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[Review] ‘Children of the Corn: Runaway’ Squanders Its Potential

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Out of all Stephen King adaptations, I’m not sure why Children of the Corn is the franchise with the most sequels under its belt. Don’t get me wrong, I love the first few movies (and the excellent short story that started it all), but there’s only so much mileage you can get out of a child-cult going on murderous rampages before things get stale. Nevertheless, John Gulager, director of the incredibly entertaining Feast, was chosen to helm the tenth entry in this long-lived saga in an attempt to keep things fresh, with mixed results.

Children of the Corn: Runaway stars Marci Miller and Jake Ryan Scott as Ruth and Aaron, a mother and son who’ve been on the run for years after escaping the original film’s murderous cult. After becoming stranded in a small town, Ruth attempts to start a new life with her son, though the influence of He Who Walks Behind the Rows doesn’t seem to be far behind.

Despite being yet another direct-to-video sequel, I’ve got to hand it to Gulager for making the most of a relatively limited budget. Were it not for a few awkward shots and death sequences, the cinematography is entirely theater-worthy. Sadly, the same can’t be said for the film’s muddled script and lack of scares.

Runaway actually starts out with a genuinely compelling narrative, as the prospect of a single mother trying to protect her son from the horrors that raised her sounds like one hell of a premise. While the film does at least try to acknowledge the deeper emotional aspects of the story, the end result feels rather boring. The characters and their motivations aren’t quite engaging enough for the film to work dramatically, and the horror elements are painfully misused.

In all honesty, the movie wouldn’t be that different if someone were to edit out all the Children of the Corn connections, leaving us with a lackluster drama about a troubled single mom trying to get by in an unforgiving rural-American town. The supposedly scary elements from the previous films seem incidental here, as random deaths pepper the script with little to no consequences until the very end.

There are still some worthwhile aspects to Runaway, however, as Miller and Scott are an extremely convincing mother-son duo, and their chemistry helps to remedy the script’s flaws. Performances aside, a few of the deaths are also quite entertaining, if lacking in the creativity department. The film also managed to build up some decent atmosphere, as the dusty Oklahoma town the protagonists are stranded in occasionally feels almost tangible.

Ultimately, Children of the Corn: Runaway could have been a legitimately interesting character piece featuring some familiar bite-sized antagonists, but regrettably squanders its potential on a shallow script, despite some of Gulager’s trademarked flare. Remarkably, this isn’t the worst sequel in the series, but it won’t be revitalizing the franchise anytime soon. Unless you’re a diehard worshipper of He Who Walks Behind the Rows, I’d give this one a pass.

Children of the Corn: Runaway is available now on Blu-Ray and VOD!

Born Brazilian, raised Canadian, Luiz is a writer and Film student that spends most of his time watching movies and subsequently complaining about them.

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‘Herencia Diabólica’ – 1993’s “Mexican Child’s Play” Finally Has a Blu-ray Release [Review]

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Did you know that there is a Child’s Play-inspired film from Mexico? If you didn’t, you can thank Vinegar Syndrome’s new label Degausser Video for making 1993’s Herencia Diabólica available for the masses to watch. Or at least for the VS hardcore fanbase, Chucky completists and anyone else who needs something like this in their lives.

Director Alfredo Salazar, known for his writing connection to the 70s Santo film series, also serves as the writer here to bring us a film seemingly inspired from the Child’s Play franchise. While it has been recently labeled as the “Mexican Child’s Play” (there’s a special feature on the disc with that very title), the killer doll concept is where the comparison should start and end. Despite having some seeds planted by that franchise, Salazar delivers a story that blossoms into something unique.

Tony (Roberto Guinar) receives a letter informing him that his aunt has died, and he has inherited her estate in Mexico. He quits his job and uproots his life in New York with his wife Annie (Holda Ramírez) to relocate south of the border and move into his new crib. Now I know what you’re thinking, what person just quits their job and drags their wife to another country without having reliable monetary income? Tony does, everyone, Tony does.

