Starring: Terence Knox, Paul Scherrer, Ryan Bollman, Christie Clark, Rosalind Allen
Directed by: David Price
Licensed by: Arrow Video
Release Date: October 2020
Following the horrific events that took place in the original 1984 cult classic film ‘Children of the Corn’, the remaining children who were part of the murderous cult, that worshipped a demonic entity that was located in the cornfields in Gatlin, have now been adopted by the locals, who reside in the neighbouring town of Hemingford, Nebraska. In order to save his career, a city tabloid journalist, John Garrett (portrayed by Terence Knox) travels to the town with his estranged son Danny (portrayed by Paul Scherrer), to uncover the mystery behind the gruesome murders of all the adults in the town of Gatlin. The locals of Hemingford and tabloid journalist John Garrett himself, are about to experience more than what they bargained for, when the children of Gatlin return secretly to the cornfield, where the character of Micah (portrayed by Ryan Bollman) has not only taken Isaacs place, by becoming the new leader of the cult, but has also been possessed by ‘’He who walks Behind the Rows’’, leading to yet again more gruesome murders being committed by the children, while also trying to recruit Danny in becoming an addition to their cult.
‘’Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice’’ (1992) is a direct horror movie sequel to the 1984 cult classic film ‘Children of the Corn’, which was based on a short story written by Steven King. This film opens with a chilling scene, as the decomposed bodies of the adults that were murdered in the previous film are found. The remaining surviving children, who were part of the cult, that worshipped a demonic entity, they named ‘’He who walks Behind the Rows’’ has now been taken from their hometown of Gatlin to its neighbouring town of Hemingford Nebraska, where the locals have willing adopted them, as they don’t believe that these children would have committed such gruesome murders. The film introduces us to our main protagonists, a city tabloid journalist, John Garrett (Terence Knox) and his estranged son Danny (Paul Scherrer) as they travel to the town of Hemingford, as John Garrett believes he needs to work on a compelling story about what had happened in the town of Gatlin, in order to save his journalism career. John soon becomes smitten by a bed and breakfast owner Angela Casual (Rosalind Allen), who has adopted one of the children named Micah. When returning to the cornfield, Micah (Ryan Bollman) becomes possessed by the demonic entity and has taken over as leader of the cult, which was previously owned by a child named Isaac, who was killed in the original film. Due to Danny having an estranged relationship with his father, as well as the fact that John seems to be more occupied with both Angela and with interviewing those within the town, Danny befriends a local orphaned girl named Lacey (Christie Clark).Bizarre deaths start to happen to some of the locals within the town, while Danny is potentially being drawn in by Micah to become a member of the cult.
The film sets up the dynamic between the main characters of the tabloid journalist John Garrett (Terence Knox) and his son Danny (Paul Scherrer), as the film explores their estranged relationship, as Danny expresses to his father, that he believes it is his father’s fault for the divorce, as Danny recalls that his father cared more for his job than he did for his own family. Danny feels as though his father has abandoned him, as his father is said to have barely remembered his own son’s birthday. The film also gives an insight into Danny’s home life with his mother, as he tells his father that he wasn’t going to his mothers wedding, as he hates he’s soon to be stepfather. This helps the audience to have sympathy for Danny’s character, as we get to know his background, which therefore justifies why he gives backhanded comments to his father throughout the film. Even though the character of John Garrett is unlikeable, in terms of how he had treated his son in particular in the past, by seeming as though he cares more about his work than anything, but the film makes you also have sympathy for him too, due to the scrutiny John faces from his former co workers, which is shown in a scene in the film, where John and his son meets John’s former co workers on the road coming from the town, where they humiliate John for making up stories, by never having any concrete evidence to back them up, making him a laughing stock in his field of work. The character of Micah (Ryan Bollman) is firstly introduced as a very quiet child, who has experienced trauma from the previous events, but as his character soon becomes possessed by the demonic entity in the cornfields, he becomes more outspoken and therefore takes over as leader of the cult. His character is quite unlikeable due to his evil nature, from leading the children to commit murder and him committing murder himself, but without condoning violence and strongly disagreeing with the phrase ‘’violence is the answer’’, I do understand where his anger is coming from and why he thinks the adults in the town are hypocrites, as he expresses to Danny, how Micah’s father told him that if he had an relationship before marriage, it will be deemed as sinful but this was unfair of him to say, as Micah quoted ‘’ I caught my father with the farmhand’s wife… sinning most vigorously’’. This made Micah’s character quite persuasive, as by telling his story, he was able to have Danny believe his father is similar to Micah’s father, as Danny recalls his father telling him, not to get into an relationship with Lacey or befriend the other children, which Danny believes also, is hypocritical of his father to tell him who he can’t hang out with in the town, as his father has already become lovers with the local bed and breakfast owner Angela.
I truly enjoyed this film ‘Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice’, due to the innovative deaths displayed on screen, such as the movie referencing the Wizard of Oz, where a local woman is murdered by the children, as they sabotage the hydraulic jacks supporting her house, while she was underneath it, so this caused the house to crush her with only her legs being shown, which is slightly similar to the death of the Wicked Witch of the East in the Wizard of Oz. Another similarity to another film, I spotted was during the lead up to a death scene, where the demonic entity was not being shown in its true form but instead used thermal imaging, similar to the beginning of the 1987 Scfi – action film Predator, as thermal imaging was used in this film, to show that the demonic entity was following its next potential victims in the cornfields without them knowing. Another death scene I was impressed with was during a scene in a church, where one of the local men gets the bloodiest nosebleed I’ve ever seen, which causes him to bleed out to death, due to Micah stabbing a voodoo doll to make it happen. Reading about the making of this film, I appreciate any of the church scenes more, due to what the filmmakers went through making this film, as director David Price mentioned in the film’s DVD commentary, that when shooting the film, a local Christian group held not only a few small protests during the film , but had left a dead rodent on the director’s doorstep as a warning, so the film’s production team constructed their own church for a few scenes in the film and luckily despite the warning, no actual incidents occurred. The only negative aspect I have about this film, is that I felt the movie couldn’t make up its mind on what they wanted to be the reason behind the children becoming evil, as they didn’t specify if it was the supernatural aspect that the film was portraying all along, such as scenes where they show the true face of the demon and how a voodoo doll was used to cause a man to nosebleed to death, so it was confusing when they brought in a storyline where the corn was seen to be infected, making it hard to pinpoint which one is the cause, as nothing is ruled out.
I highly recommend watching ‘Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice’ (1992), especially if you are a fan of the original 1984 cult classic ‘Children of the Corn’, as the movie picks up straight after the events of the first film and doesn’t discard any plot points from the original film, therefore showing that the filmmakers appreciated what came before. I enjoyed this movie as a horror fan due to the innovative kills and finding out that the actress who played Lacey (Christe Clarke), was the same actress who portrayed Jesse’s 11 year old sister Angela Walsh in one of my favorite horror movies ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 2:Freddy’s Revenge. ‘Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice’ (1992) is worth the watch, especially due to the film having been successful enough to spawn a further eight more straight to DVD sequels, that also included a 2009 television remake of the original film . The title of this film ‘Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice’ (1992) is hilarious to know that the filmmakers put the word final in its title, as horror fans know by now, that horror movies that have final in its title such as Saw 3D: The Final Chapter in 2010 or even Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter in 1984, we can all suspect there is more movies to come.
Overall: 7 /10
