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Film: Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice
Year: 1992
Director: David Price
Writer: A L Katz and Gilbert Adler
Starring: Terence Knox, Paul Scherrer and Ryan Bollman
Review:
Now I want to lead off stating that for this film, I have a lot of nostalgia. I didn’t realize this film came out in 1992, because I can remember my father recording on to a VHS for my sister and me. We used to watch this film all of the time. I was a little nervous now coming in with a more critical eye, but I do have to admit, this is a film that I have seen more than any other in the series. The official synopsis is a journalist and his son travel to Nebraska to investigate the mysterious town of Gatlin where, unbeknownst to them, a murderous cult of children is waiting in the corn fields.
This film picks up right where the original left off. We hear that the couple from the original film reported to the authorities what happened in Gatlin. The police come and find most of the bodies of the adults who were murdered. My issue here though is that the bodies should be more decayed what we see. I believe the writers didn’t realize that the original film takes place three years after the massacre to wipe out all of the parents. There are a bunch of news reporters trying to get a story, but the children keep telling them they saw the corn. They are being taken in by families over in Hemingford Home, Nebraska.
A reporter who shows up late to the town, John Garrett (Terence Knox), tries to do what he can to get a story. With him is his son, Danny (Paul Scherrer), and they do not get along. We learn that John was young when he knocked up Danny’s mother and he never stepped up as a father. The mother is now getting married and Danny has a lot of teen angst. The only people left are Angela Casual (Rosalind Allen) and the teen she is taking in, Micah (Ryan Bollman). John takes a liking to her and asks if she has a room at her Bed and Breakfast for them. He is still trying to get the story, but this could be an added perk.
Danny ends up meeting Lacey Hellerstat (Christie Clark). She is a beautiful teen to alerts him that the bus won’t be there for a few days. Seeing her keeps Danny around for a little bit longer. There is a reveal later in the film that she never fit in at school. This goes back to the previous film taking place three years after massacre, these kids would have been missing at school for some time.
Now in Hemingford, the remaining children meet in the corn. Mordechai (Ted Travelstead) gets into with Jedediah (Sean Bridgers) about what they did was wrong. Mordechai still believes in He Who Walks Behind the Rows. I don’t recall that name ever being mentioned in this film, which if it isn’t is something else that bothers me. Micah at this time gets possessed by the entity and takes over where Isaac left off. He tells them all to wait for a sign. Something here that struck me, if all of these children were there at the end of the previous film, they should have seen that the entity is real. Why would Jedediah question it? This is something that bothers me as its ruining continuity. Danny also bumps into Micah on his way back.
Death and mayhem ensues from here. I thought this aspect of the film was good. This film though has a lot of supernatural deaths, where the previous didn’t have them. I don’t mind them going this route. This does become problematic though. John meets Frank Redbear (Ned Romero) who is a professor at a university. They discover there is a scheme in this town and there is a toxin that could make the children hallucinates. If this is the route to go, it doesn’t make sense with all of the supernatural things going on.
Surprisingly though, the pacing of this film is good. We get right into and there are enough deaths with trying to learn what the truth of all of this is. There is a reveal about midway through that explains the ending. The problem though is that the subplot they introduce doesn’t make sense to the overall story. I thought the ending was fine. Some of the villains as well are a little bit too mustache twisty for my liking.
The acting for this film is okay. Knox fits his role as the sleazy reporter and absent father well. I didn’t like how his relationship with Allen, as we really don’t get any scenes where they build anything, but end up sleeping together pretty quick. Scherrer is a little bit over the top in his angst teenager, but it fits for what happens at the climax. Bollman I thought was actually really good as the new leader of the cult. He is charismatic and villainous. Clark is really attractive in this film. Allen is also easy on the eyes. I’d say the rest of the cast is okay; there is quite a bit of overacting though. I also didn’t get why they had Marty Terry play both Mrs. Burke and Mrs. West. This just seemed odd to me.
Effects for this film are actually pretty good for me as well. I thought the blood and death scenes looked good. You could clearly tell during the death of Mrs. West that it was a dummy, but I didn’t mind that. These effects were done practically and I would say that it is one of the strongest parts of the film. I had no complaints here.
Something else that was quite strong for me was the soundtrack. I like the chanting that any time a death was about to happen would enhance that feel of the scene. I never had a moment where I was taken out of the film due to score selections, so this is a plus. I have no issues with this aspect of the film either.
Now with that said, this film isn’t as good as I remember it being. I like the idea of picking up where the last film left off, but the problem with doing that is you need to keep the continuity. This film clearly shows us that this film is supernatural, more so than the previous, but it decided to go with a subplot to try to explain that way. It almost feels like they didn’t know where they wanted to go with it. There was some good acting and some overacting in this film. The film is paced well. I thought the effects and the soundtrack were both good as well. Being a story guy, this film just has some issues there that really bothered me. I feel that this film is slightly below average because of that.
My Rating: 4 out of 10