Two young Gatlin residents are orphaned after the younger brother kills their father. So, the terror of Gatlin goes urban when the two boys are placed in the custody of two foster parents. The younger brother (who by this point is established as the "evil one") bought some corn seeds along for the road and plants them in the courtyard of an abandoned warehouse, bring He Who Walks Behind the Rows to the city. He winds up possessing his high school peers, and soon his older brother feels called to stop him.

Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest takes “He Who Walks Behind The Rows” out of the rural areas of Nebraska, and straight to the urban areas of what looks like Chicago. I saw this film for the first time when I was a kid, and loved the movie. And this is one of the few Children of the Corn films that I still love to watch to this day.

The story is a little on the cumbersome side, placing things into play that were never mentioned in the first films...not to mention don't make much sense. The abusive father, the two foster brothers...weren't all the children of Gatlin evil...weren't all the parents supposed to be killed. Sure, the father gets taken care of within the first five minutes of the movies...but it kind of plays against itself on the story continuity. But one thing all readers should know going into this series...nothing you see in one film, will ever come back into play in any of the sequels. That's just the way it is.

This film, has one of the funner stories. Eli wants to please his foster parents, so he grows corn...over night, to hypnotize his new foster father, while he tortures and traumatizes the foster mom. My favorite moment is when the father takes the ear of corn, and pulls the husk back...takes one look at that and takes a chomp out of it. Because I've never seen corn that looked so good, that I'd be willing the eat it raw off the cob. I guess I like having teeth a little too much.

The two brothers attend a catholic school, and Eli begins preaching to start building his little urban army. This is what you come to expect from a Corn film. Evil childs+evil preaching+impressionable youth=children of the corn.

The acting in this film is so-so. There is no breakout performances in this movie, and none that I am going to mention by name persay. The guy that plays Eli played quite a few evil children in the early 1990's, but that is all he ever really did. The two people I will mention, have very brief apperances, and you really have to look to notice them. If you're a Buffy fan, pay close attention to see an early extra appearance by Nicolas Brendan. Also Charlize Theron has a cameo in this movie as well. There I mentioned two names...that's all you are getting from me.

The look of this movie is actually pretty good. Back in the day of practical special effects, the outcome of those effects really came down to the budget the film had. The budget on this film wasn't that great, so we are treated to some pretty hoaky looking effects. Including, for the first time, we actually get a look at He Who Walks Behind the Rows...and it is a laugh riot. He even grabs up one of the children to eat, and the prop used looks like a black Barbie doll. Puts a smile on my face when hoaky effects go so wrong...because it makes it so right.

Overall, Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest is one of my favorite in the series. It isn't in anyway a great movie...it is a B-level shlock-fest...but that's why I love it. I am a glutton for punishment. Most viewers will not like this movie, and that's a sad thing. Because these bad 90's films need to be seen, and remembered. Check it out, and have a pretty enjoyable ninety minutes. Trust me...you could do a whole lot worst.

Till Next Time Kiddies...

-RJ