A few nights ago, I watched Children of the Corn for the first time. My friend Stacey came over and we had a whole Children of the Corn themed night! We even made snacks to represent the movie's title.
Here are the children...
...and here's the corn:
The sugar cookies turned out to be amazing, even unfrosted. Stacey brought over some coffee and beer. We poured ourselves some drinks and got ready to be scared.
Before watching the movie, I had thought we were going to be watching these kids:
Nope. Those kids are evidently from Children of the Damned. I wasn't the only confused person, though. I found the above picture labeled Children of the Corn on several web sites! It was important that I watch this movie, because I am always making references to it. This is funny, considering I was referencing a movie I'd never seen and was thinking of different children.
The reason I am often referencing Children of the Corn is that many of the kids in my town act strange and standoffish. If you pass a group of them on the street, they'll look down and not say hello. Or just run away. I understand that kids have a lot to be scared of nowadays, and are trained to be scared. Still, it's weird. Every time this happens, I say something like "There go the Children of the Corn." Well, it turns out that I have it pretty good, because if I really lived in a town with the Children of the Corn, well... I wouldn't exactly be living anymore. This is because I'm over the age of 18, and the kids in this movie kill off anyone that old.
I don't want to give much away about this movie's plot, because I really think you should all see it for yourselves. I'll just give you the very basics. In the movie, there's a town in Nebraska, called Gatlin. Only children live there, because all the adults were killed after a child "prophet" arrived. After the death of the adults, the town is a mess. Well, you can imagine how messed up and dirty a town would look with kids running things. Somehow they manage to stay fed and not blow everything up. Still, it's plenty dusty and there's corn stuffed in every building.
The prophet leads the kids into a cult-like lifestyle. At first, it seems Christian based, but as the movie goes on, it's looking more like Satanism. A running theme of this movie is false prophets, and questioning any religion that doesn't involve love.
One child tries to run away from Gatlin, but is killed. When a couple who are driving down the road run over his body, they're left with a problem. This is before the days of cell phones (1984) and there's no pay phone nearby. I wondered as I watched the movie, what I would do in their position. What I probably wouldn't do is load the dead kid's body into my trunk. This is what they choose to do. The movie had a few moments where I was saying "don't do that" but I guess every horror movie has those. I mean, if the characters had common sense, there would be no plot!
Anyway, the couple drive off with the boy's body, in search of a nearby town. After driving through never ending corn fields, guess where they end up? Gatlin! Since they're adults, they aren't exactly welcomed with open arms. I just summed up maybe the first 20 minutes of the film, and I'll leave it there.
I really recommend Children of the Corn. I found the couple to be likeable, and you will care about their fates throughout the movie. Watching this left me with a few questions, and I can see how it could fuel a good discussion. Also, I appreciated how it was filmed. Sometimes the view is through the corn, or a window. I like when the viewer sees a movie through multiple visual perspectives and levels. I thought it was pretty artistically filmed, and the special effects were good for 1984.
As you watch the movie, you might recognize one of the villains, Malachai.
Malachai is played by Courtney Gains, who also played the memorable "Hans" in The 'Burbs. He can definitely play creepy roles, but he has also done some non-creepy work over the years. I was looking at his acting portfolio on his web site today, and was pretty entertained!
Just to take a poll, who here thinks Courtney Gains was scarier as Hans, and who thinks he was scarier as Malachai? If you haven't seen either movie, here are a few samples:
Hans
Malachai
I know that last one was taped off someone's TV, but you get the idea. I think something could be said for either character's creep factor. It's clear that Malachai is a threat, but it's hard to tell what someone like Hans is capable of. Sometimes the quiet weirdo is scarier. I could really go either way on this.
The other villain in Children of the Corn is Isaac (the prophet) who is played by John Franklin.
I thought of posting a trailer of the film in this post, but I wasn't too fond of the one I watched. So, instead I'm going to leave you with a fun video I found on YouTube. It's amazing how music can set the tone for a film. Substituting the Benny Hill theme song in place of spooky music adds a whole new flavor to the chase scenes!
Children of the Corn ... creepy little corn fed bastards.
ReplyDeleteThe first movie was great.
Haha! "creepy little corn fed bastards."
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't remember seeing anyone actually eat the corn throughout the movie! If the kids were eating corn, they were doing so behind closed doors. They seemed to just collect the stalks and throw them around inside houses. At one point, the main character's car had corn stalks stuffed in it. My friend and I yelled in unison "The car's been corned!" :)
Yeah, I really enjoyed this movie. After an online search, I saw that many sequels had been made. I wonder if any of those are worth watching?
Sounds good, I've never seen Chaldrens of tha Cairn, but mi hermanos is a fan.
