Children of the Corn: Genesis

I have to admit, I haven't followed the Children of the corn series up close, so I can't tell you, if this actually makes sense in the series. Than again Dimension doesn't seem to care, if they put a movie out there that isn't that connected to previous entries in a successful series (see Hellraiser for that). But this movie is nicely shot, has some interesting twists (though you can see them coming even before the scriptwriter put them down on paper).

In the end this doesn't add much to the horror genre, has the typical erratic character behavior (it's the grown ups who act like children, doing stuff they've been told not to do). The ending is weird too. You wonder why a certain character would accept "help" like that. But until that point you will probably have shut down your brain, just to save it. Good thinking ...

This film begins in 1973 with a soldier returning from Vietnam and arriving at his old home town not far from Gatlin, Nebraska. But rather than being embraced by his family he is horrified to discover that they have recently been murdered. Not only that, but within minutes of finding their bodies he is soon attacked and severely injured by several children there as well. The scene then shifts to the present day with a young man by the name of "Tim" (Tim Rock) and his pregnant wife "Allie" (Kelen Coleman) driving somewhere along a deserted highway in California when their car breaks down. With very little money and no tow truck able to reach them that day they decide to walk to the nearest house several miles away. When they get there they are greeted by a very creepy man known simply as "Preacher" (Billy Drago) who reluctantly offers them the hospitality of his rundown home. They accept but they soon come to realize that there is much more to this man than they initially thought-and then the horror begins. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this turned out to be somewhat different than the other "Children of the Corn" pictures in that it had an adult as the primary nemesis rather than a group of children. And to that effect, I thought that Billy Drago performed quite well in that regard. Likewise, although I would have preferred a bit more horror, I must admit that I enjoyed the manner in which the suspense was kept at a rather low boil from start-to-finish. In any case, while this may not have been the best film in this series, it was good enough for the time spent and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

There has been a spate of movies of late it seems that want to take us back to the origins or beginning of a successful series. And so here is another. Before this, I only saw one in the series and I don't remember it. All I remember is that there was a bunch of grungy looking kids with no sense of humor and a corn field. Well in this movie they're still grungy-looking and trying their best to look evil.

A man and woman are stranded out in the middle of nowhere because their car broke down. They see some telephone lines and reason that they could follow it to a phone. It takes them to a dusty old shack. They knock and world weary Billy Drago as the "Preacher" eventually comes to the door. At first they are refused help, and as she is storming off in anger and frustration while her boyfriend is trying his best to placate her, the woman mentions her pregnancy and the preacher --being a man of God-- takes pity and invites them in.Things are a bit strained once inside; the couple are trying to have polite conversation seated across from the Preacher but he's oddly uncommunicative. Just sits there thinking WHO KNOWS WHAT while the couple look at each other nervously, desperately trying to fill the silence. A younger woman enters at some point with an accent and we learn later that she's from the Ukraine and that it was kind of a mail-order-bride kind of situation. She takes the man to a phone in another room and charges him almost everything he had in his wallet to use it while imploring him not to tell the Preacher.

After a meal where the Preacher continued his silent ways and it was time to go to their rooms the Preacher breaks his silence and tells the couple in essence to respect his privacy; that they shouldn't go wandering around beyond the outhouse in back. Thus warned, they repair to their room where they feel free to communicate the strangeness of their situation. Shortly the woman indicates that she needs to use the outhouse. At this point reader you're probably saying "Oh-oh!" Well your're right.

Well she goes out and pauses in front of a dingy outhouse a moment, hesitant. Her business is pressing so she puts her reservations aside and goes in. After a nervous p!ss she exits. She hears something; a cry of some kind. She decides to play Nancy Drew and investigate. Later, she frantically reports the findings of her investigations to her boyfriend who seems a bit incompetent to me. He challenges her; wants to make sure there is no mistake. She's miffed and challenges him back. The guy relents as if the last thing he wants is for her to lose it. She sort of towers over him like Wonder Woman dressed in shorts and combat boots so I don't blame him.

Things begin to happen; psychokinetic events. Possibly precipitated by Nancy Drew a.k.a Wonder Woman's investigations. The couple are in a panic and wanting answers. From the preacher they get something about an "evil seed" and that it wants the woman's baby. This movie is not particularly scary, or innovative, just so you know. Notwithstanding, it's not too bad. If it were a TV movie I'd give it a 7 or 8. A good movie if your're home in your socks and underwear, then. But as it is, I can only give it half that. Love, Boloxxxi.

We start about 20 miles from Gatlin, Nebraska in 1973. A man from the military is returning home when he finds his parents and girlfriend murdered by what appears to be children. We fast forward to present day 2011 in the middle of the Californian desert and meet a couple named Tim and Allie (Allie is pregnant). When their car breaks down, they decide to walk to the nearest house which is where they meet a grumpy and mysterious man who goes by preacher and his wife Oksana.

After finding out that their car can't be fixed until the next day, Tim and Allie decide to spend the night at Preacher's creepy run down house. At first they suspect preacher is a pervert, but once they try to leave the house they discover that there is something far more sinister and supernatural going on. When Tim drives to open door to leave it slams shut on it's on. It appears that a spirit connected to He Who Walks Behind The Rows is trapping them in the house.

I feel very conflicted about this COTC sequel. On the one hand it's a sad and lowly entry to the series bringing nothing new except a very weak ending On the other hand, it gave viewers a new story idea involving telekinesis and the thought that a newborn baby could be possessed by He Who Walks Behind The Rows. A positive in this film is the acting. Kelen Coleman was brilliant as the "final girl" Allie who was a strong female character that took no one's nonsense the entire time. Billy Drago was effective at the preacher character and Tim Rock who played Tim was pretty food as well.

Serious story flaws caused this movie to be a rating of three for me. First of all, they didn't go into enough detail as to how the connection between Nebraska and California could happen. I know that COTC 3 took the series from the cornfields to Chicago, but that movie did a good job explaining how it all connected. This ninth film did little explaining of how it all added up and didn't feel like a COTC film. The ending also pushed me to give it a lower rating. I was on the verge on ranking it a four, but the ending was super ridiculous and unsatisfying for someone who spent an hour and a half trying to be invested in the characters.

Children of the Corn 9 started strong. I enjoyed the Gatlin connection at the beginning and when Tim/Allie first get to Preacher's house. But the movie fizzles out half way through and ends on a confusing and ridiculous note. No cornfields and not a lot of killer children leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth when you're watching a Children of the Corn film.

3/10

Genesis difference very much from the standard CotC movies, you will not find much corn and even less of children, almost no existent, and no Gatlin town, actually they are pretty much in the same cabin the whole movie, so it's different, doesn't have the CotC feel either, more like a possessed themed movie. But all that being said, the tension has probably never been better within the series, good acting (Billy Drago steels the show, possible the best performance of within all CotC movies), good camera-work and good effects, so it's a good crafted movie but, it's probably not what I wanted from a CotC movie. About the title Genesis, I didn't get much about that, it doesn't tell anything about the creation or beginning of anything, and towards the end I felt the plot was going nowhere, and when talking about the end, I didn't liked the ending at all.

Overall, Children of the Corn: Genesis was better than expected, but confusing and different.