I saw this movie recently and I was unimpressed. I have seen many adaptations of Stephen King's short stories, and this film is not among the best. However, it also didn't seem as bad as many people say. It has some redeeming qualities that must be taken into account. Perhaps it contributed to becoming a film with some notoriety, even after several disastrous sequels.
The film is based on a short story by King about a small rural town, where everything revolves around growing corn. One day, in 1980, inspired by the fiery preaching of a teenager recently arrived in the city called Isaac, the local children unite and massacre the adults, their parents and family members, in order to please an evil and diabolical deity they call "The One Who Walks Behind the Rows". And from there, the city dies, and so do those who get there. It was what would happen to a young couple who gets lost and finds the city by chance, but they will have the help of two children from the city, unhappy with the direction of the situation.
Well, I don't know if it's really worth saying that logic isn't the film's strong point. It does not make sense for a city, however small, to suffer such a calamity and that is not front-page news, with an invasion of police, armed to the teeth, to hunt down the sect. It is best to accept the film as it is and not think too much about the story or everything will fall apart. One of the things that pleased me most is the way the film begins: through the voice of one of the children, we witnessed the horror of the massacre, with the refinement of cruelty. It is one of the most striking scenes in the film, and it introduces very well what will follow. The film is effective in the task of creating an atmosphere of tension and surrounding suspense, but it spoils it as it progresses and the film becomes more exaggerated. The ending is histrionic and uninteresting.
The film has a cast that we can divide into adults and children. The overall performance is average, but there is no actor who truly shines or stands out for his good work. This is largely due to the poor direction of Fritz Kiersch and the fact that the characters are basic, without any development. Most children did not have much to do. John Franklin is greasy and slippery, but never truly threatening, Courtney Gains is more effective at this task; Robby Kiger and Anne Marie McEvoy are sweet, pleasant and easy to like; Jonas Marlowe and Julie Maddalena do nothing more than is essential. When it comes to adults, Linda Hamilton steals the spotlight whenever she appears and the reason is clear: she is beautiful and convincing in the role of the lady in danger, but she does nothing but be in danger, appear scared and run away. R. G. Armstrong did a good job on a character that comes up briefly, and it gives us perhaps the closest thing to a well-done dramatic interpretation. Peter Horton has not convinced me and has scenes that are absolutely inconceivable.
Technically it is a rather poor film, and it should certainly not be the fault of the time it was made. There were already better features and special effects than those used here. Really, the film has horrible special effects, the best and most creative being that pile of earth that runs from side to side and, supposedly, is the evil creature that lives in the corn and the children deified. There is little blood in the film (in certain scenes there should be more to make it more credible) and the deaths are not graphic, but they shock more by what is implied than by what is actually seen.