ReplyDeleteNow you are making me want to make some gingerbread mans.
Nope , I wouldn't bother going past the original .
ReplyDeleteI liked your snacks. See, doing that makes it a party. It doesn't matter how many people attend - it's the attention to detail. Sounds like you two had a great evening!
ReplyDeleteI know it's not actually funny, but for some reason this line made me laugh: "If you pass a group of them on the street, they'll look down and not say hello. Or just run away." I'm imagining these completely weird kids in your town now. Haha. Anyway, as Uncle Leo always says: "You still say hello, Jerry!"
Oh, I didn't know Hans was in 'Children of the Corn'. I'll definitely have to watch it now! I started laughing as soon as I pressed play on "The 'Burbs" clip. I love that movie soooooooooooooo much!!! I remember Courtney Gains playing a video store sales assistant on "Seinfeld". George was late returning the video of "Rochelle, Rochelle (a young girl's strange, erotic journey from Milan to Minsk)".
Woah, that John Franklin sure looks creepy! Haha. You're right, the Benny Hill music certainly adds a different tone to that clip! Did you guys get the Benny Hill show in the US?
I looove Children of the corn films, first especially the first one. I saw it in my early teens for the first time. I find the scariest horror movies are always the ones involving children as the bad guys.
ReplyDeleteOh Justine, I was a child myself when that movie came out and even the ads were scary to me! I vividly remember seeing that movie a few years later. A week after seeing it I went for a trip to the country, passing corn fields and checking out a spooky looking church. I remember feeling uneasy throughout the whole outing. Funny how things connect in young minds!
ReplyDeleteI loved the Original Children of the corn. Good selection on theme food too. I would hate to see what you cook up if you ever watch "Sewer Chewer" ;).
ReplyDeleteI really got a laugh out of the Benny hill Chase scene... that was great.
I haven't seen the movie in a long time but I did see some creepy kids running around the corn maze at the farm this past October.
ReplyDeleteYes I also had a case of mistaken identity and thought this movie was a different movie! However, I won't digress, I'll just say that I know I've also seen this movie, albiet, a million years ago. Anyway, I love the whole idea of movie reviews, very cool. I think the best part of the whole thing for me is that you made Children of the Corn cookies!:-) A recent movie I really liked was "The Ninth Gate" with Johnny Depp.
ReplyDeleteMantan ~ Oh, you should watch the movie too! I'm surprised you haven't seen it yet, if your brother is a fan. Yeah, the gingerbread men were amazing! I couldn't believe how good they were without any frosting. If you are interested in the recipe, I'll pass it on to you!
ReplyDeleteEvels World ~ Alright, I won't bother with the other movies. I looked up all the sequels, and I couldn't believe how many were made! It seemed that they were running out of plot ideas. The children next try to take over all of Nebraska, then move to the city, etc. I was kind of interested in the much later movie where the Issac character returns.
Little Gothic Horrors ~ We did have a fun time! I felt that way too - just add some themed snacks to a movie night, and it's a party! :)
Haha! Yeah, Uncle Leo had it right. It wouldn't kill those kids to say hello! At first it really did irritate me, because I felt like these kids were snubbing me or something. I mean, I don't look scary. I can be walking down the road alone and pass a group of them and they still look away! Dealing with this with humor and calling them the Children of the Corn helps immensely! For some reason I refer to the snobbish adults who can't greet me as "the pod people". I'm not sure why I started saying that. I guess I imagine that alien lifeforms might not know how to smile and greet people yet...
Yeah, Hans has a much different look from Malachai! His hair definitely looks better in Children of the Corn. When searching for pictures for this post, I ran across a split screen of Shawn White and Malachai. The similarities were there, even though Shawn White looks like a nice guy.
I had so much fun watching clips from The 'Burbs yesterday! I thought I'd die laughing from watching Rumsfield with the brownies. "There go the Goddamn brownies!" :) He's probably my favorite character in that movie. Yeah, isn't Hans priceless as the vacant weirdo? Courtney Gains really does have range as an actor. I don't remember him on that episode. I'll have to search for that clip. Haha! "Rochelle Rochelle" Just reading that movie title made me laugh.
Oh, yeah. We got Benny Hill in the U.S. I've been told that was my favorite show when I was three years old. :) I still love watching it. I ended up finding an old VHS tape of some episodes and have fun watching that for nostalgia's sake.
Mrs. Munster ~ I know what you mean! Why is it that children are so frightening as villains? The same goes for evil dolls in movies. When the kinds of people or objects we least suspect become the threat, it's hard to know who to trust. It was pretty weird to watch kids act like they did in this movie. It's just something I would expect more from evil adults!
