Children of the Corn: Runaway (2018)

Movie Info

She’s a little runaway!

When the child-run city of Gatlin collapsed, Ruth (Marci Miller) went on the run to save her unborn child.  Now Ruth and Aaron (Jake Ryan Scott) are still trying to make ends meet as they travel the Midwest.  When Ruth finds herself stranded in a small town, Aaron hopes he can finally have a normal life, but Ruth questions if her past in Gatlin will come back to haunt her…and if the children will rise again!

Directed by John Gulager, Children of the Corn:  Runaway is the tenth entry in the Children of the Corn series following Children of the Corn:  Genesis in 2011 (or the ninth entry if you eliminate the remake movie in 2009).  The film was released direct-to-DVD in 2018.

I was amazed by how bad Children of the Corn:  Genesis was.  There are tons of bad horror movies and for the most part the Children of the Corn series have been part of that tradition.  Children of the Corn:  Genesis took it to a new level so Children of the Corn:  Runaway really had nowhere to go but up.

You might want to check yourself…before you wreck yourself

The plot has promise with characters that at least have some sense of development, but none are likable.  Ruth is unbalanced which isn’t crime, but her behavior and her pasts ties to Gatlin and the slaughter of adults makes her already problematic and irredeemable (even if she saved her child).  Aaron is potentially good since he just wants a normal life but quickly becomes bratty.  You want to like the repairman Carl (played by Lynn Andrews III), but it seems like he has ulterior motives, and Sarah (played by Mary Kathryn Bryant) also demonstrates an ability for cruelty (even before the ending).  All of the primarily characters are added to a town full of jerks who you don’t feel bad about being slaughtered.

Marci Miller is actually rather solid as Ruth.  While I don’t particularly like her character, I feel that Miller does the best she can with it.  Aaron is a rather generic kid and not intimidating (even in the final scene) and the poster “scary kid” played by Sara Moore just doesn’t match an Isaac or Malachai from the first film.

I love worshipping pagan spirits!!!

The movie is largely propelled by the visuals and the visuals are a step-up from the previous entry.  Ruth’s visions are shot stylistically and some of the deaths are fun.  The film doesn’t do a very good job building shock or surprise, and there is a ton of room for improvement, but it is better than some of the other films.  It does also have some almost Birdemic quality computer animated crows at points.

Children of the Corn:  Runaway is definitely not a good picture, but it is an ok picture.  An ok picture is actually a rather high mark for a series that has had extreme lows and follows an original horror film that was entertaining but not great.  The short Stephen King story feels so distant from this movie, and it seems like the filmmakers should look back on what makes Stephen King a success before they start making a sequel.  I’m sure the children will rise again.

Related Links:

Children of the Corn (1985)

Children of the Corn II:  The Final Sacrifice (1992)

Children of the Corn III:  Urban Harvest (1995)

Children of the Corn IV:  The Gathering (1996)

Children of the Corn V:  Fields of Terror (1998)

Children of the Corn 666:  Isaac’s Return (1999)

Children of the Corn:  Genesis (2011)