Les disciples du corbeau

This a very good movie It has a great story line. It is very scary. It has great acting. The 1984 remake The Children of the corn is better. This is one the scariest movies from 1983. It is scarier then The silence of the lambs could ever be.

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?

This is intense and well-made for a b short film. Disturbing atmosphere, somehow decent acting, and overall much better than the later films based on Children of the Corn. Well-made effects, especially the corpses and the "blue man" (hehe). The music is eerie as hell. Worth watching for any King fan.

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.

Disciples of the Crow (1983)

*** (out of 4)

Just about everyone, horror fan or not, has heard of CHILDREN OF THE CORN be it the original Stephen King story or the 1984 film, which has since gained six sequels and a remake (to date). What most people might not remember is that the 1984 film wasn't the first to adapt the King short story. This film starts off in 1971 as a child leads other children into killing all of the adults in town. Jump forward to 1983 as a couple are driving through Nebraska when they accidentally run over a kid and soon run into the evil cult. Having seen all of the CHILDREN OF THE CORN movies (including the remake) I must admit that this is the best of the bunch. Perhaps part of this is due to the fact that this runs a quick paced 18-minutes but it doesn't contain any stupid subplots and instead just delivers the goods in terms of creepy atmosphere and a rather suspenseful ending. I'm not sure what the budget was on this thing but it was obviously low and that helps the small town atmosphere that it gets. The movie has an effective music score, nice editing and just an all around great pacing. Eleese Lester does a pretty good job as Vicky and Gabriel Folse isn't too bad either as the husband. The film shares a lot more in common with the eventual 2009 remake as the husband and wife are constantly fighting and the ending here is one used in the later film. Speaking of the ending, it manages to pack a pretty good punch and makes this film worth viewing.