ReplyDeleteGoth Boots ~ It is funny the way memories stick with us from childhood. Just the smallest thing can come back to haunt you. Although, what you experienced was pretty blatant! Did you get any photos from that outing to the country? If you did, I'd love to see some!
wicKED ~ Thanks! Haha, OK so I had to google "Sewer Chewer" to see what that was about. Actually, the plot isn't quite as nasty as what my mind associated with the movie's title! At first I was thinking, EWWW! So, after reading about the movie and watching the trailer, I'm thinking... satellite shaped cookies or cakes, and something red. Maybe some red jello? Actually, themed desserts won't be necessary, because I don't think I could get through that movie. Is it as bad as the trailer suggests?
Haha! I'm glad you liked the chase video. :) I had to watch that three times in a row!
Adsila ~ Really? Were they as scary as the kids in the movie? I'm guessing they were kids who just came to get scared, and weren't working as corn maze actors? Actually, I bet someone could put together an awesome Children of the Corn themed corn maze! People would go to that.
Matt ~ Did you confuse this with Children of the Damned too? There are probably all kinds of other creepy kid movies I've never heard of. I'm pretty sure this is my first movie review. It's kind of funny that it took me this long. I'm always reading movie reviews on other people's blogs! Yeah, the cookies added an extra element of fun. Somehow eating kid shaped cookies, while watching the movie, made it less scary to watch. :)
You know what's weird? I don't think I've seen "The Ninth Gate". That's weird, because I thought I'd seen everything Johnny Depp has been in. I looked that one up, and the plot sounds cool. I'll have to check that out ~ Thanks for the suggestion!
Justine - No, I got it confused with yet another movie about a family that moves from the big city to a small town where the women and children are in a kind of cult that the husbands aren't allowed to participate in. So, the husband of the new family spends the entire movie suspensfully trying to find out about their meetings, which if I'm not mistaken (and I probabally am) take place in a corn field. When he finally does, the results are catastrophic. I won't tell the end. Anyway, I guess all kid movies from the past will now be "children of the corn" movies since the title has worked it's way into our pop-culture venacular. Anyway, yes, there was Johnny Depp in a movie I never heard of before for only 5 bucks at Target, I couldn't resist. It's a who-done-it with seventiesesque satanism which reminds me of The Night Gallery. :)
ReplyDeleteOh no you didn't do a blog post about this. So scared on that movie!
ReplyDeleteJaja, kids in our town being like children of the corn! I think kids are like that everywhere... and I think it has something to do with all of their socializing being over the computer or on their cells! A lot of them don't know how to be polite face to face anymore. Fist shake, rude teens! ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm late, because I somehow missed this post in my reader...
ReplyDeleteBut when I was in junior high a kid that looked just like Malachi pushed me down the stairs. True story. This movie was not scary to me until that happened. Now ginger boys scare me senseless and I still wanna be Molly Ringwald when I grow up. The dichotomy astounds.
Matt ~ Well, that sounds like quite a movie! It's funny how our minds make connections. Maybe you just associated the other movie with Children of the Corn, so you remember them in a cornfield too. Or maybe there were lots of movies involving cults and cornfields. Who knows! I'd be interested to know the title of the movie you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteHey, who can pass up a $5 movie! That's how I've ended up with a few DVDs. I was happy with all my purchases, though. I ended up finally seeing "The Hangover" that way! Ooh, 70's Satanism similar to The Night Gallery! That does sound worth finding.
Copyboy ~ Oh, yes I did! :) Really? Did you see this when you were really young? I didn't find it too scary by today's standards. We were actually spared a lot of the violence and gore. Most of that was implied, which I liked. Nowadays, horror movies are so in our faces. You might not find Children of the Corn so scary if you watched it now.
Katie ~ Well, that's unfortunate! I'm talking little kids as well as teenagers. I get that teenagers are mopey and into themselves, but little kids? Sheesh. We weren't that bad, were we? I think you have a point about the technology. It's really sad. Sometimes, I think the kids aren't choosing to be rude, so much as they don't know how to communicate.
P.S. ~ I sent you a Thanksgiving ecard, but I don't think you picked it up. Do you still have the same email address?
Pensive ~ Oh, I've been missing lots of posts too. When you're following many people, some posts are bound to slip through the cracks.
A Malachai lookalike pushed you down the stairs? Well, that sounds pretty scary! I kept comparing Malachai to the evil red haired bully in "A Christmas Story". Have you seen that movie? The mean kid in that movie makes Malachai look normal. Well, closer to normal, anyway. I do have a bit of a stereotype going in my mind about ginger guys too, but there are probably some nice ones out there!
