Interview with Kurt Wimmer and Kate Moyer (CHILDREN OF THE CORN)

RLJE Films will release the horror film CHILDREN OF THE CORN in Theaters on March 3, 2023 and On Demand and Digital March 21, 2023.

Directed and written by Kurt Wimmer (Ultraviolet), CHILDREN OF THE CORN is based upon the short story “Children of the Corn” by Stephen King and stars Elena Kampouris (Before I Fall), Kate Moyer (“Station Eleven”), Callan Mulvey (The Gray Man) and Bruce Spence (The Road Warrior).

SYNOPSIS: Possessed by a spirit in a dying cornfield, a twelve-year-old girl in Nebraska recruits the other children in her small town to go on a bloody rampage and kill all the adults and anyone else who opposes her. A bright high schooler who won’t go along with the plan is the town’s only hope of survival.

Hi Kurt, Hi Kate…

Janel, Horrornews.net… Isnt all news horror?

Yes, yes, it is. Real life news is worse than any horror movie I’ve ever seen.

Kurt- Sure it is. It is so depressing.

So, Children of the Corn (2020), I loved it. Why did you decide to redo this film? I loved it, and you brought it up to date.

Kurt- Well, that is why. Stephen King always said he made some very flexible framework. I wanted to retell the story through a different lens, and its about children and corn. Corn is a metaphor for the earth, and mother earth takes care of us. Children are a metaphor for the future because they are the future. In the center of that, we have these children who are trying to take back the control of their destiny and their future. Then there’s these adults who are just so anal, and are they are caught up in their own little petty conflicts, greed, and life. They are destroying it; they are running the earth into the ground. What else can they do but get their chainsaws. They made the mistake of doing this to country kids. Don’t mess with kids who know how to drive a tractor.

I felt empathy for the kids. I knew stuff when I was a kid like traumatic moments. I always think people do not think kids know what is going on but they do know.

Kurt- Oh yeah, for sure. They process it differently, and kids are tough. You see that I tell the story of the kids through the lens. It is interesting in American films, we are obsessed with powerful figures like Tony Montana/Scarface, Jesse James, we’re obsessed with them. We love Tony Montana but we know he must die at the end. That’s kind of this pact that we American’s make with ourselves. We make it okay and enjoy it but he has to die at the end. You know, Bad Tony. Kids are becoming more aware because of the internet. It’s also giving them a voice.

Kate Moyer who portrayed Eden Edwards was scarier than the original gentleman in Children of the Corn (1984). It was wild. She appears onscreen, and I was thinking, okay we’re going to be okay, and no it wasn’t okay. Kate, you did an amazing job. I think about villains and they are everyday people living their lives. They do not think they are bad. That is how you played that part, Kate. You played that part like a Tony Montana.

Kate- Thank you.

Kurt- Yes, oh I heard people say, why did not he cast some creepy looking girl. She is not a creepy looking girl. They have not seen the movie yet. They look at her and see a baby face, and she’s not a monster. The producers said we’re not going to hire a creepy kid; we’re going to hire a good actor.

Kate, how did you prepare for the role of Eden Edwards?

Kate- Honestly, no. Kurt and I spent so much time planning on how she was going to do things, and every day onset scenes were rewritten. I was able to bring a lot of myself into Eden thanks to Kurt, and everyone onset.

Kurt- It is a real challenge. It is a wild concept with kids taking over a town. These kids are doing some crazy things but if we could get Eden grounded, you feel like it’s happening.

I felt empathy for her too because she witnesses a horrible event. She is in this town and the adults sort of brush them off. I though she stepped up, and had to become a grown up. It was powerful.

Kate- Thank you. I feel like Eden is an adult in a kids body. She wants to be seen and heard. The kids are the future.

Kurt- Yes, she is a kid. She is living in her fantasy world. She is playing dress up and having fun. She creates her fantasy, and she is running this fantasy world.

I must ask about He who walks beside the rows… The amazing corn creature. Kate did you see it before you started filming, and Kurt how did you create it?

Kurt- It is amaze-ing… That is the pun.

[Laughing]

He is so incredible.

Kate- On set, I did not get to see what he looked like but, in the script, it would say, the “corn monster” walks in, and I was like, oh this is creepy. I could imagine it in my head. In real life it was a pineapple on a nine-foot stick, and the dude would run around with it. It was a challenge as an actor but it was fun.

Kurt- When we were shooting it, we really did not know what it looked like. We had a lot of conversations about it and designing it. It was nine feet tall, and we had to have that pineapple at exactly the right height.

It reminded me of those beautifully rooted wrapped trees or when you walk by a corn field and the corn is creepy and lurking in the wind. It was incredible.

Kurt- Thank you. Corn is creepy by itself but then when you have “he who walks”, it magnifies the creepiness.

The ending was wild. No spoilers but will there be a sequel?

Kurt- We have an additional ending that we might add on when the special features come out. You never know, never say never.

Thank you so much. It was an honor talking with both of you. Thank you.

Kurt- Thank you.

Kate- Thank you.