Sunday, January 4, 2015

Children of the Corn(1984)





8.5/10

Everyone knows that little kids can be pains in the butt sometimes, but who would've thought they would be vicious adult killers?  This 1984 film based off of of a story by Stephen King is one of the most morbid films of the 80's.  I am currently in watching it for the first time, and I can tell you for a fact that I was blown away in the first five minutes.  With Linda Hamilton as a lead, you could either have a fantastic film, or A disaster(King Kong Lives).  It is more than great though, because it is as freaky as you can possibly get(if it freaks me out, then it is bad), and if you're a horror fan, then you definitely need to watch this right away. 

The movie starts in a diner, as a bunch of elderly folks socialize.  Things seem completely normal, until a bunch of children start to suspiciously stare around the joint.  In just a minute, things turn into a brutal murder fest.  I was not expecting this scene to get nearly as crazy as it did. There was blood flying all over the place, and they even out a man's hand into a blender-like tool. I always look for a film that can really hook you in a beginning, because if the introduction is dry, a viewer really starts to lose interest in watching the film at all. This film most definitely did this, and in a better way than I have seen in a long time. 

The film then picks up in a hotel, as a couple played by Linda Hamilton and Peter Horton as they prepare to leave for further travels. I really like the two lead roles in this film, because they have a fantastic chemistry together.  Hamilton was very different in this film if you compare her to bigger performances like Sarah Connor in the Terminator franchise.  Instead of being the ultra tough hero to women of the world, she is much easier to frighten, and almost a little helpless at times.  This helplessness definitely works well for the film, because she is much easier to have sympathy for. Horton is also very likable, because he portrays a male character that is extremely caring for Hamilton, and is also very capable in keeping them alive. 

As the Burt and Vicky drive down a rural road, they run into a child and kill him.  They are both horrified by the accident, and they wrap him up and put him in the trunk. What they find out as they wrap him up was that the child was already dead.... But by who?  This is where the mystery begins.  The cool thing is that although the audience knows that it was one of the vicious teenagers that was responsible; we don't know why it was done, and Burt and Vicky have no idea of who even did it. 

The killings in this film are quite disturbing if you ask me.  I wasn't expecting much being the film is about children, but right from the first bloodshed, my eyes flew out of their sockets, and I was actually quite shocked. Even though not every kill is on screen, they're still extremely brutal, and there is quite a bit of blood shed.  One of the cool things about the gore in this film is that it is very realistic. Instead of being a pool of blood, it is a gash, or a slow sprinkling of blood.  One of the greatest examples of this is when the young boy is murdered in the beginning, because the blood just comes out a little at a time for each time he is slit, and it is actually extremely disturbing. Another thing I really like is that many times they don't even show the specific child that is doing the killing, because it gives more of a disturbing factor to the events. 

The evil children are played very well in this film.  You almost get the feeling that they aren't even humans anymore because of their heartless nature.  The leader of the cult Isaac is played extremely well by John Franklin.  Franklin was 25 at the time the film was made, and I find this to be fantastic, because even though his small stature made him look like a child, his attitude makes him seem bigger than the rest. The other standout child of the film was Malachi, whom was played by Courtney Gains.  Gains is the best actor of the entire film, because he makes his scary nature seem super easy.  The way he moves his mouth as he speaks is even terrifying.  He also has the perfect look for the role, with his long red hair, and his tall stature, because it makes him more intimidating than the others. His voice is also piercing as a knife, and every word he speaks is full of terror. 

The cult and satanic aspect of this story really adds to the disturbing nature of the film.  It is a social norm to stay away from these practices, and the fact that these little children have basically been taken  over it is frightening as hell.  I think the worst thing of all about it is that some of the kids are still innocent children, not yet possessed by this horrible nature yet, and that they're surrounded by the evil constantly. 

You can definitely tell that this film is based off of a work by Stephen King, because it is extremely tense.  Bad happenings are not instant in this film, and they are dragged out in a very stressful and disturbing way.  If you look at films like "Cujo," the dog doesn't attack them, but they sit in the car for most of the film at the risk of it.  In this film, Vicky and Burt aren't killed right off the bat, but they have the risk of it throughout the whole second half of the film.

If there was one thing I would change in the film, it would be the narration.  The young boy Jobe tells certain parts of the story, and his voice is so high pitched that it makes the film feel like a children's film at those moments. I understand why they chose him, being he was a witness and runaway of the situation, but I wish they would've done a more evil narrating, as it would bring more fear to the viewer. While this doesn't ruin the movie in any way, I just think it could've been done better. 

Watching this film, a big breaking point in my movie life was made.  I have never been phased by a horror movie before.  While I won't be having nightmares or stuff like that, this film was definitely freaky. I highly recommend it to any fan of horror cinema, because it is the second best Stephen King horror film I have seen so far, and it is one of the best horror films ever.

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