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Children of the Corn (1984) KILL COUNT is the four hundred and sixty-seventh video of The Kill Count.
Overview[]
The film is set in the fictional town of Gatlin, Nebraska, an agricultural community surrounded by huge cornfields. When the corn crop fails one year, the townsfolk turn to prayer to ensure a successful harvest. However, nine-year-old Isaac Chroner takes all of the Gatlin children into the cornfields and indoctrinates them into a religious cult based around a bloodthirsty deity called "He Who Walks Behind the Rows". Isaac and his subordinate Malachi lead the children in a revolution, murdering all of the adults in town as human sacrifices. Children Job and his sister Sarah are uninvolved in the sacrifices, having not attended the meetings with the other children.
Three years later, Vicky and her husband, Burt, travel through rural Nebraska on their way to Seattle, where Burt will start work as a physician. A young boy named Joseph tries to flee Gatlin but is attacked in the corn; he stumbles out into the road and Burt accidentally runs over him. However, Burt discovers that his throat was cut beforehand. Searching for help, the couple finds Diehl, an elderly mechanic and the last adult in Gatlin. He refuses them service, as he has agreed to supply the children with fuel in exchange for his life. Malachi breaks the pact and murders him after Diehl tries to steer the couple away from Gatlin.
Vicky and Burt explore the abandoned town and find Sarah alone in a house. Malachi and his followers capture Vicky and take her to the cornfield, where they place her on a cross to be sacrificed. Burt enters the church, where a congregation of children led by a girl named Rachel are performing a cultural birthday ritual for Amos by drinking his blood from a pentagram-shaped cut on his body. Amos has turned 19, so is considered old enough for his "passing"—joining their god in the cornfield. Rachel stabs Burt, who is rescued by Job. They hide in a fallout shelter with Sarah.
Isaac scolds Malachi for killing Diehl, their only source of fuel. Malachi takes over, tired of Isaac's preaching, and orders Isaac to be sacrificed instead of Vicky. Isaac warns that sacrificing him will break their pact with He Who Walks Behind the Rows and the children will be punished. That night, Burt sneaks into the cornfield to rescue Vicky. During Isaac's sacrifice, a supernatural light appears and devours him. Burt overpowers Malachi and convinces the children to abandon the cult and run. Isaac reappears, possessed by He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Informing Malachi that "He wants you, too", Isaac kills him by choking him and breaking his neck.
A storm appears, and Burt and Vicky shelter the children in a barn. Reading from Job's Bible, Vicky realizes that the cornfield must be destroyed by fire in order to stop the false god. Burt tosses a Molotov cocktail into the field, setting it alight and destroying the demon along with Isaac. The couple returns to the car with Job and Sarah to leave Gatlin, but find it disabled. Rachel attacks Burt, but Vicky knocks her out and they depart with the children on foot.
Deaths[]
Counted Deaths[]
- 18 Adults of the Corn (Including Mr. Hansen and Dave) - Poisoned/slashed/hacked/sliced - 3-4 mins in
- Job and Sarah's Mom - Killed by kids (heard over phone) - 4 mins in
- Joseph - Stabbed or slashed to death - 15 mins in
- Diehl - Lost a fight against kids - 35 mins in
- Amos - Sacrificed offscreen to He Who Walks Behind the Rows - 1 hr 14 mins in
- Isaac - Became a corn cross bottle rocket WEEEE!! - 1 hr 15 mins in
- Malachai - Neck broken by zombie (?) Isaac - 1 hr 18 mins in
Non-Counted Deaths[]
- Sarge the Dog - Killed offscreen
- Officer Hodgekiss/Blue Man - Crucified offscreen into a bastard skelly
- He Who Walks Behind the Rows - Exploded
- Rachel - Knocked out with car door
Trivia[]
- This is the third appearance of John Franklin on the Kill Count with the first two being Tammy and the T-Rex as Bobby and also voiced Walkabout Chucky in Child's Play (1988).
- This is the second appearance of Linda Hamilton on the Kill Count with the first being The Terminator as Sarah Connor.
- This is the second Kill Count to feature Courtney Gains, who was in Halloween (2007 Remake) as Kendall Jacks.
- This is the second Kill Count to feature John Philbin, who was in Return of the Living Dead as Chuck.
- He Who Walks Behind the Rows is the 33rd fictional character to be featured in a Numbers Gag.