Haha, you want to be Molly Ringwald? That is a dichotomy! :) She actually turned out to be a really pretty woman. I think she came out with a book recently...
Those kids are super creepy, but the snacks those good! yum!
ReplyDeleteYeah, the snacks were great. I finished off the last of the "children" tonight. :) It's time to get baking again!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you picked up the "pod people" reference from 'Seinfeld'?! There's an episode where Jerry keeps referring to Kramer as a pod because he's not normal:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcThSfPRS3o
Yeah, Rumsfeld is my favourite character too! That brownie scene is hilarious! The way he shovels the brownies back onto the plate and then hands the whole mess to Hans. Then Hans sniffs it! Hahaha! I love that movie beyond comprehension!
Ha! I remember that one. Maybe the pod reference did burrow its way into my subconscious. I have watched a lot of Seinfeld! It's true that Kramer isn't normal, but he's downright delightful next to the people I call pods! At least he knows how to acknowledge other people.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I love when Rumsfield says to Hans, "There ya go sonny, something for the 'ol sweet tooth." I'm smiling just typing this!
"There ya go sonny, something for the 'ol sweet tooth." Hahaha. That's a line that gets used around here frequently!
ReplyDeletegreat post! We will have to watch children of the damned together, theirs the 1994 version and the 1950's or 1960's version, both are great!
ReplyDeleteEver since we watched this together, I've been wanting to read the book. After thinking about the movie, I did really like it and I'd like to read the book to see how that is too!
Little Gothic Horrors ~ Yeah, I've found myself repeating a few Rumsfeld lines since first watching The 'Burbs. :) He probably got the best lines in the movie!
ReplyDeleteStacey ~ Thanks! :) Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing any of the Children of the Damned movies. We'll have to see what's available. I've found most Stephen King movies to be true to his books.
One difference here is that the children in the book didn't have Biblical names! I heard that in the book, Isaac was named William and Malachai was named Craig. That's hard to imagine! I thought the Biblical names made more sense in a way. It made it seem like the town was already quite religious and would therefore be open to a "preacher" like Isaac.
Okay, those snacks are PERFECT to eat while watching children of the corn! You rock!
ReplyDeleteI love all the films you have listed in this blog! Children of the Corn, The Burbs and The Addams Family! Perfect film combination!
ReplyDeleteI didn't make the connection between Malachai and Hans! I knew I had seen Hans in something before but I would never have remembered him from The Children of the Corn as I watched it YEARS ago!
Vicky, the woman in Children of the Corn, also plays Sarah Connor in Terminator 2!
I really want to watch Children of the Corn again! I don't have it on DVD but I used to have it on VHS! Maybe YouTube will have it for me!
Those little children biscuits look adorable and delicious! x
Kweeny ~ Haha! Thanks. :) Yeah, the snacks added some extra fun to the night!
ReplyDeleteVainGlorySinner ~ Cool! Yeah, I think those are all classics too. They're just spooky enough. Malachai and Hans both have red hair and large mouths, but look very different otherwise. Do you recognize him now?
Yeah! Someone else mentioned the Sarah Connor connection too! I think of her as the woman who played Chuck's Mom, on the TV show "Chuck". Have you seen that show? It's a newer show, so I'm not used to seeing her as a young woman. Still, I recognized her right away in Children of the Corn! She hasn't exactly changed her look over the last 20 years. :)
I'm sure you can find the entire movie online. Someone will have at least put it up in several parts on YouTube. I think I may have even run into that while searching for a movie clip.
Thanks! The little edible children were quite good. That makes me sound like the witch in Hansel and Gretel or something! :)
"He wants you too, Malachi!"
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I used to randomly say that at each other as a sort of jab when one of us would get into trouble. That movie put the fright on us when we were kids. It was totally Isaac. And that picture above is about what did it.
Watching it with a bowl of popcorn and your children cookies certainly bolsters the mental defenses protecting everyone from a night of the heebie-jeebies.
Children of the Corn. Cool Movie.....
ReplyDeleteKing Unicorn ~ Haha! Oh, that's a cute story. I can imagine kids yelling that at one another! That "He wants you too, Malachi!" moment was one of the highlights of the movie for me. Isaac looked like an electrocuted zombie by that point. :) Yeah, that picture of Isaac was the scariest I could find. He looks completely possessed there, or like he's trying to possess someone else! Imagine seeing that peeking in the window...
ReplyDeleteYes, the snacks really took the spooky edge off. There's something about making a joke out of scary things, that makes them a lot less scary!
ChildrenoftheCornMovie ~ Well, I would think you'd like it. :) I just took a peek at your blog and that's a great banner! I love those blinking eyes.