Colheita Maldita: Fugitivos

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.

I've purposefully kept away from this franchise as I wasn't too keen on the original sequels, as they just reeked of profit making. However, I found this to be a decent follow up on the original. Though, after reading the reviews on IMDb, I find I may be the minority. I also have to admit to having a sense of dread when I saw it was directed by Gulager and written by Soisson, This is because I've recently put myself through the trial of watching the Hellraiser films again. Though the first four are superior and are a vague continuation... the rest is just money making fodder... and Gulager acts in the latest, "Judgement"... and Soisson wrote "Hellworld". Luckily my panic was unfounded.

This is the story of Ruth (Millar) and her son, Aaron (Scott) who are trying to survive in an unfriendly and troubled rural America. Years before, Ruth had been a member of the cult worshipping "He Who Walks Behind The Rows". Then when she found herself pregnant she took drastic measures to save not only herself but her unborn son; so she burned the corn and the children living within it. From then on, she kept to small towns and villages, sleeping in her truck and trying to make enough money to stay alive. Though free from the horrors of the cult she is nonetheless scarred by them and her actions. Suffering from a form of schizophrenia she suffers from visions of the murderous children. These can be brought on at any time by a sight or a sound, especially the sound of locusts. Then one day she turns up in the small town of Luther and ingratiates her way into a job working for a local mechanic, Carl (Andrews III). Though there's something wrong in Luther... There's a little girl skipping through the village leaving a deadly bloody trail behind her.

What I liked about this film was the slowness of the story. A lot of the reviews on IMDb claim this film to be boring. Though, I think that the Director Gulager uses this inactivity to build the atmosphere of the town. This is a place where very little happens and where there's very little to do. In this township, this has created a kind of quiet loathsomeness. The customers in the diner like to whine and moan; most eat and sit by themselves. Even the scenes at the school you notice that the kids don't run about or play happily. This type of atmosphere can create hatred and bigotry, so it's not too much of a stretch to believe that the only coloured guy in town is despised and disliked. Then when his true nature shines through you can understand a little about why he's unpopular. This actually added a deeper underlying story that made the film for me.

The other nice thing is the dream sequences. This adds a jaggedness and a slight confusion into the normality of things. Knowing a little about schizophrenia, this is about as close as you're likely to get to some of the visions a sufferer may have, depending on their "phobia". To be in the real world one second and then something triggers your mind to throw in a false vision the next... I wouldn't want this to happen to me.

These are handled superbly by Gulager. I really did love the diner massacre, even this is done in ultra slow motion... it's nearly still photography, though not quite. For a vicious and violent scene, it's beautifully constructed and shot. Much respect to the Director and the Special Effects guys and gals. There are also grainy shots of barren wastelands and barbed wire. I initially hated these as they appeared pointless. However, by the third one, I realised they were actually helping me to feel bleakness of the mood, as well as the bleakness enshrouding the village.

Then there's the acting which is well above par for a horror movie these days. It was nice to have a cast who portrayed their characters well. There are no minor roles in this film. And I have to give credit to both the Director and the actress Sara Moore for making Pretty Girl a really eerie character... even though she's the most smiley and happiest person on screen. Very nice transposition. This, in turn, makes the second climax, which happens while the end credits play even more creepy.

I would recommend this to all horror lovers, especially those with a penchant for quiet and slow boiled horror. If you like action-packed films then stay away...

Well, all I can really say is... it's better than the 2009 film.

Also, why does every Stephen King film have many stereotypes?

The black guy that stands out among the rest, rednecks, the sunglasses wearing deputy, religious freaks, and people among the town that are just jerks. For an amazing author such as Stephen King, his formula sometimes gets so redundant it makes me nauseous.

The formula is simple, have some religious kids in corn, with farming tools, and they'll kill people. This film also mooches the formula of Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return, and I'll let you figure that out.

This movie isn't as bad as some of the previous installments, but still, how many more of these movies are going to be made?

So disappointed. The movie went no where and was very confusing. It was such a waste of time and money.

Children of the Corn: Runaway (2018)

1/2 (out of 4)

Ruth (Marci Miller) is a member of the killer children but when she discovers she's pregnant she burns the other children and heads off with her unborn child to give it a better life. Thirteen years later Marci and her son are trying to start over in a new town but pretty soon she begins to feel that the children are after her.

You know, I love horror films and I especially love horror series. Sure, the majority of them don't deliver as many good films as bad ones but I still get a thrill whenever a new sequel is announced to a series. One could really argue that the entire CHILDREN OF THE CORN series hasn't turned out any good films but sadly this one here is without question the worst yet. It's really too bad that this film turned out to be so awful but there's very little here to enjoy.

I'm really not sure what director John Gulager and writer Joel Soisson were trying to do with the picture but it's one of the most boring films that I've seen in recent years. The problem with the screenplay is that we're given a lead character that is downright boring and it's someone that the viewer simply doesn't care for. Another major problem with the screenplay is that there are way too many dream sequences and these just get rather tiresome after a while. Heck, I'd even argue that it seems the two are trying to make something other than a CHILDREN OF THE CORN film but were forced to throw that subplot in to sell the film.

I really hated most of this movie with a passion. I hated the characters, the setting and the story. There wasn't anything here that I really enjoyed and even the short running time seemed triple what it really was. I'm not sure if the director was trying to deliver some sort of psychological movie but it doesn't work. There's a minor issue with the lead character working for a black man and a local principle causing some trouble. What was all of this about?

The one saving grace to the film was Lynn Andrews III who plays the black boss. Again, I'm not exactly sure what the screenplay was trying to do with his character but the actor was very good here and I hope to see him in other projects. CHILDREN OF THE CORN: RUNAWAY has the perfect title because you really should runaway from this film and avoid it at all costs.