Though it required
a large CGI primate to push her into true celebrity status, Naomi Watts
had
been a growing presence on the Hollywood radar
for several years thanks to the success of the US remake of the Japanese
horror The Ring, and sterling work in meaty dramas such as David Lynch’s
Mulholland Drive and the Sean Penn/Benicio Del Toro angst marathon, 21
Grams.
But, like so many before her, she paid her dues as yet another famous
face trudging along the seemingly endless treadmill of sequels to Stephen
King’s original killer corn story.
Watts stars as Grace Rhodes, a small town girl whose ambitions of big
city medicine are derailed by her mother’s deteriorating mental
state. Summoned home to look after her mum (played by scary-faced genre
stalwart Karen Black), who is now suffering from paranoid delusions about
the local kids and refusing to leave the house, Grace also has to deal
with her unruly younger brother who is an inch away from juvenile delinquency
and her wide-eyed baby sister.
She takes up her old job at the local medical centre with the avuncular
Doc Larson – and not a moment too soon, as the town’s children
all come down with a mysterious virus that seems to change the DNA structure
of their blood. They go from happy-go-lucky youngsters to eerie psychos,
taking olde worlde names and polishing off the grown ups in a variety
of grisly ways. There’s the usual expositional chatter about Josiah,
a boy with supernatural powers who never grew old, and who was killed
by the townsfolk years previous. Through the now-possessed kids, he’s
coming back to life – and he’s chosen Grace’s little
sister as the vessel through which his resurrection will be completed.
Much like Children of the Corn III (see: Charlize
Theron), and Children
of the Corn V (see: Eva Mendes) this fourth entry papers over its numerous
and sizeable logic gaps with ample doses of extravagant gore though,
curiously, the plot actually has nothing to do with corn. Indeed, the
only real connection
with the previous films is the title and the concept of youngsters murdering
adults.
Like so many good actresses lumbered with dumb roles in shitty horror
films, Watts makes the best of her paper thin character, sinks her teeth
into the family drama scenes and tries her best to deal with the gloopier
horror aspects. Unfortunately, the movie is slow and dull, with an anti-climactic
conclusion that reeks of a slashed budget. In fact, the most fantastical
element of the whole thing is the idea that the alarming visage of Karen
Black could have ever produced the delicate loveliness of Ms Watts.
Honourable mentions: Watts also starred in the unfortunately titled 2001
horror flick, The Shaft, in which she played a crusading journalist investigating
a series of murders carried out by…wait for it…a psychotic
elevator in a New York office building. The alternate title, Down, was
less risible but shortly before release real world events conspired to
make tales of terror in New York skyscrapers less than marketable and
it vanished into the mire of direct-to-video clag where it surely belonged.
Watts also had a small role in the flop Tank Girl movie, based on the
cult British comic strip from Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett, in which
she played the shy Jet Girl.
Availability: Children of the Corn IV received a UK DVD release in 2005.
