Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice

Plot

The plot involves the dark goings on in Hemingford, Nebraska, a town near Gatlin (the original film's setting). The people of Hemingford decide to adopt the surviving children from Gatlin, intending to help them start new lives. Unfortunately for the well-meaning locals, the children return to the cornfield where one of the cult members, Micah, is possessed by He Who Walks Behind the Rows, the demonic entity the cult worships.

Caught in the middle are city reporter John Garrett and his son Danny, who are having a bitter falling out over John's failed relationship with Danny's mother. John is in town working on a story about the children to save his career, presently in a downward spiral. He runs into two of his former coworkers, Bobby Knite and fellow reporter Wayde McKenzie, who are on their way out of town before being killed in a nearby cornfield after taking a shortcut in their van by a mysterious, powerful storm which lasts only minutes and causes the surprisingly sharp cornstalks to wreak havoc. Back in town, John meets bed and breakfast owner Angela Casual and they soon become lovers. Danny, looking to distance himself from his father, befriends orphaned local girl, Lacey, who tells him a few disturbing details about Gatlin.

Micah and the other children murder a local woman, Ruby Burke, by sabotaging the hydraulic jacks supporting her house while she is underneath it, causing it to descend and crush her. Micah then kills another person in the town, David Simpson, during church services with a knife and a wooden voodoo doll, which causes him to bleed to death. John begins to ask the town doctor questions about what is going on, but the doctor acts suspiciously and asks John to leave. The doctor is later stabbed to death in his office by the children. Micah and the children later kill Mrs. Burke's sister, Mrs. West, in the road making it appear that she had been struck by a car.

John partners with Frank Red Bear, a professor at a nearby University, to try and make some sense of the recent chaos and death. They discover that certain residents of the town are selling spoiled corn from the previous year's harvest along with the new crop. The spoiled corn has a dark green acidic toxin growing on it which they believe is filling the town's air and contributing to a spate of delusions in the children, rendering them emotionless and violent. The town Sheriff discovers them spying on the site of his (and the dead town doctor's) misdeeds, ties them up, and tries to kill them with a corn harvester, but they escape.

The Sheriff and the rest of the Hemingford adults attend an emergency town hall meeting to discuss the situation, but the children lock them inside and set the building on fire killing all of them. The children then kidnap Angela and Lacey and bring them out into the cornfield where they are pressuring a confused Danny to join them in sacrificing Lacey. John and Frank arrive driving the harvester. One of the children shoots Frank with an arrow, wounding him. Danny and John free Lacey and Angela and attempt to escape but the cornfield seemingly never ends and they shortly return to where they started. Micah attempts to harness the power of He Who Walks Behind the Rows until Frank restarts the harvester, before finally dying. Micah's robe becomes caught in the machine, as he calls for help. Micah's face transforms, first into the demon that possessed him, then back to himself again. Danny runs in to help him but is too late. Micah is pulled in by the harvester and killed. The rest of the children scatter, and Danny, Angela, Lacey, and John leave the clearing.

John and Danny later reconcile as they burn Frank's body and give him a funeral before they, Angela, and Lacey drive off together, presumably returning to the city.

Some unspecified time later, it is revealed that Frank's spirit has become the protector of Hemingford.

Cast

Production

Film production began at the end of spring 1992, and shooting began in summer 1992 in Liberty, North Carolina. Most of the cast were locals, including the children. The scene involving an elderly woman flying through a store window after her wheelchair becomes controlled by Micah was filmed in downtown Ramseur, North Carolina. The scene where Micah and the children of the corn burn the town elders was filmed in a home at the corner of Asheboro St. and Luther Ave. in Liberty. The home was burned for the film and a vacant lot remains where the house once stood. The production crew used a local parsonage at the corner of Fayetteville and Raleigh Sts. in Liberty as its headquarters during shooting. Brian Yuzna's son Xeno appears as one of the children of the corn.

In the DVD commentary, director David Price said during the shoot there was a local Christian group who held a few (low-key) protests during filming, and he received a dead rodent on his door step as a warning. As a result, the production constructed their own church for a few scenes in the film. Despite this, no actual incidents occurred.

Also in the DVD commentary, Price said the ending involving Red Bear painting a stone was added at the last minute. Originally, it involved John Garrett making a phone call to his tabloid at a phone booth by the side of the road near the cornfield, only to have it swallowed into the earth by He Who Walks Behind The Rows, killing him. This was scrapped due to budget constraints.

According to the original draft of the script, the film was going to be called Children of the Corn II: Deadly Harvest.

Release

Children of the Corn II was released in the US on January 29, 1993. It made $2.7 million in its opening weekend and eventually grossed a total of $7 million in the US.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 22% of nine surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 2/10.