Kinder des Zorns (1984)

Kinder des Zorns: Directed by Fritz Kiersch. With Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R.G. Armstrong, John Franklin. A young couple is trapped in a remote town where a dangerous religious cult of children believes that everyone over age 18 must be killed.

“Stephen King is often cited to be the father of modern horror, and this view isnu0026#39;t wholly unfounded. Kingu0026#39;s stories have had a large impact upon the horror genre, and many of them are very good stories in their own right also. However, when it comes to translating Kingu0026#39;s words onto the screen; many filmmakers have proved that they are not up to the task. I havenu0026#39;t read the book, u0026#39;Children of the Cornu0026#39;, but Iu0026#39;m sure itu0026#39;s better than this movie. While the film isnu0026#39;t especially bad; itu0026#39;s hardly a tour de-force of horror cinema either, and like many Stephen King films; this one could have been a hell of a lot better. Actually, this story isnu0026#39;t one of Kingu0026#39;s better efforts; it follows a small town whose children murder their parents on the instructions of a mysterious preacher; a little kid calling himself Isaac. The story picks up three years after this terrible event when a young couple drive into town for some reason. They find the village completely devoid of adults and it isnu0026#39;t long until they discover whatu0026#39;s happened and seek to put an end to it! u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis film has missed several opportunities, the most glaring of which is the subterranean manifestation that dwells beneath the soil in the cornfields. We get several glimpses of this creature, but we never get to see it properly; and because of this, the monster is about as threatening as a bunch of little kids. Oh wait. Anyway, the film draws parallels with other evil kids films such as Village of the Damned in the way it plays out, but it never really gets out of first gear. While the atmosphere of the town is foreboding and well done on the whole, the plotting isnu0026#39;t very exciting and thereu0026#39;s very few moments of real tension or suspense, which ensures the film isnu0026#39;t as engaging as it could have been. The cornfields and the corn that inhabits said fieldu0026#39;s makes for an unlikely horror prop, and some scenes within the fields are genuinely creepy. The kids themselves are rather well done also, with both of the main ones having good screen presence. If you were to pigeonhole Kingu0026#39;s films into u0026#39;goodu0026#39; and u0026#39;badu0026#39;, this one would firmly be in the latter side. On itu0026#39;s own, however, itu0026#39;s not all that bad, and if youu0026#39;re a fan of Kingu0026#39;s work, youu0026#39;ll no doubt find something to like here. Or you might hate it for not living up to the book, one of the two.”