The second full-length adaptation of the Stephen King short story of the same name from his Night Shift collection, released in 2009.
A sequel titled Children Of The Corn Runaway was released Direct to Video in 2018.
This film has the examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Vicky is a mild example; she blasts one of the kids with a shotgun before being killed.
- Artistic License – Biology: Ahaz's blood coagulates within minutes, and he keeps crackling like his bones are breaking every time he's touched.
- Blood Knight: Malachai is more eager to kill than the other children — so much so that Isaac lectures him on the sin of pride.
- Chosen Conception Partner: While investigating the church, Burt discovers a ledger which lists the names of Gatlin's residents, their dates of birth and death. The most recent page focuses on a boy named Adam and a girl named Eve, clearly destined for each other since birth given the Biblical reference and foreshadowing the young lovers participating in the mating ritual.
- Coitus Uninterruptus: Defied. An outsider is roaming around freely in their sacred corn field, which is something that really ticks their god off. Also, said outsider has already killed several members of their cult. Yet the Children of the Corn don't let these troubles interfere with their rousing nighttime sex ceremony, especially considering they've got a small window for it to work.
- Coming and Going: A sex ceremony in which two of the adolescent cult members happily conceive a child is spliced with shots of Burt hopelessly stumbling through a corn field filled with dead bodies. His yowl of anguish merges with the girl's orgasmic screams.
- Death of a Child: In fact, it's also toyed with when Burt, who's a Vietnam Veteran in the remake, kills a few of them during a Vietnam Flashback, believing them to be Vietcong hiding in the corn.
- Fanservice: The sex scene. It has nothing to do with anything else going on and takes place between two adolescent characters who aren't even named and are barely seen at any other time in the movie. If anything, it shows how the cult has continued on for 12 years in full immodest detail.
- Ghost Town: As usual Burt and Vicky come upon Gatlin that has all the makings of this until the children reveal themselves.
- Insatiable Newlyweds: As part of their ritualistic breeding ceremony, the adolescent couples are expected to have sex on the altar every night, which they eagerly partake in with great euphoric pleasure.
- The Immodest Orgasm: The girl in the fertility ritual almost shatters the church windows with her moaning as she's getting passionately plowed on the altar.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Isaac asks He-Who-Walks-Behind-The-Rows to guide his aim as he just practically whisks a knife at Burt. (Isaac is on a roof, Burt in an alley), which manages to fully connect to stab Burt. Isaac was aiming at his heart, so even if HWWBTR's wasn't giving him a full blessing, he still did one heck of a good job.
- Just Like Making Love: Isaac infamously dubs the act of making love as "fertilization" during his church sermon.
- Lampshade Hanging: In this adaptation, Burt actually points out the ridiculousness of the idea that an American town in 20th century could become cut off from the rest of the world without anyone noticing.
- Not as You Know Them: Someone coming into this movie will find a lot of things different from the first film. However some of these examples actually undo the Not as You Know Them the original film changed from the short story.
- Malachai is far more loyal to Isaac than in the original film. Burt is a Vietnam Vet in the remake and has frequent flashbacks. Vicky is black and a former anti-war activist. Isaac is also nine years old in the remake and is implied to be a new leader after the old one reached the "age of favor." Isaac is also harsher and more ruthless in the remake. For example, in the original he tolerates Job and Sarah's apostasy. Finally Job and Sarah are merged into one character, who is killed by Burt while in a flashback. Joseph is implied to be the son of the original leader, having his tie in his suitcase. In the original no such relation is suggested.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: The sex ceremony takes place on the altar inside a broken down church in front of a crowd of underage children, adding to the creepy factor.
- Mate or Die: The children of Gatlin have only a small window of opportunity to reproduce and replenish their numbers before reaching the "age of favor" which has already been lowered to 19 prior and once again to 18 as punishment by the end of the film.
- Naughty by Night: During daytime the boys work in the fields, tending to the crops while the girls are busy doing the chores and preparing food. Once nighttime falls, however, a teenage boy and a teenage girl are selected to publicly mate in the sex ceremony for all to see.
- Ready for Lovemaking: The adolescent couple are both dressed in ceremonial white robes with nothing underneath, signifying they are ready for the "fertilization" ritual to commence once they disrobe.
- Remake Cameo:
- Producer example: Donald P. Borchers, who produced the original 1984 film, comes back to produce this version. He also directed and wrote the script.
- Musical example: Jonathan Elias, who provided the score for the original 1984 film, comes back to score this version as well.
- Sex in a Shared Room: The sex ceremony is witnessed by the whole congregation who watch the intercourse with jovial glee, even going so far as to get closer look and a better view of the "fertilization" process.
- Someone to Remember Him By: When the "age of favor" is lowered, many of the older boys who dutifully sacrifice themselves are leaving behind young wives/lovers with babies. It's pretty obvious that the boy who participated in the ceremonial sex scene earlier in the movie was impregnating his teenage lover, also.
- Truer to the Text: While it still adds many new/expanded scenes, this version of the film is much closer to the original short story, including the absence of other adult characters, Burt's past as a soldier in Vietnam, and the original Downer Ending.
- Unseen Evil: The thing in the cornfield, Burt found out the hard way they do have a god in there.
- Would Hurt a Child: While they are evil cultist children, Burt so would. He'll snap their neck, snap the bone in their arm and outright kill them. Did we mention he was in Vietnam?
