Children of the Corn: The Gathering (1996) (V)

Director:

Greg Spence

Writers (WGA):

Stephen King (short story "Children of the Corn")
Stephen Berger (written by) ...

Release Date:

8 October 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

In a sleepy midwestern town... A horrifying evil is about to rise again!

Plot:

All the kids in a town over night become feverish and have convulsions. The next day they start to become evil...

Plot Keywords:

Teeth | Doctor | Direct To Video | Fourth Part | Numbered Sequel

Cast

Naomi Watts	...	Grace Rhodes
Jamie Renée Smith	...	Margaret Rhodes
Karen Black	...	June Rhodes
Mark Salling	...	James Rhodes
Brent Jennings	...	Donald Atkins
Toni Marsh	...	Sandra Atkins
Lewis Flanagan III	...	Marcus Atkins
Brandon Kleyla	...	Josiah
William Windom	...	Doc Larson
Salle Ellis	...	Jane Nock
Marietta Marich	...	Rosa Nock
Jonathan Patterson	...	Charlie McLellan
Joshua Patterson	...	Scott McLellan
Kay Bower	...	Janet McLellan
Samaria Graham	...	Mary Anne

Also Known As:

Children of the Corn IV (USA) (working title)
Deadly Harvest

MPAA:

Rated R for strong horror violence and gore, and for some language.

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (2002) | Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1998) | Germany:18 | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Dimension Films

Trivia:

A deleted scene features Jane and Rosa Nock telling Grace (Naomi Watts) and Donald (Brent Jennings) how the children called Josiah by a different name: "He Who Walks Behind The Rows".

Quotes:

[first lines]
June Rhodes: Yes? Can I help you?

Movie Connections:

References The Exorcist (1973)

Naomi Watts Brings Life to a Pathetic STV

This film is religated to a special genre, what I like to call STV (an abbreviation of Straight-to-Video release). An attempt at a cheap thrill, these films are usually more laughable than scary. But the Children of the Corn franchise is probably the most interesting of this genre.

I remember renting this particular installment of Children of the Corn at the fresh young age of 14 for a slumber party with some friends. We had all seen COTC 1, 2, 3, so what the heck, why not check out 4? There was nothing particularly different about the plot: again, the children of a midwestern town all mysteriously turn evil, killing their parents in interesting, grotesque ways. There were the same laughable moments in which writers contrive clever new ways for a child to kill an adult and the same lame horror film dialogue. It was all the same. Except one thing.

The performance of the lead heroine was stunning! Not your typical STV calibar performance, but instead, WOW--complex, understated, and intense, I was very impressed with the no-name lead actress.

Fast forward to seven years later, in which I am reading an interview with my favorite new actress, Naomi Watts and she mentions, "I was in Children of the Corn IV" and ohmygosh, the planets have aligned, it all makes sense! This stellar actress was giving stellar performances long before she was cast into stellar movies.

So the short of it, if you are at all a fan of Naomi Watts, this is not a bad one to get a glimpse of her pre-Mulholland Dr. work. Yeah, it's campy and lame and gratuitously violent, but with Naomi, it's not so bad.

Rating: 4 out of 10 (on the whole), Naomi's Performance: 7 out of 10