Disciples of the Crow

Why is it so hard to be loyal to the original work? If you're gonna make a weak carbon copy, at least honor the original, don't try to f--k it up in your way. The actings and ambiance are poor.

Before Stephen Kings Children Of The Corn became a feature movie in 1984 we had Disciples of the Crow, essentially a highly compacted version of the story.

For those unaware it tells the tale of a cult that is made up of psychotic children and truth be told is one of the weakest links in Kings arsenal in my opinion. I never liked the books and of the movies I've seen so far I've been less than impressed by.

This short is around the 30 minute mark and merely tells the tale of a couple who encounter the cult in the ghost town they reside within after accidentally hitting one with their car.

Very little happens, the atmosphere is pretty neutered and our protagonists are far from likeable.

I'd say this is for fans of the franchise only, and even then maybe not.

The Good:

I like the setting if nothing else

The Bad:

Dull

Poor characters

Real animal cruelty on show

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Corn has many culinary uses and can also disable cars, who knew?

Before the films in the "Children Of The Corn" franchise began to be made, it all started with this short film that only adapts half of the original story. It begins in an interesting way showing what would already be the beginning of the cult of children. This time they decided that the entity they adore would be represented with the image of the raven, which gives it some originality, for which the image of the raven comes to symbolize. All good, then when they introduce us to the leading couple and then nothing else. It is noted that due to the limited budget, they could not adapt the entire story and this short film ends up being a free adaptation that tells only half of the story. Even so, this was just the beginning of a horror saga that started well, but then deteriorated as more installments were released. My final rating for this short film is 6/10.

A couple passing through a small Oklahoma town discover that it has been taken over by a homicidal cult that worships a crow god -- and that all the cult members are children.

Whether this was done officially or not I have no idea, but John Woodward went all in -- writing, directing, editing. He even has a small role. And you know what? This film is every bit as good as the "real" version of the story. Anyone watching this would say Woodward had a bright future in cinema, and yet he never really did.

Actor Gabriel Folse, on the other hand, has done well for himself. Although not a big name by any stretch of the imagination, he does seem to have worked steadily since this short, and appeared in "Miss Congeniality" and "office Space".

I rented this short film as a part of `Stephen King's Night Shift Collection.' Previously, I thought that there was only one volume in this `collection,' that being the one that contained student films of `The Boogeyman' and `The Woman in the Room,' neither of which I enjoyed. `Disciples of the Crow' is paired up with a short film made in 1987 called `The Night Waiter,' which doesn't seem to be a King story at all. But never mind that, as that is a review for another day. I wasn't sure what to expect with this film. Just by the title, I knew that the story was based on `Children of the Corn.' This movie had the unfortunate chance of being made one year before the actual `Children of the Corn' film (which I liked, but I know I am in the minority). It would have been lost in oblivion had it not 1) been adapted from a Stephen King story and 2) been found by Karl James Associates to cash in on the late-80's Stephen King craze.

Pushing aside thoughts of the film series and letting the film stand on its own, I must say they almost pulled it off. I won't bore you with details of the original story's plot, but I will say that I wouldn't get the short film so much had I not either read the story or watched the feature film. Perhaps for the sake of time, key elements of explanation are gone and no attempt is made to characterize any of the children (I know the King story didn't do this either, but since this short acts like it is about to do this with one character and then balks, it is worth mentioning). The good points are that John Woodward slowly and effectively builds suspense to the point of creating nervousness for the viewers and that the sunny, outdoor setting adds to the rural creepiness---it's pretty obvious why this King story was chosen by both these students and Hollywood. Sadly, the film is too short, ending immediately after the full shock is released. It was a good try, but it just barely misses. Zantara's score: 5 out of 10.