Movies
The ‘Children of the Corn’ Franchise, Ranked
It’s “cult” month here at Horror Press. I don’t know what this says about me, but my thoughts instantly turned to the Children of the Corn franchise. But the inexplicably sprawling series is a perfect fit for cult month, really. After all, it follows a group of killer kids who worship the entity He Who Walks Behind The Rows. Because these children kill adults (often their parents), the taboo-busting franchise has something of a chokehold on the popular imagination. However, very few people have seen all ten installments that followed the original movie. That’s mostly a wise move, I must say. But I thought, as a Corn expert, I should share my guide to the best and worst of the franchise. If you want to plunge further into this particular cult’s offerings, this article will be an invaluable resource.
Ranking All the Children of the Corn Movies
#11 Children of the Corn: Revelation (2001)
Revelation is not just the worst movie in the Children of the Corn franchise. It’s genuinely one of the worst horror movies in history. It’s a byproduct of Dimension Films’ heyday of carelessly producing sequels solely to maintain the rights to franchises. It was an era of ceaselessly pumping out lazy retreads like a dog that accidentally ate a bottle of laxatives. However, Revelation is somehow even worse than any of the garbage Hellraiser movies they put out at the time.
This ploddingly tedious movie follows a woman finding her grandmother’s apartment complex mysteriously empty of inhabitants. (And finding a script that is even emptier of incidents.) It contains few children, very little corn, and a vanishingly small number of moments that might be considered enjoyable whatsoever.
#10 Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return (1999)
At least Isaac’s Return prevents The Falcon and the Winter Soldier from being director Kari Skogland’s worst project. That’s the most noteworthy thing about this abysmal early attempt at a legacy sequel. It could and should have been a huge coup to resurrect the original villain, Isaac (John Franklin). However, this movie (which Franklin admittedly co-wrote) finds absolutely nothing for him to do. Instead, it rushes audiences through a slapped-together, incoherent hodgepodge of nonsense.
#9 Children of the Corn: Runaway (2018)
It turns out that stealing the setup of Terminator 2 doesn’t a good Children of the Corn movie make. Runaway, which follows a woman on the run with her child, strays a bit too far from the formula. While the more formulaic CotC installments are hardly masterpieces, this movie’s alterations simply take away elements without adding anything. It’s a bit too bland for those differences to feel particularly interesting.
#8 Children of the Corn: Genesis (2011)
Just like Isaac’s Return, Genesis is random and stupid. Just like Runaway, it strays from the formula. (This time the plot sees a stranded couple being taken in by a child-worshipping cult.) However, unlike either of those two installments, it is mostly watchable.
#7 Children of the Corn (2009)
This Syfy network remake lacks oomph. The biggest change they could think to make was “what if the lead couple was unbearably annoying?” However, it does have its mild charms. Most notably, the dubstep remix of the main theme that plays over the closing credits.
#6 Children of the Corn (2020)
This not-quite-remake is a bit boring (it’s mostly about corn subsidies, for some reason). However, it benefits from the best villainous child since the original installment. That Child would be Eden (Kate Moyer). Moyer plays the character as more of a petulant toddler than a preternaturally mature cult leader. That pays major dividends by emphasizing the youth of the characters committing these horrifically violent acts.
#5 Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998)
This insipid sequel largely gets by on the novelty of its surprisingly stacked cast. A cameo appearance from Kane Hodder! A slightly less brief appearance from David Carradine! 90210 and The Young and the Restless hottie Greg Vaughan! Trans icon Alexis Arquette! And even a very young Eva Mendes, whose superbly structured hair is reminiscent of a Frank Gehry building.
#4 Children of the Corn (1984)
Having the original in this position is actually a good thing. Most franchises are born because the first movie is a stone-cold classic, but this can make rankings pretty boring. Most rankings of franchises like Poltergeist, Halloween, and Texas Chainsaw will end up with the first movie up top. It’s much more interesting when the original movie is a bit underwhelming but turned out to be a box office success. This allows exciting debate to rage over what the best installment actually is. What will top this particular list? You’ll just have to wait to find out, won’t you?
Anyway, Children of the Corn is a totally fine movie. It does what it says on the tin, but not much more. There are only four factors that prevent this from being a totally forgotten Amblin-esque horror movie. The first two are that it’s based on a Stephen King story and that it stars a pre-Terminator Linda Hamilton. The others (which are more relevant to the watching experience) are John Franklin and Courtney Gains’ superb, chilling villain performances.
