With Halloween coming up, it’s the perfect season for watching your favorite horror movies. One of the creepiest classic horror movies is about a malevolent creature referred to as “He Who Walks Behind the Rows,” and the cult of children who do his evil bidding. Since our state’s iconic landscape is rolling cornfields as far as the eye can see, it’s no surprise that “Children of the Corn” was filmed right here in Iowa.
Based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, this chilling tale features a group of children who have formed a cult, under the evil influence of “He Who Walks Behind the Rows.”
The ominous children in the cult believe that in order to ensure a successful corn harvest, everyone over the age of 18 who enters the town must be ritually murdered.
Their leader is a 12-year-old boy called Isaac Chroner. With his lieutenant, Malachai, he leads his cult to brutally kill all of the adults in the town.
While the movie is set in the fictional town of Gatlin, Nebraska, much of the filming of the movie was actually done in Iowa. Below is a motel exterior used in the movie, located at 103 Sergeant Square, Sergeant Bluff, IA.
Both the original Children of the Corn, made in 1984, and the remake, made in 2009, were filmed in several Iowa towns including: Sioux City, Hornick, Sergeant Bluff, Salix and Whiting. Below is the house referred to as Job & Sarah’s house in the movie. It’s located in Hornick, IA.
The cafe and gas station used in the original movie are no longer standing, but the church where the children perform a birthday ritual is. Located at West 5th & George St., Sioux City, IA, the church is pictured below:
Below is the official trailer for the original 1984 version of “Children of the Corn.”
And here’s the trailer for the 2009 version:
If you haven’t seen the original or remake version of the movie, and you like a good scare, make sure to check it out. I promise you’ll never look at a cornfield the same way again.