Children of the Corn: Revelation (2001) Dimension/Horror RT: 82 minutes Rated R (violence, terror, language, nudity, some drug use) Director: Guy Magar Screenplay: S.J. Smith Music: Stephen Edwards Cinematography: Danny Nowak Release date: October 9, 2001 (US, DTV) Cast: Claudette Mink, Kyle Cassie, Crystal Lowe, Troy Yorke, Michael Rogers, Taylor Hobbs, Jeff Ballard, Sean Smith, Michael Ironside, John Destry, Ron Small, Louise Grant. Box Office: N/A
Rating: **
I wonder, does He Who Walks Behind the Rows work like The Great Pumpkin from the classic Peanuts Halloween cartoon? As I’m sure you recall, the Great Pumpkin chooses the most sincere pumpkin patch from which to rise on Halloween night and delivers toys to all the children. Does He Who Walk Behind the Rows choose the most sincere cornfield to inhabit? It’s the only logical explanation as to why he shows up in an Omaha cornfield in Children of the Corn: Revelation, the seventh installment in the horror series that shows no sign of ending soon despite being exiled to the direct-to-video realm after the second movie. My next question is why is there a cornfield next to an abandoned, soon-to-be-demolished building? That one defies both logic and explanation but whatever, it is what it is.
In this so-so sequel, a woman named Jamie (Mink, Firehouse Dog) comes to the aforementioned building looking for her grandmother who hasn’t answered or returned any of her calls for several days. She’s not in her apartment and none of her neighbors know her whereabouts. The local police won’t be any help either. Jamie decides to stick around for a while and look into her disappearance herself. There’s some weird stuff going on in and around the building like the pair of creepy kids (Hobbs and Ballard) who keep hanging around and a preacher (Ironside, Total Recall) who obviously knows what’s going on. It has to do with the building being located on the very spot where a religious cult led by a boy preacher (Smith) took their own lives by setting their tent on fire.
I give the director Guy Magar (Stepfather III) points for trying. I told you the reason the weird stuff is happening. I didn’t tell you what the dead preacher’s end game is. I figured it out early on but it’s still kind of cool. Sadly, Children of the Corn: Revelation isn’t all that gory. It has one cool kill scene. A woman is attacked by evil cornstalks in her bathtub. Also, a man’s severed head is seen sitting in a cooler in the corner store. There’s also a scene where a foul-mouthed, ill-tempered man in a wheelchair is pushed down a stairwell. I’m just saying, there should have more blood.
Like the other DTV Children of the Corn sequels, the acting is no great shakes. I don’t even see the point of commenting on such matters when it comes to these movies. Mink is okay as the main character. Kyle Cassie (Deadpool) plays the cop who initially brushes Jamie off but has a change of heart and comes to her aid. Crystal Lowe (Final Destination 3) plays a stripper named Tiffany who also lives in the building. She’s very easy on the eyes. It’s the first nude scene I can recall seeing in a Children of the Corn movie. Ironside is only in it for a few minutes (less than 5). It’s like the makers just wanted one familiar face in it so people will rent it based on name recognition. Children of the Corn: Revelation isn’t too bad a movie; it has a good idea or two. The storyline is decent. The special effects aren’t bad either. Like its immediate predecessor, it’s as good a movie as one can expect from a DTV horror sequel.