#3 Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996)
Here’s where you need to take my assessment with a grain of salt. The Gathering also goes off-formula, and it is weird. I guess you’d call it a supernatural medical thriller? The story follows med student Naomi Watts being baffled by a mysterious disease that is sweeping through her town’s children. Whatever it is, as a card-carrying germaphobe, I find it entirely compelling and eerie.
#2 Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992)
The Final Sacrifice is honestly a gem. The sequel, which finds the newly adopted corn children terrorizing the next small town over, is packed with cheesy delights. For one thing, there may be nothing else in the franchise as giddily campy as the bingo hall death scene. However, it also has some of the best sequences of sustained tension that these mostly misbegotten movies ever offered.
#1 Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995)
Goopy Screaming Mad George effects have salvaged plenty of 1990s horror trash. However, even without his indelible third act contributions, Urban Harvest is a fun watch. The movie, about two Nebraska boys ending up in the Chicago foster system, has plenty to recommend it. Including some shockingly transgressive material with the franchise’s newest creepy kid, Eli (Daniel Cerny). It’s an enjoyably nutty time, through and through.
We are finally in the midst of Shudder’s 61 days of Halloween! There are so many horror movies to consume and 31 days simply isn’t enough. Use the long Labor Day weekend to kick off your horror movie countdown and add these movies to your Shudder queue. Here is a list of what I would recommend checking out to ease into the Halloween spirit right before going into full blown premature trick-or-treating mode.
The Best Movies to Stream on Shudder This Month
The Yeti (2026)
A large creature has captured people in a remote Alaskan town in the 1940s. The sheriff has put together a search-and-rescue monster hunting party to bring back the captives. It sounds like the premise of a Cold Iron Studios co-op video game in the same vein as Aliens: Fireteam Elite. The stylization from co-directors Gene Gallerano & William Pisciotta in the trailer makes me think they have cooked up a story that blends action, horror, and wilderness survival. Sign me up, sheriff!
Leave (2022)
Hunter was found as a baby abandoned in a cemetery wrapped in a cloth covered with satanic symbols. She has been searching for answers her whole life about where she came from. Her journey to find her parents takes her down a mysterious path, and she is being warned by something from the beyond to leave this mystery alone. Can she trust who this investigation is leading her towards? It’s a mysterious, supernatural, culty film that will give you chills.
Penny Lane is Dead (2026)
One crazy night in Australia with perhaps a dash of revenge. Shudder’s latest original looks to be packed with blood and violence in this story of girls just trying to have fun until the crazy cousin drugs the party and invites dangerous people to play. The trailer promises lots of body horror (trigger warning, there may be SA or threat of it). I’m not saying it will be Evil Dead level, but there’s definitely something in the Aussie water with Lee Cronin pumping out his gory deadites and mummy films, and now Mia Kate Russel with this one.
The Others (2001)
This is a PSA to the younger readers of Horror Press; stop what you’re doing and watch Nicole Kidman go 100 miles per hour in this classic ghost story with a twist. Dreary weather, massive estate, confusing corridors, creepy house servants you don’t know if you can trust, and sad British kids. The ending is an all-timer and spoilers should be avoided at all costs. It has exactly what you need to get right into the cozy, spooky mood for 61-days of Halloween.
Dark Harvest (2023)
If The Hunger Games and The Purge had a baby and raised it during Oktoberfest. Teenage boys are tasked with hunting and killing the entity known as Sawtooth Jack on Halloween night, or it could mean certain peril for their town. Of the movies I have listed here that I have not seen, this is going to be at the top of my watchlist. Teens fighting for survival on Halloween night and the battle setting is in a cornfield?! Say less. I am there with my Sam Adams seasonal in hand. Another perfect movie to cannonball me right into the Halloween spirit.
This list has been carefully curated to watch in a specific order to gear up for a Halloween marathon. Start with the wintry monster movie, move on to a macabre supernatural thriller, followed by a ramp-up in blood and gore, to then be lulled into a spooky, bump-in-the-night classic, all to end on a ritualistic hunt taking place on Halloween night. This is just getting things started for the first 30-days. Looking forward to sharing the next list to get you through October.
Anyone who follows legendary horror author Stephen King on social media or reads the back of books knows one thing. It’s harder to find something that King hasn’t blurbed than something that he has. The dude is a voracious consumer of genre media, and he finds a lot to love. It’s an admirable quality. But, speaking as someone who saw American Ultra after he praised it, you can’t always trust his recommendations. Today, I’ll cut some of the wheat from the chaff and break down the best modern horror movies he’s recommended.
