Review: Children of the Corn 2023

Director: Kurt Wimmer

Guion: Kurt Wimmer

Year: 2023

When it comes to iconic horror franchises, I'm sure almost no one (or no one) will have the “Children of the Corn” franchise on their list. Except for the first installment, which without being a great movie, can be considered a horror classic, many fans of the genre are not even aware of the large number of films that are part of this franchise. The reason almost no one knows about these movies is pretty obvious: they are not good movies.

Now in 2023, another film is added to the series, which seeks to be a remake based on the first film, which in turn is based on a story by the legendary horror writer Stephen King, but which takes so many liberties that it bears very little relation with both. This new story takes us to Nebraska, where we witness the events leading up to the massacre of the adults of a small town after their decisions result in the loss of their corn crops, causing the children to rebel against the adults. If the synopsis sounds absurd, brace yourself; we're just starting.

Due to the quality of previous films in the franchise, I had low expectations with this new installment, and even so, it managed to surprise me with how bad it could be. The first thing that caught my attention was the quality of the script, which is riddled with absurd and unbelievable dialogues and situations to the point that it is difficult to understand how a script like this could have been used for a feature film. More than a horror movie, the disastrous script makes you think it is a parody of the genre.

Then come the directing and acting problems, which are just as bad as the script. Except for the antagonist, it's quite a challenge to watch the rest of the cast, where each and every one of them overacts every scene on their hands. If the dialogues themselves are bad, seeing them acted out is torture. Add to this the horrible special effects and editing problems, resulting in a disaster that few will end up seeing.

This new version of "Children of the Corn", instead of seeking to turn a franchise around, makes us remember why it has not been successful. The film is nothing more than an amalgamation of failures, and it is incomprehensible how it could have ended in full production. If you ask me if I've seen worse, my answer would be yes, but not many.