And what’s the first thing they do once they arrive in Mexico and check out the estate? They hit the bedroom, naturally. We are treated to a sex scene with an erotica song that feels like a knockoff of “Sadness” by Enigma (remember them?). Sounds fun and all, but the scene takes place completely in the dark and we see absolutely nothing. Maybe that’s why the sexy-time tune was pumping, so we could know what was exactly going down.

While Tony goes on a job interview, Annie explores the estate’s grounds in a tedious chore to experience, going room by room, plodding along. But it does lead us to her discovery of our antagonist—the evil clown doll, Payasito! Of all the things in the house, she decides to bring this monstrosity down to show Tony when he gets home. What an exciting way to celebrate (sic)! Then out of nowhere, she spouts off some exposition about rumors that Tony’s aunt dabbled in the dark arts and now we know where our title Diabolical Inheritance (the English translation for Herencia Diabólica) originates. For those of you who keep score for things like that.

Before proceeding with this review, you really need to visualize what Payasito looks like to truly embrace the rest of the film’s shenanigans. While Chucky resembles a cute ginger child, Payasito resembles a small clown that is much larger in stature than Chucky. That’s because Payasito is performed by an actor (Margarito Esparaza) in clown cosplay whenever he’s on the move (like Mannequin 2), and makes some really horrible facial expressions. Chucky dresses in “Good Guys” overalls and a striped shirt, but Payasito wears a new wave Santa hat while sporting a Sgt. Pepper jacket and Peter Pan tights. As you can now tell, he is quite beautiful.

Back to our story, Payasito begins to spook Annie cerebrally until she becomes unnerved to the point of having a complete mental break down, making her easy prey to eliminate. She dies but the unborn child survives, with Tony believing that her death was caused by her mental instability. Fast forward some years later and the couple’s surviving spawn has grown into child Roy (Alan Fernando), who at this point has already bonded with Payasito to help him over the loss of his mother. Dun-dun-duuunnn!

Meanwhile wealthy Tony remains single, still grieving his late wife, until his blonde assistant Doris encourages him to move on with his life and start seeing other people. And by other people, she naturally means herself. As the old Kanye West song lyric goes, “I ain’t saying she’s a gold digger…”, and it seems that she might be until we learn more about her character. Doris is played by the stunning Lorena Hererra who has an extremely extensive resume in Mexico, and she carries most of the film quite well during the feature’s second half. The singer and former Playboy centerfold for their Mexico edition is by far the most recognizable face in the cast.

Doris and Tony do indeed hookup and she moves into La casa de Herencia, where she does her best to impress Roy and lessen his obsession with the doll. There is a scene where they go to a nearby park without Payasito that is filled with famous fairytale figures, such as Pinocchio, Cinderella and King Kong! What, you didn’t know King Kong is a fairytale? Me neither. But Roy continues to be obsessed with Payasito after their trip, much to Doris’ chagrin.

Her actions to separate him from Roy gets Payasito angry, setting up the film’s most memorable scene. We already know that Payasito is a devil doll like Chucky, but now we learn he also has the power to invade people’s dreams like Freddy Krueger! Does Payasito enter the dream world and concoct a creative way to kill Doris in her sleep? No, he harnesses his power to sexually assault her instead. Yes that actually happens. After she awakens, Doris grabs the doll and tosses him into a lake, only to find him waiting for her by the time she gets back to the house. So now we know he also maintains the ability to “transport” like Jason Voorhees too. This doll is the total package!

More insanity happens before we close out the film with the longest victim chase sequence ever. It makes the previously mentioned painful house search scene seem like an eyeblink. It feels like it’s the film’s entire third act, filled with so much padding that you could soundproof an entire three-story house.

So how’s the transfer? Considering it was created using a mix of VHS and film source elements from 1993, they did one heck of a job! The work they put into it is especially noticeable in the dream invasion sequence, with the pulsing multi-colored psychedelic visuals. Super trippy stuff. Even the film’s score provides a pretty chill vibe, during the times when Payasito isn’t on the prowl.

If anything you read has piqued your interest in the very least, you should give it a shot. But if not, it is best to leave this doll on the shelf.

Herencia Diabólica is now available to purchase at VinegarSyndrome.com.

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