Terry's Reviews
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Children Of The Corn – 20th
Anniversary Special Edition Anchor Bay – 2004 Directed by Fritz Kiersch Starring |
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| It’s hard to believe that it’s been
twenty years since this film was released, but it has been two decades since "He Who
Walks Behind The Rows" first appeared on the screen. Anchor Bay has added this title
to their excellent Divimax Series and put together a solid supplement package to go along
with the excellent HD film transfer. Gatlin, Nebraska has become virtually a ghost town when the children of the village take over by slaughtering the adults. The kids are led by Isaac (John Franklin), a boy short in stature but a larger than life thinker. Isaac says he gets instructions from the mysterious, supernatural being "He Who Walks Behind The Rows." The rows are the massive cornfields that surround the little town. A young couple arrives into town after accidentally running over a little boy who comes out of the corn crops. Burton (Peter Horton) checks out the boy on the road and notices that his throat has been cut. This leads Peter into the nearby cornfield, where he finds the boy’s suitcase with fresh blood all over it. Peter goes back to his car and tells Vicky (Linda Hamilton) what he found and they agree to go get help. Unfortunately it’s impossible to find help in Gatlin and getting out of town is not an option as they end up meeting the vicious children head on. The main child actors in this film are truly excellent. John Franklin lives a dent of an impression as Isaac, but for my money it’s the hot-tempered red headed boy Malachai (Courtney Gains) who is really scary. Malachai eventually even becomes the leader of the children after he disagrees with the Napoleon like leader what to do with Vicky after they capture her. Courtney Gains has this dead on stare that is bone chilling. Peter Horton comes across as an everyday nice guy and Linda Hamilton is appropriate as his girlfriend. This is a role she did before THE TERMINATOR. I think Fritz Kiersch is somewhat underrated as a director. This film was put together nicely with solid production design and his overall story telling approach. Kiersch makes use of the low budget by having a town that practically has nothing in it. The empty space creates uneasiness. I think Kiersch did a wonderful job on the film after CHILDREN OF THE CORN, TUFF TURF that starred James Spader and Robert Downey Jr. Music by Jonathan Elias effectively had a small touch of THE OMEN with child voices used to create haunting dread. I really enjoyed Harvesting Horror: Children Of The Corn brand new 37-minute documentary. Fritz Kiersch and actors John Franklin & Courtney Gains talk about making the film and its fun to learn how they did it. Both actors talk about how people recognize them from this film and both seem to appreciate what CHILDREN OF THE CORN has meant for them. Kiersch, Franklin, Gains and Producer Terrence Kirby provide an audio commentary that illuminates even more details about the production. The trailer, original storyboard art, Original Title Sequence Art, Poster, Still Gallery and DVD-ROM of Screenplay round out the extras. www.anchorbayentertainment.com
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