Notable Cast: Marci
Miller, Jake Ryan Scott, Sara Moore, Mary Kathryn Bryant, Lynn Andrews III, Kevin
Harvey, Diane Ayala Goldner, Eric Starkey
After Children of the
Corn: Genesis and the truly abysmal made-for-TV remake of the original, I
was ready for the Children of the Corn
series to be laid to rest and buried behind the rows of sweet corn. It was obvious that this series had grown, was
harvested and left the soil unfit for further cultivation. When it announced
that the ninth entry into the series (yeah, nine entries) would finally get a
release after being stuck in developmental hell for a handful of years, my
excitement could be measured in a long and drawn out sigh. Even worse, Children of the Corn: Runaway was directed by John Gulager who
managed to kill his own Feast
franchise and make Piranha 3DD too
stupid to survive. Imagine my surprise that this ninth entry to a series (that
didn’t really deserve four entries) came out as not only decent, but one of the
best that the franchise had to offer - not that it means much. It simultaneously reboots the series in a clever way while at the same time
delivering a modernized spin on the intellectual property that matches the
current trends in horror. Yeah, Runaway
is not just another hackneyed slasher, it’s actually a horror film that expands
on the mythology and pushes it into some new territory. It’s a mixed effort
ultimately, but I’ll be damned if I wasn’t pleasantly surprised.