October 13: A DTV Horror Sequel released by Dimension Films

After the death of their father, Eli (Daniel Cerny) and Joshua (Ron Melendez) are adopted by William (Jim Metzler) and Amanda Porter (Nancy Lee Grahn, Julia Wainwright Capwell on Santa Barbara from 1985 – 1993 and Alexis Davis on General Hospital since 1996), moving from a farm to Chicago. Eli seems like he’s going to have a harder time than Joshua fitting in, as he reads a prayer at dinner that goes like so: “Let us give thanks to He Who Walks Behind the Rows, who protects our crops and keeps the infidel and unbeliever in the torments of hellfire eternal. Amen.”

I laughed like a maniac.

Eli also has a suitcase filled with corn that he plants in an abandoned lot in the middle of urban Chicago, where the boys also have to go to Catholic school, which goes about as well as you think. T-Loc (Garvin Funches) gives the young Amish-like kid a hard time while his brother goes off and plays some b-ball and becomes friends with neighbors Malcolm (Jon Clair) and Maria (Mario Morrow, Oneisha from Family Matters).

The secret is that Eli is from Gatlin, Nebraska and hasn’t aged since 1964. By this point in the movie, he’s fed his corn with the head of a homeless man, murdered his adopted mom by knocking her down and having a pipe go through her head and set a social worker on fire. Luckily, his new dad just wants to make money on his corn, which can grow anywhere and never rots.

Eli takes over most of the students when he feeds them his corn and then goes about killing adults with bugs and by crucifying Father Frank Nolan (Michael Ensign). Joshua learns that his brother has a secret bible — it’s a hardcover of U of M grad Steve King’s Night Shift — that keeps him alive and oh yeah, we get to see the kaiju that is He Who Walks Behind the Rows.  If you look closely, you may see Ivana Miličević and Charlize Theron in the thrall of Eli and that cornshucking beast.

Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest was the first film in the series made under Dimension Films and Miramax Films, who also made Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering, Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror, Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return, Children of the Corn: Revelation and Children of the Corn: Genesis.

Director James D.R. Hickox was the editor of Waxwork, Waxwork II, Masters of the Universe, Beastmaster 2 and Greystoke before he made Children of the Corn III. He hadn’t seen either of the first two movies. He’s the brother of director Anthony Hickox.