Cast: Terence Knox, Paul Scherrer, Rosalind Allen, Christie Clark, Ned Romero, Ryan
Bollman
Director: David Price
Producer: Scott Stone, David Stanley, and Bill Froelich
Screenplay: A. L. Katz and Gil Adler
Cinematography: Levie Isaacks
Music: Daniel Licht
U.S. Distributor: Miramax Films
Garrett (Terence Knox), a reporter for the World Enquirer tabloid, has come to Gatlin, Nebraska to investigate the mass murder of adults by children. It soon becomes apparent that the evil inhabiting the corn fields is not dead, and that the vacant-eyed children are ready to go to work again. Aided by Red Bear (Ned Romero), Garrett must attempt to uncover the deadly truth before another town falls victim.
Pet Sematary Two. Sleepwalkers. The Lawnmower Man. Now Children of the Corn 2. These are the films of the past year to bear Steven King's name in one capacity or another. Although Mr. King disavows any responsibility for all but one (Sleepwalkers), the movies are all remarkably similar and unacceptably bad.
Personally, I don't believe that Hollywood has forgotten how to make good horror films. Rather, I think that filmmakers would rather go with the blood-and-gore formulas (because they sell) instead of putting some effort into an inventive concept that might go nowhere. However, judging by audience reaction to this movie, that strategy may be reaching the end of the line.
In the midst of a distressingly inept cast, there is only one actor who does an adequate job. His name Ned Romero, and, while he wouldn't fit in with the Native Americans from Dances with Wolves, he seems to have a good time walking around spouting a combination of mystical wisdom and contemporary one-liners. Actually, this mysticism is yet another part of the movie's problem, since it manages only to further confuse things.
Seemingly at random, characters and plot threads are dropped, ignored, and otherwise forgotten about. Even the execrable Leprechaun wasn't this guilty. In short, any attempt to fashion a story ends up making no sense whatsoever.
The special effects are either cheap and cliched, or downright silly. I'm not entirely sure why they're there in the first place, unless it's to spend a few more dollars on a project that, by having any budget, was given too much. With the number of high-tech movies out these days, there's no reason to demonstrate effects that were state-of-the-art decades ago.
There's plenty of blood and gore. After all, that's part of the formula. And some of the death scenes are quite funny. There's a man who gets killed by a flying corn stalk (tough things, those corn stalks), and another who dies of a bloody nose in the middle of church. Of course, the fire-and-brimstone preacher doesn't realize something is wrong until the poor man is lying on the floor with blood fountaining all over.
While I caution keeping a wide berth from Children of the Corn 2, there is an exception. If you can wait the few months it will take for it to come out on video, gather a large, rowdy group together, and watch it on TV where you can yell at the screen and throw rotten fruit. It may turn out to be an entertaining experience. On the other hand, if you try to watch this as a serious film, you'll likely wish you were the one impaled by the corn-stalk.
© 1993, 1996 James Berardinelli