Children of the Corn: Genesis (DVD) – Movie Review
Horror movies definitely aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. They are scary, bloody and exciting, or so they should be. In this eighth installment of the Children of the Corn horror films, unfortunately no blankets will be needed to hide behind in case things get too creepy. A pillow might come in handy on the other hand, to rest your head when you start feeling sleepy. Let’s see what Children of the Corn: Genesis has to offer.
We meet Tim (Tim Rock) and Allie (Kelen Coleman), a young couple on their way to visit Tim’s granddad. While driving through the desert, their car breaks down and to make things even worse, there is no sign of any other people in the area. After wandering around for a while, they find the house of a preacher (Billy Drago). He isn’t very keen on letting them in, but after he hears that Allie is pregnant, he reluctantly agrees to give them shelter for the night. Tim tries to call a mechanic, but because it is Sunday and they are so far away, they have no choice but to stay there until the next day. As soon as Tim and Allie enter the house, things turn awkward. Objects drop on the floor without having been touched, and Oksana (Barbara Nedeljakova), the preacher’s wife tries to seduce Tim. In the evening Tim and Allie are finally alone in their room, but it doesn’t take long before nature calls, which forces Allie to go to the outhouse. Although the preacher warned them not to sneak around, Allie does so anyway after hearing faint child’s cries. She discovers that the garage has been converted to some kind of church and the cries seem to come from another nearby building. Realizing that they ended up with some kind of cult, she runs back to Tim, but at first he doesn’t believe her. Things only get weirder from that point on. When they try to escape, a supernatural force prevents them from doing so and they start to doubt more and more whether they will get out of there alive.
The pace of this movie is rather slow. It takes a long time before something happens and even when things start to get scary, the tempo doesn’t really increase. What we see all happens within a time span of about two days, and that’s also exactly how long the film seems to be taking, although it only lasts a good hour.
The scenario itself is a bit flimsy and, truth be told, not that scary at all. The idea of the haunted child being locked up could provide a good deal of horror, but in this case it just wasn’t developed enough. The storyline is predictable at times and there isn’t that much action going on. That being said, the film is quite suggestive, which does add some atmosphere. Some things could have been explained more, to give the film some more context. The character of the preacher for example, stays a bit too mysterious. He doesn’t say much and when he does, he threatens Tim and Allie. Nonetheless it would have been nice to see his role in the cult a bit clearer, and get more of an idea as to how this cult came to be.
The actors did a fine job trying to make the story seem realistic. Nonetheless, none of their performances really stands out, but they get the job done. Billy Drago is quite convincing as the preacher. With his icy, venomous look, he can really make you feel uncomfortable. This way he takes away attention from the two leading characters Tim and Allie while they should actually be in the spotlight.
This DVD release offers no extras at all. It would have been nice though to get a bit of background information about the previous installments, or even just a making of or an interview with cast and crew.
Conclusion
Children of the Corn: Genesis is not your average horror film. While the atmosphere is right on several occasions during the film, there are hardly any action sequences. The scenes are often quite suggestive, but lack scariness and real anxiety. Fans may enjoy this one, but it’s not the kind of film you would want to see twice. In any case, you don’t have to be afraid of having nightmares after watching this film.
Children of the Corn: Genesis (DVD) - Movie Review,
No Comments