MY CALL: Ugh… just another empty CotC sequel really. In fact, it’s a direct sequel to the original, ignoring the other sequels much as, well, many of the other sequels. MORE MOVIES LIKE Children of the Corn 666: Children of the Corn (1984)spawned many video-era sequels over the years (1992, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2011, 2018) leading to the most recent remake (2020). Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992) was dumber but funner, and Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995) seems to follow this yet dumber and yet wildly funner pattern to delightful “bad movie hidden gem” perfection. It’s not totally awful, but I’d skip Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996). However, Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) is a definite hard pass recommendation.
TIMELINE: CotC 1 ended with the cornfields of Gatlin burning with the defeat of an ancient Corn God. But of course, many of Isaac’s still living disciples remained devout to “He who walks behind the rows.” So yeah, sequels. CotC 2 transpired in the week following Vicky and Bert’s escape from the town and Micah is the new child Messiah. Similar to CotC 2, CotC 3 ends when Eli and his corn Bible are destroyed. However, his urban harvest would then be spread around the world in the commodities market. CotC 3 largely ignored the fact that it was a sequel, feeling more like a standalone story. But that doesn’t matter since CotC 4 and CotC 5 likewise ignored all of its predecessors as well, feeling more like stories “based on” CotC. In truth, no CotC sequel acknowledges any other previous sequel except for CotC 2. They are all either standalone movies of related story content or direct sequels to the original. As far as franchise continuity goes, this is a shame. Since there basically is no continuity at all.
Can we please just all agree that more 90s CotC sequels is not necessarily a good thing? Well, here we go with the 5th 90s sequel of Children of the Corn (1984).
Heading back to Gatlin where she was born, teenager Hanna (Natalie Ramsey; Cherry Falls, Cruel Intentions 3) seeks her biological father. After a quick stop in Gatlin General to check her head after a car accident, we learn that Hannah’s birthday is Halloween, the only doctor (Stacy Keach; Escape from New York, Body Bags, Class of 1999) in town is not very welcoming, and all the kids in the hospital feel like denizens of a mental ward dream from a Nightmare on Elm Street sequel. Oh, and our original 1984 Messiah Isaac (John Franklin) awakens in the hospital that very day from his nineteen-year coma—where he lay presumably since we last saw him in the final scenes of Children of the Corn (1984), when we saw him killed and returned as a zombie of sorts to drag Malachi to Corn Hell… and then fell into a coma?
The movie lets us know right away that the locals have been waiting for Hannah for a long time, because it was prophesied. It seems that most of the young locals are “the children of the children” of the corn. And that little nugget is perhaps the most interesting thing about this otherwise completely unengaging story.
At the hospital, the sheriff (Alix Koromzay; The Haunting, Mimic 1-2), doctor and a local literally have a conversation including the phrase “the prophesy says…” So this is written like a Horror for Dummies screenplay. And dare I say that even after the mediocrity of CotC 5, this CotC 6 is definitely the most video-drivel of the series.
This is all incredibly contrived, even for a CotC sequel. People talk about obvious details way too much as if the “characters” were actively concerned that the “audience” won’t be able to keep up with the very simple plot. We’re beaten over the head with it. “The prophecy. The prophecy. She came back in time for the prophecy. It’s her. It’s really her—from the prophecy! We’ve been waiting for 19 years.” It’s a bit much. But I guess it falls right in line with the likes of the 90s video-era mediocrity surrounding its release (e.g., Warlock 3, Pumpkinhead 2-3, Leprechaun 4-5, Wishmaster 2-4).
So Isaac has a child…? When did he have this kid? I mean, it had to have been during or before the events of Children of the Corn (1984). It’s just that his character seemed so… asexual. And Hannah’s mother (Nancy Allen; RoboCop 1-3, Dressed to Kill, Poltergeist III, Strange Invaders, Carrie) is sort of in on the whole prophecy… yet sort of not. Proper explanations of this parenthood go totally unexplained.
As for the bad 90s-ness, there’s a lot of that. A machete-wielding teen invites Hannah to a party in the cornfields called The Harvest; creepy chanting kids are brandished on screen ineffectively; and the death scenes are hot garbage. Not that an after-the-fact literally smoking Stacy Keach isn’t amusing. But… worst electrocution death ever. There is one decently visceral death scene in which a teenager is vertically scythed in half (momentarily on screen). We don’t see it all. But we see enough for it to be satisfying. This was easily the best horror visual in the movie, and the only visual worth mentioning other than Keach’s hokey Tales from the Crypt death.
When the ritual to realize the prophecy finally comes about, the delivery is so upsettingly weak. There’s just zero gravity, and no satisfaction of tension or anticipation because, well, there was none. This ritual hasn’t been earned at all. This is where some over-the-top-ness and bad CGI would be so welcome to embrace the bad of this movie. But the budget couldn’t even handle that. The ending falls completely flat on its face.
Better than CotC 5 and probably CotC 4, CotC 6 is essentially the best of the worst three. Even with Isaac back as the evil leader, this sequel is completely empty. Valueless. The very idea of Isaac is squandered in the awful writing. Its greatest saving grace is that, like CotC 2, this is one of the only sequels that is truly a sequel to the original story! This movie is lame 90s drivel.