Children of the Corn

Children of the Corn (also known as Stephen King’s Children of the Corn) is a 1984 horror film based upon the 1978 short story of the same name by Stephen King. Directed by Fritz Kiersch, the film stars Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton. Set in the fictional rural town of Gatlin, Nebraska, the film tells the story of a demonic entity referred to as “He Who Walks Behind The Rows” which entices the children of the town to ritualistically murder all the adults to ensure a successful corn harvest. Stephen King wrote the original draft of the screenplay, which focused more on the characters of Burt and Vicky and depicted more backstory on the uprising of the children in Gatlin. This script was disregarded in favor of George Goldsmith’s screenplay, which featured more violence and a more conventional narrative structure. To date the film has spawned six sequels with a television remake.

Taglines:

  • And a child shall lead them…
  • An Adult Nightmare.
  • The Children Rise…..

 

Trivia:

  • On the dashboard of Burt and Vicki’s car is a copy of Night Shift, the Stephen King short story collection in which Children of the Corn originally appeared.
  • In the original theatrical trailer, Stephen King’s name is misspelled as “Steven”.
  • In the original ending of the story Linda Hamilton’s character Vicki was killed by the children. She joined “the blue man” on a cross and had her eyes cut out.
  • Though real corn was used for most of filming, polyurethane corn had to be used for the more difficult action sequences.
  • R.G. Armstrong filmed his scenes in one day.
  • Michael and Corey Frizzell, the nephews of legendary country music stars Lefty & David Frizzell and Sons of Country Gospel great Allen Frizzell (once married to country star Shelly West), played extras at the age of 8 and 9. Michael was also Robby Kiger (Job) stunt double. Corey who is now an artist to country music stars was also a stand in actor for Robby Kiger (Job).
  • In the original story, Isaac and Malachai’s names were William Renfrew and Craig Boardman, respectively.
  • The tagline “And a child shall lead them” comes from Isaiah 11:6 in the Old Testament, which reads, “And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”