Three notes: First, I have decided to define “modern” as “2001 or later.” Second, King practices good social media hygiene and has deleted many of his old posts. A lot of them are archived elsewhere. However, it’s more or less impossible to make a truly comprehensive list of his recommendations. I’ve synthesized multiple different sources and done my best to truly encapsulate the breadth of his recommendations. Third, I have not included any adaptations of his own work. He may be outspoken about the ones he doesn’t like, but he’s still obviously biased in that department.
#10 Snakes on a Plane (2006)
To quote King himself (defending putting 2012 among his top 2009 movies), “no filmgoing diet is complete without some cheese.” Snakes on a Plane is a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin movie, delivering high-flying serpentine thrills. However, it’s also a remarkably faithful resurrection of the atmosphere of old 1970s airplane thrillers.
#9 Final Destination 5 (2011)
In his Best of 2011 entry on Final Destination 5, King called it “the best since the first,” and he’s absolutely right. While the sequels probably peaked with the highway prologue in Final Destination 2, the fifth installment is pound-for-pound the most thrilling entry. Between the bridge collapse, the laser eye surgery, and the nail-biting sequence where a screw falls pointy-side-up on a balance beam, there’s no denying there’s real power here. And that’s not even mentioning the fun final twist!
#8 A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
In a since-deleted Tweet, King called Day One “the rare ‘big Hollywood film’ that is both intimate and textured.” It’s true. A Quiet Place: Day One is a mini miracle of horror filmmaking. An IP-drenched prequel to a duology of good-not-great post-apocalyptic popcorn blockbusters shouldn’t be this genuinely stirring. Plus, relative newcomer Joseph Quinn holds his own against the awe-inspiring Lupita Nyong’o, resulting in an all-timer two-hander.
#7 The Strangers (2008)
After watching The Strangers, King took to Entertainment Weekly to pontificate about what makes good horror. If you inspire someone who literally wrote the book on horror to think about it more, you’ve done something right. Bryan Bertino’s home invasion movie is one of the grimmest movies of the 2000s, but its desperate existential dread is terrifying and perfectly in line with King’s best works.
#6 Splice (2009)
King included Splice on his Top 10 list for 2010, particularly praising the “talented actors… who take the material seriously.” How did this grotesque genetic-experimentation horror movie directed by the guy who made Cube land Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley? Who knows. But they breathe life into some already super solid material. What Brody in particular gets up to feels even more twisted because it’s the guy from The Pianist doing it.
#5 Smile (2022)
In a since-deleted Tweet, King called Smile a “good, scary horror film.” He added that “the real surprise is Sosie Bacon as Rose. What a hell of a performance.” Bacon really was a revelation, but so was debut director Parker Finn. His control over tone and pacing leads to some of the best scare sequences of the 2020s.
#4 The Rule of Jenny Pen (2024)
King’s not fucking around about the New Zealand horror film The Rule of Jenny Pen. It’s one of just two horror movies on his New York Times ballot for the best of the 21st century. The underseen movie is a real corker, too. It follows a judge (Geoffrey Rush) recovering in a care home after a stroke. However, his relaxation is ruined by a sadistic retiree (John Lithgow) who is obsessed with his baby doll puppet. Lithgow’s performance is stunning, and his thrillingly dark energy commands the screen every second he’s in front of the camera.
#3 Barbarian (2022)
In a since-deleted reply to a fan’s Tweet about Barbarian, King said “Yeah, that movie blew me away. It was crazy! Crazy GOOD!” This movie contributed what is perhaps the definitive scary basement in horror, which is no small feat. That’s all thanks to director Zach Cregger’s control over onscreen darkness (one of his many skills). The man must be a shadowmancer of some kind.
#2 Train to Busan (2016)
Train to Busan is the only other horror movie on King’s NYT ballot. It has received a lot of international recognition over the years. Perhaps more than any other non-Parasite movie from South Korea. That’s because it’s flipping amazing. Its crackling energy makes it one of the scariest fast-zombie movies in history. But it also marries that with a compelling father-daughter story. There’s really nothing Train to Busan can’t do.
#1 The Descent (2005)
King put The Descent on his 2006 best-of list, calling it “the best horror movie of the year.” Forget that. It’s one of the top horror movies of the century so far. It’s a bloody good monster movie nestled into a skin-crawlingly claustrophobic spelunking movie.
Honorable Mentions:
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) – I’ve never seen it, so I can’t in good faith recommend it
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – A masterpiece, but it’s not really “horror”
Obsession (2026) – We gotta let this one sit, in order to avoid recency bias
