One Improvement the Movie Makes Over the Short Story
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Children of the Corn
scottsteaux63-735-780576 — 9 years ago(April 15, 2016 09:33 PM)
While this is only a mediocre thriller at best, it visits one of Stephen King's favorite plot points (religious fanatics, in this case all children) and gives it a good, scary treatment.
In point of fact, there is one aspect in which this film is much superior to King's short story. Burt (Peter Horton) and Vicky (Linda Hamilton) are a young couple in love; in King's version, they were a married couple attempting to stop their marriage from falling apart, and failing dismally. In fact, as King first envisioned them, Burt and Vicky were so unbearably irritating that by the time they encountered the fanatical children I was all for the kids burning them both alive at the stake.
There's a rule in these things that is almost unbreakable: if you are going to have protagonists that will be victimized, and you want the audience to feel for them, you'd better make them likable. Make them annoying and no one will give a damn what happens to them.
Oh God. There's nothing more inconvenient than an old queen with a head cold! -
HeelTaker — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 06:27 AM)
I LITERALLY had the thought "they really knew how to make the leads likeable back in the day" while watching this after spending enough time with Burt and Vicky (something that movies these days miss the memo on so often) and feeling they were really good people.
I totally agree and it in fact did make me care what happens to them all that much more. -
preachcaleb — 4 years ago(October 20, 2021 03:03 PM)
Maybe King didn't want us to feel for Burt and Vicky.
But I agree, the movie versions were both likable and heroic. They tried to save each other and seemed like good people.
So many stories, so little time.