Lee Overviews Children Of The Corn

Wow, I really enjoyed Joseph Lee's article at 411 Mania, which offered a breakdown on the Children of the Corn series. What's really helpful -- really, really helpful -- is that he didn't like the series.  Ahhh, what sweet relief!  But he tries hard to find what he does like about the films.

Did you know there are nine (9) entries to the Children of the Corn franchise?  Nine times someone put up money to keep these stories going.  I wouldn't be offended, but we only need seven (7) entries to the Dark Tower series, and no one can dig deep enough in their pockets to find the moola to make that happen.  I know, I know, DT is a bigger project and stuff like that.

More on the mark, Lee asks, "How come The Night Flier wasn't the one to get a ton of sequels?"  Now there's a wise man!

About the original Children Of The Corn movie, Lee says that there is something "lost in translation" between written word and movie screen.  Indeed!  He cites bad acting and a "lazy" ending.  (Lee explains what a "lazy" ending is, but you'll have to check  out his article, I'm not giving it away.)

Lee takes us on a journey through the various films that popped their heads up after it, as if this was the Friday the 13th franchise.  One of my favorite observations is Lee's simple note that Children of the Corn II's title, "The Final Sacrifice" was a lie.  Indeed!

What would make this entire series special -- really special -- is if it were handed over to Mystery Science Theater 3000.  That would make it a joy.

Here are his insightful notes on Children of the Corn 666

I don't believe the last three films had any effort at all, including the remake. It's hard to find anything memorable or enjoyable in any of them, and it's going to be even harder to write short summaries of the three films. But I'll try. This one already is off to a bad start when you realize that it's set in Omaha, Nebraska, but the apartment complex is said to take place where the original film happened. Problem #1: The original film is set in Gaitlin. This film mentions that fact but never really establishes a connection between the two. 

Problem #2: This is definitely the worst of the series. I mean, hands down it is the worst acted, the worst direct and the worst written of all the films. There is just nothing to like about it at all. I've tried to sit through it and while I did finish, I can't tell you a thing that happened. It's uninspired, dull, and an obvious cash-in on a franchise name that wasn't that successful to begin with. The original film was only a minor hit, remember?

The full article is HERE.  You have to scroll down a bit to find it.