Children of the Corn: The Gathering (1996)

All the kids in a town over night become feverish and have convulsions. The next day they start to become evil, change their names for those of kids killed long ago, and then start killing ... See full summary »

Director:

Greg Spence

Writers:

Stephen King (based on the short story "Children of the Corn" by), Stephen Berger

Stars:

Naomi Watts, Jamie Renée Smith, Karen Black

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	Doctor Rob 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

Storyline

All the kids in a town over night become feverish and have convulsions. The next day they start to become evil, change their names for those of kids killed long ago, and then start killing any adult in their path, in vicious and mysterious forms. A young woman who has just returned to town tries to find out what is happening, while trying to protect her transformed young sister. However, the kids are starting to revive their leader...

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Plot Keywords:

scythe | reference to charles manson | corn | cult film | fourth part | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

18A

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Greg Spence and composer David Williams are related with The Prophecy: Spence directed The Prophecy II (1998), and Williams worked as composer in The Prophecy (1995) and The Prophecy II (1998).

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Quotes

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

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Connections

References The Brady Bunch (1969)

User Reviews

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 October 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Deadly Harvest

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1