YMMV / Children of the Corn (1984)

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Did Malachai turn on Isaac because he wanted to lead the cult in his own way as a bloodthirsty zealot? Or was he right when he said that Isaac was becoming egotistical and put himself above the other children?
  Isaac: Do not blaspheme, Malachai. You know not the laws. He speaks them only to me.
  Malachai: I think not Isaac. You are the one who's lost favor with him. He's a god of blood and sacrifice, not ceremonies.
  Isaac: Ahh! Sacrilege! Down on your knees, heretic.
  Malachai: Shut your mouth, Isaac! You've grown prideful and apart from us!
  • The other children don't protest when Malachai speaks out against Isaac, and in fact help him crucify Isaac on a corn cross. Did they believe Malachai was more fit to lead as a faithful follower of He Who Walks Behind The Rows? Or were they simply more afraid of him, and acted so that he wouldn't try to hurt them as well?
    • As further proof for either interpretation, earlier in the church, the girl teacher sends one of the boys to tell Isaac about Burt's presence, but then changes her mind and tells him to bring Malachai.
  • Is Malachi a true believer? Or is he just a psychopath that wanted to kill all the adults and loves the power he holds over the kids in town?
  • Are the rest of the kids' true believers or are they just terrified of Isaac and Malachi? They’re pretty easily convinced by Bert and Vicky to change their ways.
• Awesome Music: The main theme by Jonathan Elias is a wonderfully ominous mix of choirs and mid-1980s synthesizers.
• Complete Monster: See here.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Malachi. For being one of the scariest and most iconic characters in a Stephen King movie his death is very quick anti-climactic.
• Ham and Cheese: Isaac. It helps that since there's loads of corn around, so there's plenty of scenery for him to actually chew on.
• Narm: The demon's death is depicted as a goofy cartoon face superimposed on the explosion doing a silly scream, prompting laughs instead of terror.
• Narm Charm: Courtney Gains as Malachai manages to be simultaneously a horrible actor... and completely fucking terrifying, especially in scenes where he doesn't talk. He just has an incredibly impressive presence that makes you instantly know this isn't a guy to be messed with.
• Nightmare Fuel: The initial massacre of the adults at the diner at the beginning of the film. The teens enter the diner, locking the door behind them while one of the waitresses pours poison into the latest brew of coffee. Once a few succumb to the poisoned drink, the teens begin slitting the throats of the other adults while others force the diner owner's hand into a deli slicer. Finally, Job's father is hit multiple times in the back with a meat cleaver, with his mother meeting a similar fate on the other end of the phone he was talking into. Keep in mind that this happened everywhere else in Gatlin.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Eric Freeman in his pre-Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 days plays one of the children.
  • In voice-acting side of this, Julie Maddalena plays Rachel, the girl who is holding Amos's birthday ceremony.
• The Scrappy: Some viewers don't particularly like Job and Sarah. For instance, 1000 Misspent Hours argues that their presence undermines the movie's scare factors, both through Job providing an unneeded narration in the opening and having the two children aid Burt and Vicky, minimizing the threat of the cult in the process.
• Tear Jerker: Job witnessing the brutal murder of his father at the diner, coupled with his mother meeting a similar fate on the other end of the phone. Doubles with Nightmare Fuel.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The rivalry between Isaac and Malachai for control of the other children, based on their differing beliefs regarding "His" commands, is arguably the more interesting storyline, but it's mostly just used as a subplot to the more conventional narrative of Burt and Vicky trying to fight the cult and escape Gatlin.
• The Woobie: Job is forced to witness the first wave of adult murders firsthand, including his own father. It doesn't help that he gets hit with blood during the whole ordeal and by the time the teens start killing his father, he's yelling at them to stop, to no avail. Any kid in his position would definitely be scarred for life. This likely explains why Job, along with his sister, wasn't as indoctrinated in the cult as the rest of Gatlin's children.

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