Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995) (Blu-ray Review)
Directed By: James D.R. Hickox
Starring: Daniel Cerny, Ron Melendez, Jim Metzler
Rated: UR/Region 0/1:78/1080i/Number of Discs 1
Available from Echo Bridge Entertainment
Soon after a childless couple adopts a pair of orphaned brothers, it becomes alarmingly clear the boys are much more than they seem. With the immense power to hypnotize schoolmates into mindless followers and destroy any adult opposition, the younger boy continues the frightening campaign of terror that began in Children of the Corn. But there is one person the brave older brother who can possibly stop the relentless destruction, setting up a powerful final showdown between good and evil.
What you get here with this is a tale of two brothers, one named Eli who is the little creepy brother that brings all that cornfield stuff to the big city. I mean literally, he brings corn and plants it next to his new home. Meanwhile, the older brother, Joshua, is more worried with making friends and getting into an inner racial relationship! Hey, this was 1995 so that was still kinda different. I mean, you’d almost think Spike Lee made this, but if that had been the case I think all white men would have probably sprouted horns. None the less, Joshua is too busy getting his mack on while Eli is busy brainwashing every kid in the neighborhood and getting them to want to kill all the adults and follow him. Things progress along and you get some creepy moments, but really things drag out a bit too much.
Gone are the cool effects you in part one and two, but still some of what you see here will remind you of a little Wes Craven in nature and tone. Anything passable in effects does go out the window during the last part of the film when a giant monster shows up. It’s in this moment where I think they either ran out of money or a new team took over the props. You’ll even spot them using a doll in the place of an actor in one scene, I’m not sure they even tried to hide that fact. That’s amusing, but it really takes you out of things overall. Would it be fair for me to call a film “awkward”? Because at times I do believe that would be the term best used to describe it. It at least tries to be better than it actually is, it just fails at it somewhat badly in a lot of areas. The transfer at least holds up well enough for a film like this. If you like the series, then you will enjoy this. If you are hit and miss, then not so much.
– None
