YMMV / Children of the Corn

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: There's a rather odd scene early in the short story, as well as Disciples Of the Crow which is the only adaptation that included it, where Burt is flipping through the stations on the radio which are all almost inaudible due to the isolation, except one which is clear as day and features a teenager giving a fire-and-brimstone sermon (he's an adult in the short film which just makes it weirder).
• Complete Monster:
  • He Who Walks Behind the Rows is an ancient demonic being who corrupts the children of Gatlin into murdering their parents and enacting a cult of blood and sacrifice with any follower sacrificed to him when they grow too old, with outsiders also sacrificed. Loyalty means nothing to him, He Who Walks Behind the Rows even claiming his loyal prophet Isaac Chroner. In the sequels, the dark god corrupts more children with mass casualties, attempting to spread the cult global. In Isaac's Return, he incarnates into the body of the first child of Gatlin's children, Gabriel, to seduce and impregnate the heroine with the first of a "new race" with which he intends to replace humanity.
  • First film & Isaac's Return: Isaac Chroner, the prophet of He Who Walks Behind the Rows, is the word and giver of his laws. Swaying the children of Gatlin into killing their parents and setting up a brutal cult where many are sacrificed, Isaac is betrayed by his bloodthirsty subordinate Malachai and ends up in a coma for 19 years. Awakening as a ruthless murderer who freely brags of his own lack of soul, Isaac learns he is a father and intends his son Matt to be the fulfillment of the prophecy for the sake of his own ego and legacy. Isaac restarts the cult, disowning Matt when he cannot complete the sacrifice Isaac carries out, and intends to start the apocalypse, forsaking all loyalty to his monstrous god in favor of believing himself eternal and almighty.
  • Original film: Malachai Boardman is the sadistic right-hand to Isaac. Coordinating the slaughter of Gatlin's adults, Malachai is the one who personally kills his way through any threat or outsiders, cutting the throat of a little boy who tries to escape and pointlessly murdering not only the one adult that Gatlin spared, but his dog too. Malachai eventually betrays and sacrifices Isaac to He Who Walks, disappointed and disillusioned that Isaac doesn't simply kill and kill as much as he can for fun.
• Ham and Cheese: Isaac from the first movie.
• Nightmare Retardant: Any time He Who Walks Behind The Rows isn't He Who Must Not Be Seen, where he appears as a bizarre toothy root monster.
• Sequelitis: There are so far seven sequels to the original film, and they get steadily worse.
• Values Resonance: Burt's speech at the end of the first movie holds true — Religion isn't about spreading hatred or fear, it's about love and empathy. This is a lesson that needs to be heard in a time where people use religion as a way to spread their own biases.

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