Corn Again: The Sequel Nobody Asked For
There are bad horror sequels, and then there are Children of the Corn sequels — a series so stubbornly undead that even the Grim Reaper has probably given up trying to harvest it. Children of the Corn: Runaway (2018), the ninth installment in this eternal corn-spiracy, arrives like a stale bowl of creamed corn left out in the sun: unpleasant to look at, nauseating to consume, and impossible to justify.
Directed by John Gulager (of Feast fame, and apparently of “Sure, why not?” energy), this straight-to-DVD relic was shot in 2016 and then sat on the shelf for two years. Presumably, Lionsgate hoped it would somehow mature into something better. It did not. It aged like a husk full of regret.
The film’s tagline might as well be, “The corn is back, and this time, it’s bored.”
Plot? More Like a Prolonged Stalk
The movie opens with a teenager named Ruth (Marci Miller) fleeing a murderous corn cult. It’s a strong start — if you haven’t already seen this exact sequence in the previous eight films. We’re told she’s pregnant and running from “He Who Walks Behind the Rows,” which at this point might just be a metaphor for Lionsgate accountants trying to recoup production costs.
Fast-forward ten years, and Ruth is living under the radar with her son, Aaron (Jack Ryan Scott). They’re trying to live a normal life, but you know how it goes: once you’ve grown up sacrificing people to corn gods, the PTA meetings just hit different.
Ruth works at a diner full of quirky small-town weirdos who might as well have “future corpse” stamped on their foreheads. She’s haunted by nightmares, creepy kids, and the vague sense that the script forgot what it was doing. The film teases a dark revelation, but mostly delivers long stretches of nothing — the cinematic equivalent of watching someone walk in circles through a corn maze designed by a drunk raccoon.
When the “ancient evil” finally catches up, it’s less a showdown and more a shrug. The plot reveals itself like an unpaid intern explaining their group project: uncertain, repetitive, and over far too late.
Marci Miller: Scream Queen in Search of a Better Movie
To her credit, Marci Miller does her damnedest to make this work. She plays Ruth with real emotional commitment — trembling, screaming, and clutching her son like she’s auditioning for a real horror movie. Unfortunately, she’s surrounded by dialogue so clunky it could double as farm machinery.
You can see her talent peeking out through the cracks, begging for release, like an actress trapped in a haunted cornfield of bad direction and worse editing. If there’s a silver lining to Runaway, it’s that Miller survived it long enough to land better gigs.
Her son, Aaron, meanwhile, delivers the kind of performance that could be described as “fine for a horror child.” He’s less creepy omen and more confused bystander — a kid who seems perpetually uncertain why his mom is screaming at corn.
The Horror: Corny, Literally and Figuratively
Let’s talk about the horror — or the startling lack thereof. Runaway has all the atmosphere of a crop insurance commercial. There are endless shots of cornfields swaying in the wind, but they carry zero menace. At one point, a car catches fire for no reason other than “something had to happen eventually.”
The kills are bland and bloodless, a disappointment for a film directed by the son of cult actor Clu Gulager (Return of the Living Dead). You’d expect some tongue-in-cheek splatter or at least one good scare, but what we get instead is off-screen deaths, quick cuts, and sound effects that suggest the budget couldn’t afford fake blood — or competent Foley work.
Even He Who Walks Behind the Rows — the franchise’s supposed demonic deity — barely makes an appearance. He’s reduced to flickering lights, ominous whispers, and the occasional CGI blur that looks like a cloud trying to remember how to be scary.
The tension is nonexistent. The pacing is slower than crop rotation. The editing is so choppy it feels like someone fed the film into a thresher.
The Setting: Small Town, Smaller Imagination
One of the biggest tragedies here is how Runaway wastes its setting. Rural horror works best when it taps into isolation — the fear that no one’s coming to save you. Instead, this movie turns its small-town backdrop into a series of dull, underlit locations: a diner, a trailer, some corn, and a warehouse that doubles as a finale set piece.
The cinematography feels allergic to sunlight. Every shot looks like it was filmed through a jar of old gravy. The director seems to think darkness equals tension, but mostly it equals confusion.
And the corn? Let’s be honest — the corn stopped being scary sometime around 1993. At this point, it’s less “symbol of rural dread” and more “annoying recurring character who refuses to die.”
Supporting Cast: Cornfield of Lost Souls
The supporting characters include a grumpy sheriff, a sassy waitress, and a mechanic who might be evil or just badly written — it’s hard to tell. They exist mostly to be murdered or deliver lines like, “You can’t run from your past forever, Ruth,” as if anyone here’s read the script past page 40.
Diane Ayala Goldner, a frequent collaborator in low-budget horror, pops up as Mrs. Dawkins — a character whose primary contribution is being old, cranky, and available to die on cue.
And yes, Clu Gulager (the director’s father) shows up briefly as a crusty old man named “Crusty.” You’d think that’s a joke, but no. That’s the level of subtlety we’re working with.
The Legacy: The Corn Has Gone Cold
It’s remarkable how a series based on a seven-page Stephen King short story has stretched itself thinner than a scarecrow’s patience. Runaway tries to inject new life into the franchise by focusing on Ruth’s trauma and motherhood, but the execution is so clumsy it feels like a student film shot on expired corn syrup.
Every Children of the Corn sequel promises a fresh take, and every one somehow finds a new way to make you miss the original. By now, the premise — creepy kids worship evil corn god — has been milked so hard it’s producing soy.
This film’s idea of innovation is adding ten years and removing any actual corn worshipping. It’s like a Children of the Corn movie that’s ashamed to be one.
The Ending: A Twist That Trips Over Itself
Without spoiling too much (though, really, how can you spoil something that’s already rotten?), the ending tries for a “gotcha” moment that’s about as shocking as realizing corn is a vegetable. It involves hallucinations, fire, and maybe possession — or maybe just the audience’s collective breakdown from boredom.
It’s the kind of finale that makes you stare blankly at the screen and ask, “Wait… was that it?” And the movie, sensing your despair, rolls credits like it’s apologizing.
Final Thoughts: The Cornfield That Time Forgot
Children of the Corn: Runaway isn’t just bad — it’s aggressively unmemorable. It’s a film that doesn’t even fail with flair. It simply exists, like a beige corn husk drifting through the horror landscape, whispering, “Why won’t they let me die?”
There are no thrills, no chills, and barely any corn-based kills. Just endless exposition, a haunted mom, and a child who looks like he’s one tantrum away from walking off set.
At this point, the only thing that needs to “run away” is this franchise.
Final Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
(One out of five cursed corn cobs — because at least the corn showed up on time, which is more than you can say for the plot.)
