Grano rosso sangue II - Sacrificio finale

I was fifteen when I first saw Children of the Corn 2. And I loved it. Then again, I hadn't seen much horror at the time. However, over twenty years later and I find myself realising how little I knew about decent cinema when I was a teenager.

Don't get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed Children of the Corn 2 yet again, but now I found myself laughing heartily all the way though. Seriously, some comedies don't make me laugh as much as this film did (now, in the cold light of my adulthood).

If you can ignore the use of the word 'final' in the title (there are about four more Children of the Corn films afterwards) and be prepared not to take this story that seriously, you may just enjoy some of the most ludicrous death scenes ever committed on the elderly. The story follows a boy and his single parent father, coming to the nearby town in search of a story as to what happened to the adults who were now found to have been murdered by the children of the town. Once this pair arrive, both instantly fall in love with beautiful women and discover that a young lad by the name of Micha, leads a group of local children to stare intently at adults before dropping houses on them. If you watch this movie you will realise it has some of the most intense staring ever committed to film. Besides the beautiful women and staring brats, there's also a wise old native American, some 'Predator-vision' from the monster (or 'he who hides behind the rows') and a sheriff who tries to kill people like he was a Bond villain.

How this film was supposed to be taken seriously, I'll never know. Just know what you're getting before you watch this. Take the biggest pinch of salt you'll ever take, suspend your disbelief like you never have before and sit back and enjoy one of the most daftly funny horror films ever made.

Apparently it's not a good idea to sit in the nosebleed section of a church; black contact lenses lend evil powers to anyone who wears them; you should never climb under your house in search of your kitty, especially if evil-looking children are lurking about. These are just some of a few lessons to be taken from the sequel nobody expected that snowballed into the franchise nobody wanted, "Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice."

Picking up after the events of the first film, a tabloid-journalist and his teenage son are passing through a small neighboring town of Gatlin, Nebraska shortly after those corn-husking little munchkins laid it to waste. Looking for his big break, the father/journalist decides to stay in town for a while. After merely a few days in town, he receives his fair-share of white-man's guilt from the resident Native America, uncovers a moldy corn conspiracy (a plot point which goes virtually nowhere) and plows the field of a innkeeper. Meanwhile, his son attempts to sow some seeds of his own with the girl-next-door who appears to the only one under the age of 18 in town who isn't under the trance of the mysterious maze.

It must be said that by no means is "Children of the Corn II" a particularly great film. Like the first, it's pretty basic and predictable. It seems as if the script for the first film was tweaked just slightly to concoct a sequel and it shows with plot-holes the size of Nebraska (see what I did there?). Director David Price -- whose resume is as equally unimpressive as the film's script -- loves to inject a lot of ridiculous gore into the film, but forsakes logic in doing so. You'll see corn husks slashing throats, a nosebleed that somehow turns into an earache and a house falling on a woman who doesn't seem to understand she can either try crawling out or hide in between the beams. Nevermind that, though. You don't come here for logic, and Price knows that. With his made-for-TV movie cinematography, you can be rest assured you'll know exactly what you're getting into within the first five minutes of the film.

But what about the cast? Kudos must go out to Ryan Bollman who does his best to look as menacing as possible as the leader of the kiddy cult. Someone ground that kid! On the other side of the coin, you have Terence Knox, resembling what would happen if Bill Pullman and Alec Baldwin gave birth to a bloated baby. Knox seems to be apathetic about the whole thing, as best evidenced by his reaction to the death of a friend by the end of the film. He steps it up a notch when he is caught sinning rather vigorously by his son, but this scene is so uninteresting, you'll feel the same sort of apathy toward it as the actor does the film. I guess you just can't expect Academy Award material with these films, but would it hurt to have actors who care about more than cashing in their paychecks carrying a film?

