Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995)


This movie exists for one reason.  It was so the Weinstein brothers could keep their greasy sausage fingers on the film rights to the Stephen King short story Children of the Corn.  Of all King's properties it is hard to understand why, as the original is pretty much a cult film and the only other one in the series to get a theatrical release, Children of the Corn II: The Final Harvest, is not fondly remembered.  Neither are any of the other movies in the series, but somehow young director James D.R. Hickox managed to at least make a watchable, and not completely awful, sequel that tied into the original.

Sometime after the events in Gatlin, Nebraska brothers Joshua (Ron Melendez) and Eli (Daniel Cerny) find themselves fleeing from their abusive father, something that Eli fixes before they leave town.  In need of a new family they are adopted by William (Jim Metzler) and Alice (Nancy Lee Grahn), a childless couple in Chicago.  

Joseph quickly begins making friends and adapting to city life.  As a consequence Eli feels that his brother is straying.  Eli himself is an evangelist for He Who Walks Behind the Rows, and has brought seeds from Gatlin's fields with him, which he plants in an abandoned factory next to his adopted family's home.  William sees a chance to make a profit off the strain, while Eli aims to gather the children of Chicago to repeat what happened in Gatlin, only on a larger scale. 

I expected this to be a horrible, bottom-of-the-barrel direct-to-video sequel.  For many it is, but this has a few things going for it.  For one, it does feel low budget, but not cheap.  Screamin' Mad George did the effects and, except for one embarrassing shot of the creature holding an obvious doll instead a person in one of its appendages, they are pretty well done.  The other highlight of the movie is Daniel Cerny's performance.  It was obvious that he was told to emulate John Franklin's portrayal of Isaac in the first movie, but Cerny goes above and beyond and makes it his own.  

Still, it is a Children of the Corn movie, and one doesn't expect anything to be perfect, or even that good.  It's better than the second in the series, and probably better than anything that followed.  Unless one is a Screamin' Mad George completist I wouldn't say this is worth a watch.  But, despite its reputation, it could have been much worse.

Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995)
Time: 92 minutes
Starring: Daniel Cerny, Ron Melendez, Jim Metzler, Nancy Lee Grahn
Director: James D.R. Hickox

 

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