Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return (1999) Movie Review
Written By: MMR
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Kari Skogland
Producers: Bill Berry, Jeff Geoffray, Walter Josten
Writers: Tim Sulka, John Franklin
Date Released: October 19, 1999
Cast:
Natalie Ramsey as Hannah Martin
Gary Bullock as Zachariah
Alix Koromzay as Cora
John Franklin as Isaac
Paul Popowich as Gabriel
Stacy Keach as Dr. Michaels
Rating = 3/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Hannah Martin, daughter of an original member of Gatlin corn cult worshipping a demon known as “He Who Walks Behind the Rows,” went back to her hometown in efforts of searching for her mother and of learning about her past. On her way to Gatlin, Hannah found the way to her hometown as uncanny and mysterious. When Hannah arrived, Isaac, the cult leader of the murderous cult, woke up from a coma as prophesized for the coming of the end. In pursuit of her lineage, strange things happened around her, full of danger, violence, and threats.
Gore Factor
Full of violence, there were a lot of scenes with blood and gore. The death of Isaac was one of the scenes where this is shown; he was impaled by “He Who Walks Behind The Rows” and was impaled by a broken pipe. The most notable gory scene is when the mother of Hannah tore out Gabriel’s guts out by a harvest knife. The insides of Gabriel fell out and lost a lot of blood. Use of special effects for magic made the trick for the film and fake blood was also utilized to make the scenes as bloody as they can be.
The Grave Review
There’s that certain fear that the Children of the Corn movie series instill, a cult kids who kill their parents, it’s instantaneously a scary premise because in the first place, why would a child kill the people responsible for bringing them into life? And those who age gets sacrificed when reaching 18, seriously? That’s messed up. But thinking about it, maybe they just don’t want these kids to face the evils of the real world like rent, taxes, bills, and responsibilities that comes with being an adult.
Being the sixth film in the franchise, however, makes it seem like an endless story with all the repetitive tone as its predecessors. While the film didn’t deviate from the previous installments, it would be hard for this film to stand alone and out in the crowd. It has the feel of seeing something over and over again that when you reach the end of it, you’re confused.
While it can be its greatest weakness, it can also be considered its greatest strength: the film’s lineage. Coming off from a series of films is not easy to pull off but Children of the Corn 666 survived. Being based on one of the barons of horror novels, Stephen King’s Children of the Corn, it would really be hard to maintain the energy the story would bring especially considering that it is already the sixth in the franchise.
The prophecies also gave the creeps. To think of being destined for something and not being able to carry it is a real-life scare. For Children of the Corn 666, their prophecies are something some would never even want to come. Hannah carries with her the prophecy of the return of “He Who Walks Behind the Rows,” which isn’t what one would want to happen as her arrival marks the devil’s resurrection. In the end, she didn’t just make the prophecy happen, she already carries the seed of the demon.
With this, Grave Reviews gives Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return three graves out of five graves.
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