There were two things, which made the original Children of the Corn as good as it was. Those two things were John Franklin (Isaac) and Courtney Gains (Malachai). In part 6 of the Children of the Corn series, Isaac comes home. While not the best, the story is rather refreshing when compared to the disappointing mess that Fields of Terror turned out to be.

John Franklin also received a writing credit on this movie. While the writing wasn’t my favorite they all deviate from Stephen King’s original story in some aspect or another. Part of problem with the Children of the Corn series and the fact that some are so much better than the others is that there is a constant shift in the movie writing and directing.

Each movie has a different writer or director, which brings a new vision to an already established franchise. While it’s possible to make things work like this, you also run the risk of making the series feel disjointed, which happens here. However, this was one of my favorite Children of the Corn movies.

Plot-Time

Hannah, a soon to be 19 year old girl is on her way back to Gatlin to find her mother. She was adopted and her mother would not give her the answers she sought about her birth family so it is time to find them out on her own. On her way to Gatlin, Hannah picks someone up that speaks of her life through biblical passages. Next thing we know Hannah is in Gatlin and awakening Isaac, though she does not know who he is when she’s waking him up.

Isaac soon is his old (literally) self and is working with the town to handle the harvest. This Gatlin seems slightly odd because there are not any kids. This Children of the Corn is largely about the remaining, original Gatlin kids and their children. Hannah was the daughter of Amos, who offered himself as a sacrifice to He Who Walks behind the Rows in the first movie, and Rachel Colby (Nancy Allen) who is alive and still in Gatlin. Cora, an old favorite (with a new actress) is also back and is now a police officer. She is still devoted to Isaac and still as equally as annoying as she was in the first film.

Hannah is warned numerous times to leave but of course she remains in order to learn the mystery of her family and the strange corn-obsessed town where she was born. While she is in Gatlin she becomes friendly with one of the local boys, Gabriel. However, we soon learn of Isaac’s prophecy involving Hannah and Isaac’s first-born son who is also (supposedly) the first-born son of any of the Corn Children in Gatlin. Together these first children, Hannah and Matt, will lie down during the Harvest Moon and create a superior race. Of course, none of Isaac’s prophecies work out the way they should. Although, he might just get what he wants on this one.

This is the second of the six movies where you get to see an inkling of He Who Walks behind the Rows. I much prefer this version of the Satin-like harvest God as opposed to the one that was shown in Urban Harvest.

The Skinny on the Movie

The main actors were not too bad. It is horror so you should not expect much in the way of acting. If you set your standards low you aren’t upset. This being said there were some all right actors in this movie, many of who went on to do other things and continue to work on current projects. This appeared to be one of the higher budget movies in comparison to the others. The special affects were still second rate, but the movie itself will be worth it to fans of the series.

The Bottom Line:

If you were a fan of the original Children of the Corn and liked the sequels (or some of them) you will enjoy this film. While parts of it go a little slow it makes up for it in the end when the pieces fall into place. This is definitely one of the least conventional sequels in the set, but overall it is worth it. It should remain part of your collection if you are collecting the series on DVD.

In the grand scheme of things, we have ranked this film 3 out of the 7 sequels to date.