CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984)

 This is one of those 80s horror flicks that somehow got 8 sequels and 2 remakes and I have no idea how. I know this played on cable a whole bunch back in the 80s and 90s and is still popular enough to this day but I have never really understood the appeal. There are a bunch of way better killer kid movies and there are also a bunch of way better Stephen King adaptations(even better ones that were based on short stories like this one!). I guess it just hit at the right time that everyone was looking to see a town of children killing grown-ups. Can't say I ever feel the need to check out any of the sequels. They did wait until the 90s to pop out the first sequel so I assume that had to do with its TV following and not the initial boxoffice popularity.

  Linda Hamilton also made THE TERMINATOR this same year and became a big star so I guess that's something. 

 All the CHILDRENS OF THE CORN!(so far): 

 2. CHILDREN OF THE CORN II: FINAL SACRIFICE (1992) 

3. CHILDREN OF THE CORN III: URBAN HARVEST (1995) 

4. CHILDREN OF THE CORN IV: THE GATHERING (1996) The first shot-on-video sequel 

5. CHILDREN OF THE CORN V: THE FIELDS OF TERROR (1998)

6. CHILDREN OF THE CORN 666: ISAAC'S RETURN (1999) the return of little John Franklin as Isaac(he was also in Part 5 as a different character) 

7. CHILDREN OF THE CORN REVELATION (2001) They gave up on the numbers! 

8. CHILDREN OF THE CORN (2009) This was a TV movie remake of the original story 

9. CHILDREN OF THE CORN: GENESIS (2011) Isn't this also the subtitle of one of the TERMINATOR sequels? 

10. CHILDREN OF THE CORN: RUNAWAY (2018) 

11. CHILDREN OF THE CORN (2020) Another remake!

BEWARE: CHILDREN AT PLAY (1989)

  I guess there are 2 ways to look at this film. If you compare it to other Troma movies from this era it's pretty much complete garbage. On the other hand if you put it side by side with anything made by Troma since the 80s ended it looks fantastic! So take your pick. Personally I always have the lowest expectations whenever I bother watching anything made(or even released) by Troma studios, which isn't very often, so it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. If you enjoy watching little kids and teenagers being murdered over and over again that's pretty much the whole ending of the film so add bonus points for that. The plot is very simple and very stupid about a little boy whose dad gets caught in a beartrap so he naturally has to live in the woods forever after that. He grows up to learn advanced brainwashing techniques that he employs on all the children in the area to form his own gang/cult of murderous cannibals. In response the local townsfolk turn into raving religious nutsos who don't mind doing a little murdering of their own. It sounds a lot better than it actually is but the violence and blood(and even some teenager on mom rape to liven things up!) are thankfully abundant enough to ward off any excessive boredom.

THE CHILDREN (1980)

 This horror flick combines the killer kids genre with the zombie film to create a killer zombie kid epic. Apparently gas that leaks out of a nuclear power plant can cause children's fingernails to turn black and give them the ability to burn people to death just by touching them, oh and it also turns them into murderous sneaky zombies. There's adult boobs, kids get killed which is pretty rare in American films and instead of getting shot in the head these kiddy-zombies need to have their hands lopped off which isn't as gory as it sounds since they seem to be bloodless monsters. The music score is by Harry Manfredini so it sounds very similar in spots to FRIDAY THE 13TH. Overall this is way more entertaining to me than that CHILDREN OF THE CORN which came out a few years later and even though it's now distributed by Troma it's much better than 90% of their worthless shit. AKA THE CHILDREN OF RAVENSBACK
 There was a British remake of this in 2008 but like most remakes, as well as most things made after 1989, I can't imagine it's worth anyone ever viewing ever.

THE BAD SEED (1956)

                                "What will you give me for a basket of kisses?"

 Overly stagey(cuz it's based on a play which was based on a book) but classic tale of a cute little murderous girl.  The whole appeal of this film is the performance of Patty McCormack.  She's quite convincing as a vengeful little demoness who gets rid of people who piss her off.  The ending of this seems tacked on and deviates from the original story, it also seems almost Frankensteinian in it's convenience in wrapping everything up neatly.  Then there's an epilogue which seems totally bizarre where our little brat gets a spanking which just adds to the campy qualities that run throughout the movie.  A good watch but I'm not sure if this qualifies as a horror film, a drama, a psychological thriller or maybe all three wrapped up in what became a sorta template for a lot of killer kid movies over the years.  There was a made for TV remake in the 80's but I've never heard anything good about it.