Children of the Corn (1984)
When the Children Rule the Fields, Terror Walks Behind the Rows
In the remote farming town of Gatlin, Nebraska, something deeply sinister has taken root. A young preacher named Isaac leads the town’s children in a blood-soaked cult, worshipping a malevolent force known only as “He Who Walks Behind the Rows.” The crops fail. The adults have all been murdered or driven off leaving only the children to enforce Isaac’s gruesome reign. Traveling couple Burt Stanton (Peter Horton) and his wife Vicky (Linda Hamilton) accidentally drive into this nightmare, stumbling into rituals, danger, and a fight for survival as the children close in. What unravels is a chilling tale of fanaticism, supernatural dread, and the collapse of safety.
Dark, eerie, and deeply unsettling, Children of the Corn blends folk horror with slasher-style violence. Director Fritz Kiersch uses cornfields and hushed, overcast landscapes to heighten tension, while the young cultists’ blind faith and vicious actions underscore the terror that grows when authority is twisted. Though the effects are simple and the budget modest, it’s the atmosphere, the dread, and the chilling performances that leave the longest mark. This is not a film for the faint of heart but it’s a foundational piece in the canon of 80s horror.
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Genre: Horror
Format: Fritz Kiersch
Language: R
