Horror Movie Review: Children Of The Corn V: Fields Of Terror (1998)

Fields of Terror…well that’s a name that implies scares, right?

Maybe if you’ve never seen a Children of the Corn sequel up to this point. I will admit I’m watching these out of order but it really doesn’t matter, they are barely linked together with only the corn/he who walks behind the rows being any kind of obvious link.

It’s not even set in Gatlin; instead it’s in Divinity Falls with a group of annoying & barely likeable teens. If you’re the kind of person that likes seeing semi-famous actors in smaller roles when they first started off, Fields of Terror has a young Eva Mendes boring the hell out of herself & everyone else.

Can you see where this is going?

A young boy, Ezekiel is seen wandering a corn field where he comes across a pit of green fire which then possesses him.

A year later those teens are travelling cross-country in 2 groups with one leaving signs for the others (sex dolls – seems extremely un-necessary) to follow. The first group eventually end up in the corn-fields where they are dispatched in decent fashion. The second group eventually run out of signs & crash nearby.

Accosted by a group of creepy kids led by Ezekiel, they are warned about being on private property & told to leave. They don’t really listen & end up shacking up in a local house which appears empty & effectively start raiding it of its beer & food. As you do…thankfully it’s not long before they start getting killed by the psychotic kids.

It’s not much of a movie plot so a load of extra sub-plots are added to try & make the movie a little more interesting…it doesn’t work. The main lead, Alison finds out her run-away brother is at the town (what a coincidence) having escaped her abusive father years before. She sets about trying to see him & eventually save him from becoming a sacrifice for ‘he who walks behind the rows’ (when they reach the age of 18 they must willingly jump into a silo of green fire).

Eva Mendes is so cut up abut her boyfriend dying (before the movie starts) & getting covered in his ashes during the crash that she sleeps with one of the group then reads the Children of the Corn script, sorry, I mean bible & likes what she reads so she throws herself into the silo as a willing sacrifice.

Add a mysterious adult cult leader played by David Carradine who looks like he can’t believe he’s involved. A sheriff who has decided now is the time to stop what is going on in the town & un-requited love… you end up with the mess that is the fifth Children of the Corn movie.

For me this is one of the worst Children of the Corn movies I’ve seen, it’s barely a decent slasher movie & its only redeeming features are the often graphic death scenes. One stands out particularly…a head split opens & burns the face of another. I know, right? Crazy stuff…

So much of Fields Of Terror leave you groaning…whether it is characters doing the usual stupid stuff you see in horror, horrible plot developments & a sequel-baiting ending that if you’ve seen Children of the Corn 6 means nothing.

I really don’t understand exactly what Children of the Corn V is trying to do, is it trying be a slasher horror? Does it even recognise its own history? Who knows…who cares…