The 1984 movie, based on the novel by Stephen King, shows that technology does not make or break a film.
I grew up in the Akron area, which is in part known for its famously large haunted house, The Haunted Schoolhouse and Laboratory. Opening its doors in 1974, the attraction has seen significant changes. Aside from the usual adjustments of costumes and affects, the attraction has also made bigger adjustments. The laboratory part of the attraction has only been in operation since 2001, and was added 27 years after the initial opening of the haunted schoolhouse.
The movie industry has a similar necessity for change. As trends and fads come and go it is up to entertainers, whether they be haunted house operators or movie directors, to keep their attractions relevant. The films that exist today are vastly different from the ones that existed a decade ago in several fundamental ways. A solid script and a handful of decent actors is no longer enough to turn a film into a blockbuster hit.
“Special effects from computers (have) essentially changed everything about the moviemaking process. It’s now easier to produce images that would have required large budgets and humongous practical effects to pull off. This has had both positive and negative impacts,” Nate Sexauer, a freshman studying media arts said.
With Halloween just around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate to take a look at the horror classic, Children of the Corn. The plot of the movie is relatively well-known — a couple driving near a cornfield accidentally hit a child and discover that, prior to the incident, the young boy’s neck had already been slashed. They try to figure out where this mysterious boy came from and enter a small town that is overrun by children. They worship a demon they call “He Who Walks Behind the Rows” and are forced to commit ritualistic murder to please it. The rest of the movie focuses on the couple’s efforts to escape Gatlin.
This movie scared the absolute crap out of me when I was younger. In fact, I actually had not seen Children of the Corn until about a week ago. I am, unabashedly, a huge scaredy cat. However, now that I have seen the movie in its entirety, I am left dumbfounded trying to figure out why this movie no longer creeped me out so much. The children are creepy and the premise is incredibly bizarre.
It took me a while to realize that this movie’s downfall is neither its source material, the script or the actors. It’s the “cheap” effects that can ruin the atmosphere.
In short: this movie has not aged well. What were once probably considered clever and innovative effects have now become jokes when compared to special effect standards today. This is not to say that Children of the Corn has lost it’s credibility as a horror movie. In fact, I think it has far more to offer audiences now.
Children of the Corn could be looked at as another one of Stephen King’s shock stories but I also think it, in a way, the film feels like it is mimicking the rebellion adolescents in America were experiencing in the 80s. Basically, I think that this movie was not trying to be innovative but, instead, be a subtle reminder of the past.
We are living in the age of technology and, sometimes, it is hard to remember that there is more to a film than its CGI effects. At their heart, movies are stories and I think this movie has an especially thrilling story to tell.
Kaitlyn McGarvey is a freshman studying journalism. Have you seen this Stephen King classic? Email her atkm451814@ohio.edu or tweet @McGarveyKaitlyn.
