Above image is from the rare Penthouse publishing of CHILDREN OF THE CORN from 1977.I would not have become a fan of Stephen King’s work or even for that matter "Children of the Corn" if it was not for two variables in my life which have effected other parts of my being other than me being a Children of the Corn fan (most notably me being a fan of kaiju/tokusatsu eiga myself): being a God fearing Christian (no specific denomination, though if I had to choose, then Catholicism is the one I would choose) and two, the existence of the Sci-Fi Channel (which has changed it’s name to the SyFy channel, at least that it what it is while I write my book, and it was a stupid thing to do). The SciFi Channel (I am going to call it that, so sue me) was having it’s premier of it in I think 2002 and the advertising only had two scenes from the film, the shot of Malachi while everyone in the cult is saying "Praise God! Praise the Lord!" and a shot of Linda Hamilton on the corn cross. I thought it was going to be a faux-Christian mythos film, much like what "Constantine". I was wrong, and it became a semi-horrific obsession. Think about a nine year old kid watching every morning when he woke up the original Children of the Corn every morning for about a month till I had to make room for a faux Conan spin-off (Red Sonja).
Who doesn’t find the whole concept of children uniting under a demonic force to do what they think is right (which often times what happens, since once you live off of corn and obey God, no real wrong could be done)? It is one of those classic tales which go into fantasy. And me being younger than 19 can find through the films one thing good: a good teenage rebellion release other than the usual excuse of sports or heavy metal music. Plus, the films do offer something which is very awesome: the ways of the followers of He Who Walks Behind The Rows are. It is something which you could get nerdy with and learn - just like a real religion (though it is going to be harder to do than the other things people would normally get into).
Now since I have the reason why I got why I am a fan out of the way, I now got to talk about the films themselves. It is not secret that on a critical grading scale of these films that they are pretty bad films. Maybe not as bad as something which Tommy Wiseau makes (and I make that comment knowing fully well that the film "The Room" was made bad on purpose). And I also know that unlike films in kaiju eiga, these films for the most part have no deep meanings and are not deep at all. Nothing that will actually make you think as an intellectual.
But being the first person to write a book chronicling the film series, there has to be some things done. First, the different continuities of the series have to be listed. This is why when you go to the table of contents, you are going to see the 9 films split into 5 different series or continuities. This is based on the most logical ways to categorize the films in which makes sense.
Now, something which I have been accused of in the past is plagiarism. Or not so much plagiarism as it is not doing much original work as a regular film historian would do. But this is not the mindset I put myself in when I am writing a book like this. I think of this: "What can I do to make the most complete and definitive ‘making of’ in the written form?" And I hope in this effort that I have succeeded.
Now, why am I writing this work? Because since I became a fan, I have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for someone to come along and write a good book covering the history of the "Children of the Corn" film series, but it just never came along. Why doesn’t anyone write this already? The book not making money is not a good enough example not to write this book. Do you think August Ragone thought about profit when he wrote his book, "Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters"? No! So I am going to give the fans the most comprehensive and most detailed "making of" the Children of the Corn series ever composed.
So, without further to do, I offer you the first manifesto published which gives you - as of my time - the most information regarding the ever so legendary cult film series, "Children of the Corn". Tell He Who Walks Behind The Rows I said, "Hi!"
Post Script:
Well, I have decided to post the text on blogger. I figured that the book would not be published because the company I would have to send it to - The Weinsteins - would say no. So, here it is. As for sources of information in here, unless you can't find sources by googling the direct quites in the text, here are some links:
Who doesn’t find the whole concept of children uniting under a demonic force to do what they think is right (which often times what happens, since once you live off of corn and obey God, no real wrong could be done)? It is one of those classic tales which go into fantasy. And me being younger than 19 can find through the films one thing good: a good teenage rebellion release other than the usual excuse of sports or heavy metal music. Plus, the films do offer something which is very awesome: the ways of the followers of He Who Walks Behind The Rows are. It is something which you could get nerdy with and learn - just like a real religion (though it is going to be harder to do than the other things people would normally get into).
Now since I have the reason why I got why I am a fan out of the way, I now got to talk about the films themselves. It is not secret that on a critical grading scale of these films that they are pretty bad films. Maybe not as bad as something which Tommy Wiseau makes (and I make that comment knowing fully well that the film "The Room" was made bad on purpose). And I also know that unlike films in kaiju eiga, these films for the most part have no deep meanings and are not deep at all. Nothing that will actually make you think as an intellectual.
But being the first person to write a book chronicling the film series, there has to be some things done. First, the different continuities of the series have to be listed. This is why when you go to the table of contents, you are going to see the 9 films split into 5 different series or continuities. This is based on the most logical ways to categorize the films in which makes sense.
Now, something which I have been accused of in the past is plagiarism. Or not so much plagiarism as it is not doing much original work as a regular film historian would do. But this is not the mindset I put myself in when I am writing a book like this. I think of this: "What can I do to make the most complete and definitive ‘making of’ in the written form?" And I hope in this effort that I have succeeded.
Now, why am I writing this work? Because since I became a fan, I have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for someone to come along and write a good book covering the history of the "Children of the Corn" film series, but it just never came along. Why doesn’t anyone write this already? The book not making money is not a good enough example not to write this book. Do you think August Ragone thought about profit when he wrote his book, "Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters"? No! So I am going to give the fans the most comprehensive and most detailed "making of" the Children of the Corn series ever composed.
So, without further to do, I offer you the first manifesto published which gives you - as of my time - the most information regarding the ever so legendary cult film series, "Children of the Corn". Tell He Who Walks Behind The Rows I said, "Hi!"
Post Script:
Well, I have decided to post the text on blogger. I figured that the book would not be published because the company I would have to send it to - The Weinsteins - would say no. So, here it is. As for sources of information in here, unless you can't find sources by googling the direct quites in the text, here are some links:
There is also a bunch of stuff which used to be on old fan sites which are far gone now thanks to an 8 year gap between CHILDREN OF THE CORN REVELATION and the remake. If there is any other sources I have not credited, post a comment on this specific post and you are already labled a source. I tried writing a book on the subject and I failed. Not because I lost interest, since I am eagerly awaiting CHILDREN OF THE CORN VIII: THE DWELLER. But because it would be a waste of time for me. And chapters for FIELDS OF TERROR and THE GATHERING may not be written, keep checking back to see if they do if you so want them to be.
Making of images to come. Truckloads of them. From each film.
The original Children of the corn is actually not a bad film, it's a classic. However the sequels are all crap.
ReplyDelete