Horror Movie Review: Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return (1999)

Before I review the 6th instalment of the Children of the Corn series (yes 6…I know) I have to mention what I know of the series so far….

To date I have seen just the first 3 movies, I didn’t even know that they had carried on until recently when I stumbled across this title. The first Children of the Corn is a decent movie & sees all the kids of a small American town rise up & kill their parents under the guidance of the boy preacher Isaac. He has them convinced that he speaks with a higher power, a god known only as he who walks behind the rows & that the death of all the adults will reveal the truth.

So why am I telling you the plot for the first movie? Simple, it would be very hard to follow the plot of this movie as it pretty much acts as a direct sequel to the original. That’s a hell of a problem if you came across this movie having not seen the first. Mind you I can’t see why anyone would chose to see this film having not seen any other Children… movies before-hand.

Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return is the kind of movie that you go in expecting to be bad & if it isn’t it is instantly elevated upwards. The story goes that a girl called Hannah is going back to her home town of Gatlin (the place where all the kids went & killed their folks) to find out who her mother is. On the way she meets a preacher who predicts her future with a scary degree of accuracy. Once she arrives at the town she finds the place to be a bit strange almost as if she is expected. She inadvertently wakes up Isaac (the boy preacher from the first) who has been in a coma for the last 19 years. Now he is awake he wants to fulfil the prophecy & Hannah is an integral part of it.

I’ll get this out of the way at the start…this movie is bad, really bad.

My first major gripe is the abandonment of the fundamental Children of the Corn aspect…the children. Oh sure there are some freaky kids hanging around town & singing in the corn (as you do) but the main cast are all adults now. They all wish for a prophecy to be fulfilled that dates back the original movie, the one that centred around kids that when reaching the age of 18 were sacrificed? Now being an adult is ok?

The first half of the movie sees the lead Hannah putting up with the wackiest of shit & still not deciding that she clearly isn’t wanted. From the rough treatment by the doctor & unfriendly reaction from the sheriff to being almost rammed off the road & seeing dead birds everywhere. She just dismisses everything as if it’s all part of her normal day.

Her acting skills are decent as are many of the actors but nothing to write home about.

Considering this town has been waiting for Isaac to return there isn’t a clear sign of that. I can’t understand why they didn’t use more visual aids to strength the devotion to him or better use of the corn being as it is a huge symbol in the movies! When he woke up I kind of got excited, the boy actor was a freaky little thing & the adult actor portrays that pretty well. He is a good actor who I kind of sympathised with. His devotion is unwavering even in the face of doubt. Pity the story had him killing the doctor for reasons I still don’t really understand. I guess they had to make sure we knew he was bad.

The ending tries to surprise & fails miserably at it. If you don’t see the twist (used loosely) coming then you didn’t watch the movie properly as it’s glaringly obvious. I hated it & putting a face to the evil was a poor idea.

Oh & it sets up another sequel….

Hardly a series to get excited about before this movie & it does little to improve upon that.