When all is said and done, in spite of its glaring flaws, "Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice" is easily the best sequel in the "Children of the Corn" series, but that's not saying much. When you consider the films that followed in its wake, it's almost a back-handed compliment. Then again, the first "Children of the Corn" wasn't ground-breaking cinema by any stretch of the imagination, so the fact that any sequel to it can deliver the most basic entertainment is a miracle in and of itself. To that end, "The Final Sacrifice" is a rather schlocky but suitable guilty-pleasure follow-up. If you've suffered through enough "Amityvilles" or "Howlings" then there is no reason you can't sit through this one as well.

I was underwhelmed by the original Children of the Corn (1984) film, I expected something a lot more impressive and walked away very dissapointed.

It took 8yrs before it got a sequel and the movie more or less picks up from the last. All the corpses of the residents have been found but the psychotic religious fanatic children haven't changed at all and once again set about purging the adults.

It comes down to a reporter and his son to stop them, but though it makes for an interesting follow up the movie itself isn't very interesting.

A couple of decent deaths and a passable premise don't make up for just how generic it feels. Nothing stands out, everything feels rather copy and pasted.

The Final Sacrifice tries to flesh out the mythology and background of "He who walks behind the rows" but in doing so kind of damages what they'd already built. Sometimes simplicity is the key.

If you liked the first I'd say this is essential viewing, if you didn't then take into consideration that this is more of the same.

The Good:

One death scene was great

Follows on nicely

The Bad:

Simply fails to entertain

Squanders potential

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Rifling through a persons belongings left in a car is suitable small town etiquette

BINGO!

This movie doesn't quite have the awesome start the first one did – but I'll take a few decomposing Gatlin residents over nothing.

It's the aftermath of the downfall of the creepy munchkin Isaac, the Ginger Ninja Malachi, and He Who Walks Behind the Rows. And reporters and residents from Hemingford the neighbouring town have descended upon Gatlin, with the surviving Gatlin kids being farmed off to new families so the carnage can start again.

Coming to join the corn party is a teenage boy with a horrible haircut, Danny, his daddy issues and his daddy. They stay with 'attractive hostess with no real story' who has taken in a Gatlin kid called Micah, who also has daddy issues, so of course a friendship springs up between Danny and Micah that eventually leads to sacrificing people, as is the natural course of things.

Nothing much really happens after that. The Gatlin kids shuffle around town in a group staring at stuff. I've decided that Micah is the best starer – he really tries at it. And blah blah blah – people start dying. I'm bored already.

My favourite death (so few times you get to start a sentence that way) would be the old lady under the house, with all her howling and honking and crappy acting I was hoping one of the five year olds would just run up and start kicking her in the stomach – alas not to be, but she was crushed and the kids stood in their group and stared. Followed closely by the man who just started haemorrhaging blood all over the church. (Micah did some of his best staring in this scene – watch out for it) During this time, Danny has found love with a pretty young girl called Needy McNeederson. His daddy starts making sweet sweet love to 'attractive hostess with no real story' and there's some weird back story stuff thrown in about the corn and poisons and old Indian legends etched into rocks. None of it really makes any sense – doesn't fit in with the story in any way but it is told by a wise old American Indian man – so that lends some serious weight to what is being said.

It all ends where it should – in the corn. Attempted sacrifices are abound, professions of love and apologies are made. Micah's yelling all over the place and doesn't seem to be staring as much which makes me sad. He Who Walks Behind the Rows turns up briefly and does his thing. It's just another day with the Children of the Corn.

All in all, a pretty crappy sequel – but if you watch one, you gotta watch em all. Next up; Children of the Corn 3 –Gangsta Corn.

The first "Children of the Corn" film is a decent horror film with some suspense and atmosphere,this one is basically just a typical slasher film gussied up with occult elements.By those standards,it isn't bad,with some decent scares and a fair amount of blood.Sure,it's nothing new,but overlook that if you really love horror genre.The acting is either wooden or over-the-top,but there are some rather inventive death scenes for example when an old woman is crushed by her own home.So if you are a fan of this series then go ahead-try this one,if not check out some other horror flicks.5 out of 10.