10 Horrifyingly Underrated Stephen King Adaptations
1. Children Of The Corn
What The Critics Said:
In a one star review, Roger Ebert hacked the movie apart, concluding his piece by saying ‘the only thing moving behind the rows is the audience, fleeing to the exits.' Ouch.
Why It’s Worth A Watch:
Starting life as a slow-growing kernel in Penthouse magazine before sprouting into readers’ affections as one of the best entries in King's Night Shift collection, Children Of The Corn was always begging to make the cut on the big screen.
Despite taking a couple of mostly welcome deviations from the source material – kudos to the creation of narrative-driving kid protagonists Job and Sarah, a big boo to a tamer finale – the film is a taut examination of a couple’s strained relationship, as they are thrust into the isolation of ghost town Gatlin, Nebraska, pitted against a group of youngsters fresh from raiding their dead daddies’ toolsheds.
Headed up by John Franklin’s sneering little cult leader Isaac, it’s the kids that make the film so unnerving with director Fritz Kiersch dialling up the tension until their reveal sees events hurtle towards the cornfields at a scary pace. Unfairly disregarded by outlander critics of the time, the film has a deserved cult following.
Got any unloved King adaptations to include? Feel that Hearts In Atlantis has been mugged off slightly? Comment below.