When Stephen King adapted Carrie in 1976, he would become the epitome of horror in Hollywood personified. This would continue with other classics such as Salem's Lot, Cujo, and Dead Zone, which would make King one of the forebearers of which many horror writers and directors would idolize and try to top in its success. In 1984, King adapted his short story Children of the Corn. Known for its terrifying atmosphere of creepy children, deadly cults, and its deadly derelict farm town in Gatlin, Nebraska, Children of the Corn would strike fear into the hearts of many.
While many have debated that the film has become somewhat dated over the years, with a new adaptation coming soon in March of this year, the premise of children staging an uprising to take over and murder the adults of an entire town remains one of the most chilling concepts within horror. But it was not just its children and its cult-like atmosphere that would cause quite a stir for movie watchers in the horror community, but the demonic force that would cause the children to do such horrific deeds in their little town. But who was the force behind its adamant violent cultist?
What is Children of the Corn about?
To understand Children of the Corn's demonic force, one must understand the core concept of its story. Children of the Corn takes place in the fictional town of Gatlin, Nebraska. This small town has become not only a morbid sanctuary for a couple of vicious cultists, but due to its picturesque cornfields, it’s become a vital source of how they survive. For a town that is highly dependent on its corn crops for survival, the worst comes to pass when its harvest fails one year. To save their harvest, they turn to prayer in hopes that this will save their crops from dying. Gatlin’s prayers are answered, but in the grim form of a teen priest named Isaac Coroner, and things do not go as planned. An evil soul with dark designs for the town of Gatlin, he takes all children and ventures into the cornfield to teach them the prophecy of a demonic entity known as "He Who Walks Behind The Rows."
During this time, Isaac recruits Malachai (Courney Gains) and eventually brainwashes the children of Gatlin into murdering all of their town's adults as a mass sacrifice for the demonic entity. This progresses to killing not only the adults in their town but any adults who pass through as a sacrifice to their god. A few years later, a couple named Burt (Peter Horton) and Vicky (Linda Hamilton) are on their way to start a new life in Seattle, where Burt's new career as a physician awaits. On the way to their destination, they accidentally hit a child who was trying to escape from the Gatlin cult. They attempt to enlist the assistance of a local mechanic, a decision that breeds devastating results. Isaac and his teen and child followers have taken them hostage in the middle of nowhere, and they must find a way out before they are sacrificed to the demon god.
Who is Isaac Coroner? What does he represent?
A teen priest who mysteriously makes his way into the small town of Gatlin, Nebraska, Isaac Coroner (John Franklin) becomes a small beacon of hope at an otherwise dark time for the youth of Gatlin. Impressionable and desperately looking for something tangible to find solace in, Isaac provides that excuse for them in the form of the "good" word.
Isaac appears to be someone who, in all his majesty and allure, the teens and children look up to, and who, with all his bravado and charisma, convinces them to follow the demonic entity known as "He Who Walks Behind The Rows."
Their childlike innocence is used against them and twisted into something more horrifying, as Issac brainwashes them to believe that the mass killing of the adults and even themselves when they become of age that they consciously enact is for the good of the demonic god they worship. In some ways, King demonstrates that conscious knowledge is inherently evil, as they are aware of what they are doing but continue to do it for the sake of their own selfish desires. Isaac stands for the extended narrative of this evil that suffocates and takes hold of the human mind, often unnoticeable, manipulative, and controlling. King shows that evil can be subdued but never completely vanquished when Malachai sacrifices Isaac and the demon entity raises him to life.
Who is "He Who Walks Behind The Rows?"
If Isaac is the extended hand to conscious evil, then "He Who Walks Behind the Rows" is evil personified. In Children of the Corn, this demonic fertility entity is the cause of the problem and is the calculating force governing the youth of Gatlin to do as he wishes. After the age of eighteen, they sacrifice themselves to please the demon god and to keep the vision of their twisted reality alive. Using the cornfields, the skies, and even other various forms to manifest its physical form, the evil deity also the fields as burial grounds for the sacrifices he can bring back from the dead. This demonic deity can move from place to place should an evil follower choose to move the entity elsewhere.
Evil is detailed throughout this whole film. Whether it is depicted in the raw form of murder or sacrifice, "He Who Walks Behind The Rows" represents senseless limitless destruction in getting rid of what does not meet one's limited ideals or sense of perfection. In this sense, religion is treated evilly and perversely to justify the terrible actions of children enacting them. Although King notes that "He Who Walks Behind The Rows" first made his appearance in 1964, when the cult massacred the entire town of Gatlin, it is not entirely clear when the demonic entity first manifested. While it seems he can be defeated, "He Who Walks Behind The Rows" possesses the ability to come back and reign its terror on others.
How will director Kurt Wimmer's adaptation divert from the source material?
The Kurt Wimmer (Point Break) adaptation of this well-known short story seems to be going in a completely different direction from its original predecessor regarding the plot. In a rural area of Nebraska, a twelve-year-old girl, Eden Edwards (Kate Moyer), has been possessed by the evil of the cornfields that are on the verge of dying. She starts to gather the kids in her town to stage an uprising against the adults and kill them and anyone else who challenges her authority after being influenced by the evil spirit. A bright high school student, Boleyn Williams (Elena Kampouris), who deviates from the norm of the other young cultists offers hope as the town falls into disrepair.
While many of the Children of the Corn films in the franchise outside the first were problematic at best up to this point, Wimmer's new take on the film's story seems to offer a solid grasp of the source material while being innovative enough to stand on its own from the original 1984 classic many loved and adored.
Children of the Corn will have an 18-day theater release on March 3rd and premieres on Shudder on March 21st.