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9-11PM Syfy, TV-14-LSV
From Our Contributor
Children of the Corn
Stephen King wrote the script for this remake based on the movie based on his book. Now the crop circle is complete.
(The myth that King wrote the script persists...)
By MICHAEL HINMAN
I'm sorry, but there are two movies from my childhood that still give me nightmares to this day. The original "Poltergeist," and the first attempt to bring Stephen King's "Children of the Corn" to the screen.
The current Syfy adaptation that premieres Saturday night doesn't have the same fear factor that came with the Fritz Kiersch original, but the overall premise seemed more attuned to what King was trying to demonstrate: religious zealotry a bit out of control.
The film stars David Anders ("Heroes") and Kandyse McClure ("Battlestar Galactica") as a newlywed couple who really are on their way to a divorce. They find themselves arguing during a road trip that takes them through cornfields in the middle of nowhere when fate deals them a joker.
Some years before, the children of a small Nebraska town decide to overthrow the adults, and with the help of some demon of the cornfields, take control.
The film opens strong, actually, with the preaching of the first child corn leader some years before the events of the main story. However, this great opening monologue only accentuates something that becomes quickly obvious: This new adaptation of "Children of the Corn" might be well written and even well directed, but its terrible casting decisions when it comes to the children just bring this film down.
Robert Gerdisch, who was more than capable of portraying a great orator and believable child leader, is quickly replaced by Preston Bailey as Issac, the leader we're forced to endure the rest of the film. It's not that Bailey did a terrible job -- he was simply upstaged by Gerdisch, who should have had a much larger role in the film.
All in all, the new adaptation of "Children of the Corn" is probably as close to the original King short story we'll ever see, and the ride to the very end is worth it.
What Worked
Anders and McClure were perfectly cast for this film. While it might be hard to believe that a mixed-race marriage could be so accepted in what I think was supposed to be the late 1960s or early 1970s, we never had a chance to see anyone even notice the couple outside of the crazy psycho children.
The two may at first seem to be stunt casting by Syfy to try and bring some extra viewers to what is normally not a good Saturday original movie lineup, but you quickly forget the previous roles of both Anders and McClure as they truly embrace the characters of Burton and Vicki Stanton.
Also, while director Donald P. Borchers didn't have to resort to extreme gore or sudden jumps to keep audiences at the edge of their seats, "Children of the Corn" definitely is thrilling, and seems slightly more plausible than the version we saw in the 1980s.
But then again, that's just me.
What Didn't Work
I just didn't like some of the kids. People who should've been talking weren't talking, and those who weren't talking should've been talking. It's like someone came in and decided to switch all the parts around and not tell the director.
There was one scene where two boys in the middle of the hunt for Burton have a lengthy dialogue that showed the younger boy should not quit elementary school. Seriously, the kid had more lines than McClure, yet she's the one that can act. All I could do is shake my head, and wonder which network executive this was the child of.
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
"Children of the Corn" stars David Anders, Kandyse McClure, Daniel Newman and Ryan Bertroche. It was written by Donald P. Borchers and Stephen King based on King's short story, and was directed by Borchers.
"Children of the Corn" airs Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on Syfy.
Sneak Peek
Children of the Corn: Runaway tells the story of young, pregnant Ruth, who escapes a murderous child cult in a small Midwestern town. She spends the next decade living anonymously in an attempt to spare her son the horrors that she experienced as a child. Ruth and her son end up in a small Oklahoma town, but something is following her. Now, she must confront this evil or lose her child.