2. Children of the Corn
Children of the Corn was released in 1984, doing well in the box office but not charming the critics, with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 39%. King had the short story first published back in 1977.
Big Names Attached: Linda Hamilton (aka Sarah Connor) stars, but I guess that's about it.
Is The Book Better?: I'll admit, I haven't read this one yet. Alright, so there's not much to say about this one. I haven't seen the book, and there's no exciting talent attached to the film, so there really isn't a good reason to have such high hopes for this in the first place. But, it's the overall premise that promises something exciting and well, scary. The whole idea of a demonic entity that entices all the children in the town to murder all the adults in a ritual-like fashion. That. Sounds. Amazing. Alas, the film doesn't live up. The premise is so brilliant and really demands a good adaptation, but the script, acting and production values all fall short. It's just nowhere near as creepy or iconic as it could've been. A damn shame, really. The vast majority of the child actors are woefully unconvincing; especially annoying is the ginger kid, Malaki, who is far too over the top to be effectively creepy. Props to Isaac though; he's probably the only one of the bunch worth remembering. Still, it's not enough...