be replanted every year; have the kids been doing that themselves? Maybe it is evil magic.
Available on Blu-ray with a gang commentary track: the director, a producer, evil Isaac and evil Malachai, all having a good time.
