CHILDREN OF THE CORN 2: THE FINAL SACRIFICE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Running Length: 1:33 Rated: R (Violence, language, sexual situations)
Starring: 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 Music: Daniel Licht Released by 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. THE LAWNMOWER MAN. SLEEPWALKERS. Now CHILDREN OF THE CORN TWO. 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 the filmmakers would rather go with the blood-and-gore formulas (because they sell) instead of putting some effort into an inventive movie that might go nowhere. However, judging by the audience reaction to this movie, that strategy may be reaching the end of the line.
Actually, watched in the right frame of mind, CHILDREN OF THE CORN TWO can be a reasonably entertaining film--as a comedy (unintentional, of course). A good example of when something "horrifying" turns out to be funny occurs early in the movie. A man sitting in his van gets killed by a flying corn stalk. Javelin-like, it crashes through the front windshield to impale him in the throat. Tough things, those corn stalks.
The acting also provides another source of amusement. Bad dialogue can always be funny, but when it's uttered by respectable actors, it turns sad. However, in this case, the words fit the people speaking them. Take a look at the list of names above and see if you recognize any of them. Unless you're a relative, I doubt that the answer will be yes.
To be fair, there is one actor who does an adequate job. His name Ned Romero, and, while he wouldn't fit in with the American Indians from DANCES WITH WOLVES, he seems to have a good time walking around spouting a combination of mystical wisdom and contemporary one-liners. This mysticism is another part of the movie's problem, since it only manages to further confuse things.
There are more plot threads and characters dropped, ignored, and other- wise forgotten about than in any recent film. Even the execrable LEPRECHAUN wasn't as guilty as this. In short, what little attempt there is at creating 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 several years ago.
There's plenty of blood and gore. After all, that's part of the formula. As I mentioned, some of the death scenes are quite funny. The corn-stalk killing is one, and there's another where a man 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 TWO, 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 all you want. 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 to get impaled by the corn-stalk. That way, at least you'd be out of your misery a few minutes into this disaster.
Rating: 1.0 (F-, *)
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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