MOVIE REVIEW : Plot Holes Cause Spoilage of ‘Corn II’

Let’s hope “Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice” (citywide) lives up to its title, for if there ever were a film that didn’t deserve a sequel in the first place it is the 1984 original.

These “Corn(y)” pictures are based on one of Stephen King’s farthest out premises: Adults in the Nebraska farm belt have messed with the ecology so badly that their kids become vulnerable to a disease disseminated by infected corn. (Last time out Iowa stood in for Nebraska, this time it’s North Carolina.)

The disease turns them into oddly puritanical worshipers of a vengeful nature spirit they call “He Who Walks Behind the Rows,” which they appease by slaughtering their parents (and practically anyone else older than 19).

“Corn II” opens with the discovery of a slough of bodies in a musty cellar. Covering the story is a reporter (Terence Knox) for a tabloid who would like to get back into respectable journalism after having been fired from Newsweek for telling off his editor. He figures--wrongly--that getting to the bottom of the massacre will be a step up from writing about how Rock Hudson was actually yet another of J.F.K.’s many lovers. At the same time he’s trying to make peace with his sarcastic estranged son (Paul Scherrer), whom he’s brought along; there’s also time for both father and son to romance local women.

Along with heavy-handed doses of ecological messages and American Indian mysticism, there is a group of ominous blank-faced teens, dressed vaguely like the Amish or Mennonites. Most of the townspeople are completely oblivious to them, despite all those corpses in the cellar. Those who do take notice meet grisly fates.

It must be said that, stuck with a script full of plot holes, director David Price doesn’t flinch. Both he and his key actors are clearly up to better material than “Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice” (rated R for horror, violence and language).

‘Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice’

Terence Knox: Garrett

Paul Scherrer: Danny

Ryan Bollman: Micah

Christie Clark: Lacey

Rosalind Allen: Angela

Ned Romero: Dr. Frank Red Bear

A Dimension (Miramax) presentation. Director David Price. Producers Scott Stone, David Stanley, Bill Froelich. Executive producer Lawrence Mortoff. Screenplay by A. L. Katz, Gil Adler. Cinematographer Levie Isaacks. Editor Barry Zetlin. Production design Greg Melton. Art director Tim Eckei. Set decorator Natali K. Pope. Running time: 1 hour, 32 minutes.

MPAA-rated R (PG (for horror, violence and language).