Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1993)
Studio: Echo Bridge Entertainment/Miramax
Theatrical Release: January 29, 1993
DVD Release: April 12, 2011
R
Review by James Klein
Not sure why it took nine years for a sequel but studios thought that maybe fans of the first Children of the Corn wanted to revisit the 1984 hit. Watching the sequel, I got hit with some early 90's nostalgia such as hair styles, brand new CGI effects for the time, and the fact that there really weren't a whole lot of good horror films back in the 90's. I still remember that there may have been two or three horror films released a year in theaters. I jumped at a chance to see any horror film back in the dreaded 90's, paying good money to see Leprechaun and Ghost in the Machine on the big screen. Ugh...enough of my miserable teenage years, on with the review.
Children of the Corn II does start off pretty interesting. Authorities hear from the couple that escaped Gatlin that the children of the town have killed all of the adults. When police arrive they find numerous dead bodies hidden all around as well as the children in almost a comatose state. In an odd decision, the children are sent to a nearby town to be looked after while the investigation is taking place. One of the children, Micah is possessed by The Thing That Walks in the Rows (in a hilarious post-Terminator 2 computer effect where he is sucked into some dream world) and he rallies the children to attack the adults in the town. Meanwhile, an estranged father and son are caught up in the middle of this mess as the son is pulled away from his Dad to join the new group of children while the father and a wise old Indian (are there any dumb Native Americans in movies?) find out the reasoning behind the children's murderous lust.
While the film is hokey and very over the top in terms of acting and death scenes (make up artist Bob Keen provides us with some decent effects) Children of the Corn II quickly becomes not only silly but annoying. Was this suppose to be a comedy/horror? There are too many times where I laughed at un-intentional scenes and then there were times I didn't laugh at all when something was suppose to be funny or ironic. No matter how you slice it, Children of the Corn II is just a bad movie. The plot is all over the map, the acting is lousy and the direction is un-inspired.
But once again, the film earned some big money at the box office despite its low budget, paving the way for more Children of the Corn movies. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when someone pitched this sequel to studios or when the writers decided to come up with this insane story.
Theatrical Release: January 29, 1993
DVD Release: April 12, 2011
R
Review by James Klein
Not sure why it took nine years for a sequel but studios thought that maybe fans of the first Children of the Corn wanted to revisit the 1984 hit. Watching the sequel, I got hit with some early 90's nostalgia such as hair styles, brand new CGI effects for the time, and the fact that there really weren't a whole lot of good horror films back in the 90's. I still remember that there may have been two or three horror films released a year in theaters. I jumped at a chance to see any horror film back in the dreaded 90's, paying good money to see Leprechaun and Ghost in the Machine on the big screen. Ugh...enough of my miserable teenage years, on with the review.
Children of the Corn II does start off pretty interesting. Authorities hear from the couple that escaped Gatlin that the children of the town have killed all of the adults. When police arrive they find numerous dead bodies hidden all around as well as the children in almost a comatose state. In an odd decision, the children are sent to a nearby town to be looked after while the investigation is taking place. One of the children, Micah is possessed by The Thing That Walks in the Rows (in a hilarious post-Terminator 2 computer effect where he is sucked into some dream world) and he rallies the children to attack the adults in the town. Meanwhile, an estranged father and son are caught up in the middle of this mess as the son is pulled away from his Dad to join the new group of children while the father and a wise old Indian (are there any dumb Native Americans in movies?) find out the reasoning behind the children's murderous lust.
While the film is hokey and very over the top in terms of acting and death scenes (make up artist Bob Keen provides us with some decent effects) Children of the Corn II quickly becomes not only silly but annoying. Was this suppose to be a comedy/horror? There are too many times where I laughed at un-intentional scenes and then there were times I didn't laugh at all when something was suppose to be funny or ironic. No matter how you slice it, Children of the Corn II is just a bad movie. The plot is all over the map, the acting is lousy and the direction is un-inspired.
But once again, the film earned some big money at the box office despite its low budget, paving the way for more Children of the Corn movies. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when someone pitched this sequel to studios or when the writers decided to come up with this insane story.
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