Here we are at Children of the Corn 9: Runaway. As a franchise, this series is a complete mess, with no sense of continuity, canon, or anything remotely interesting to keep viewers coming back. And if you are a fan, it must be crappy to see the powerful filmmakers constantly churning out crap with zero care. Parts 5 through 8 were made with little regard for anything, or anyone. And as if the last entry Genesis wasn't insultingly vague enough, we come to Runaway.
The good: this film is much more competently made and acted than most of the entries in this series, especially the cheap Genesis. Shot composition, lighting, music, performances, surprisingly top notch. There is some slightly cheap CGI but nothing that looks like total crap, just the low budget showing. You came for gore? You'll be happy to know there is quite a bit of blood in this film.
The bad: Starts off boring and kind of slow, and you wonder, where is this going?
The ugly: you then realise, it's going nowhere.
The plot concerns a young mother and her son. The mother, ably played by the pretty Marci Miller, belonged to the corn cult in Nebraska some time ago, but set fire to the corn and killed all of the kids and vanished. Since then, she's been a drifter with her son. She settles in the town of Luther, OK., gains a job as a mechanic, and tries to live her life with her son as normally as one can. However, the locals act strange and hostile, she sees visions of demonic kids (specifically an ethereal looking girl in a yellow dress), and random murders happen. Her boss, who initially takes pity on her, apparently only wants something else. And she kind of befriends a local waitress who acts a little too friendly. Don't worry, this doesn't add to much, despite all of this being the setup.
As I said, this movie goes nowhere. There is no satisfying pay off, no climax. The plot starts off straightforward, boring... but straightforward... there is the odd gore scene sprinkled here and there... then it comes to a "what?" conclusion.
It's more connected to the saga than the last few entries. Lots of mentions of Gatlin, He Who Walks Behind The Rows. The scenes in the cornfield are splendid and feel right. Too bad they don't happen more often. There are some stylish moments here and there (including a scene that I can only conclude is a modern take on the diner massacre from part 1), and as mentioned, the acting is all credible. The gore is good, nothing special though. But what the hell is it all for?
In short, this films makes zero sense.
Overall, it's a waste. You can have a well shot and well acted film, but when you have no plot, it doesn't added to anything.
For the curious only.
