John’s Horror Corner: Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992), a silly B-movie sequel to the already very loosely adapted Stephen King story.

MY CALL: Not gonna’ lie. I thought this would be unwatchable drivel. But it was some solidly fun, laughable, B-movie fun. Unintentionally funny death scenes and hokey over-the-top-ness made me glad I bought the 6-movie DVD set. MORE MOVIES LIKE Children of the Corn II: Children of the Corn (1984) spawned many video-era sequels over the years (1992, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2011, 2018) leading to the most recent remake (2020). Given that the original was a “loose” adaptation of King’s story, the sequels would likely be yet “looser.” This movie also reminds me of the more deliberately silly Dr. Giggles (1992), The Dentist (1996) and The Granny (1995).

TIMELINE: Part 1 ended with the cornfields of Gatlin burning with a ghostly evil face screaming in the smoky cloud. Presumably, that ancient Corn God was defeated. But of course, many of Isaac’s disciples remained alive and, even though they turned on Isaac, many may remain devout to “He who walks behind the rows.” So yeah, sequels. And this sequel begins right after the events of part 1 (i.e., still 1984).

Look, Children of the Corn (1984) was a legit serious film of humble budget and minimal gore. Meanwhile, from the very first scene, this video-era sequel has mangled grimy corpses instantly eclipsing the gore factor of the original. We hear mention of the child leader Isaac being responsible for this massacre of Gatlin’s adult population after it was reported by a young couple passing through (Vicky and Burt from 1984). So this 1992 movie apparently takes place immediately following their departure from Gatlin.

With all of Gatlin’s children now orphans, Angela (Rosalind Allen; Ticks, Pinocchio’s Revenge) is trying to find people to house all the displaced kids. She takes one such teenager Micah (Ryan Bollman; The Granny, Only the Strong) in her bed and breakfast, where she also hosts visiting teenager and his journalist father (Terence Knox; From a Whisper to a Scream) there to report this bizarre mass murder story.

Our mysterious child-worshipped Corn God, clearly not defeated from part 1 (which happened “last week” in this movie) is harbingered by unnaturally rapidly forming storms over the corn field and Predator-like (1987) infra-red vision.

This sequel is a much hokier, rather “bad movie” iteration of its source material. But it does likewise deliver on the hokey horror fun. The evil corn “paper-cut slits” a man’s throat, harpoon-impales another with a corn stalk through the chest, an old lady suffers a “wicked witch” death, and the “syringe” death scene is B-movie solid gold. We also enjoy some Lawnmower Man-esque (1992) CGI as Micah is possessed by the Corn God as if by demonic viral infection and DNA cloning. There are definitely giggles to be had. Don’t even get me started on the best bloody nose death in horror history! Lol. It was so blood-spewy. And the “wheelchair” death scene… bad movie chef’s kisses.

As silly as it is, this sequel puts forth some effort to develop the CotC mythology. We learn that many generations ago the children of a corn-growing Native American tribe rebelled against their lazy agrarian adult generation, killing them all. Moreover, it was prophesied that from the corn would emerge a leader, and that this leader has yet to emerge. So it apparently wasn’t Isaac in CotC 1. Micah is a suitably over-the-top 90s bad horror villain. But let’s be clear—he’s no Isaac.

In this second CotC installment, the evil is defeated with the death of possessed Micah. Far simpler and less grand of a finish than CotC 1’s crop burning and zombie Isaac coming to drag Malachi to Corn Starch Hell.

This was WAY better than I thought it would be. Let’s be clear, though. It’s a 90s bad horror movie. It’s just the kind of bad horror movie that plays well with the likes of Dr. Giggles (1992), The Dentist (1996) or The Granny (1995), even if those three were all “deliberately” silly whereas director David Price’s (Son of Darkness: To Die For II, Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde) CotC 2 plays its zany hand with a Poker face. This is no hidden gem among B-horror, but it’s just enough of a semi-precious stone to be worth a watch. Trust me. After 30 minutes of a rough opening act, it’s laughably enjoyable.