Summary
- The original Children of the Corn, despite negative reviews, has become a cult classic and spawned a multi-movie franchise including a 2020 remake.
- The ensemble cast, including Linda Hamilton and Courtney Gains, had breakout performances in the film.
- Many of the cast members went on to have successful careers in TV and film.
The original Children of the Corn has emerged as a cult classic despite its negative reviews and as for its cast, both young and old members of the ensemble have managed to make their mark in diverse projects. This Stephen King movie adaptation covered the supernatural fantasy short story of the same name, the 1984 movie is somewhat of a pop culture enigma. Even though it garnered mostly negative reviews at the time of its release, Children of the Corn’s hyperviolent glory still dominated mainstream horror and spawned a multi-movie franchise including nine more installments and a 2020 remake, which was yet again critically panned.
As Children of the Corn revolved around a group of children manipulated by a demonic spirit to slay their parents, the Fritz Kiersch-directed feature cast a mix of well-known stars like The Terminator star Linda Hamilton and relatively newer performers like Courtney Gains who played the antagonistic teenager Malachai. For many actors involved in the movie, Children of the Corn offered them their breakout performances even though the critics didn’t exactly shower them with praises. So, even if the first Children of the Corn movie adaptation failed, it’s still worth noting what the original ensemble has been up to since its release.
8 Peter Horton As Burt Stanton

Burt Stanton is the unlikely protagonist of Children of the Corn, a physician who stumbles across an agricultural town in Nebraska and wages war against the movie’s titular cult. While Children of the Corn is definitely not actor/director Peter Harton’s best highlight, it was one of his earliest movie roles. Horton enjoyed better success in TV with his most popular role the free-spirited, flirtatious Professor Gary Shepherd in Thirtysomethings which aired from 1987 to 1991. Horton also directed episodes of The Shield, The Wonder Years, and the pilot of Grey’s Anatomy. He was also last seen playing a cardiologist in a 2018 episode of the medical drama New Amsterdam.
7 Linda Hamilton As Vicky Baxter

Sharing an unpleasant filming experience, Linda Hamilton was legitimately scared of Children of the Corn when the director pulled off a prank on her. But the year 1984 was memorable for her not just because she played Burton Stanton’s girlfriend Vicky in the movie but because she starred as Sarah Connor in James Cameron’s breakout hit The Terminator. Hamilton rebranded herself as an action heroine in the 1991 sequel T2: Judgment Day and played the fan-favorite character once again in 2019’s Dark Fate. She also notably starred in the fantasy series Beauty and the Beast playing the sharp-witted District Attorney Catherine in a modern twist on the titular fairy tale.
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6 R. G. Armstrong As Diehl The Old Man

Diehl is an elderly town mechanic who promises to provide fuel to the evil children as long as they spare his life. Brutally murdered later in the movie, R.G. Armstrong delivered an empathetic performance in Children of the Corn. The late character actor has dabbled in such supporting roles throughout his career. After 1984, he portrayed General Phillips in Predator and collaborated with Warren Beaty for brief roles in many of his movies such as Reds and Dick Tracy. Even though he retired from movies in the 1990s, Armstrong continued theater work and even played the titular nightmarish figure in the music video for Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”.
5 John Franklin As Isaac Chroner

Evil personified in a child, Isaac Chroner is one of the major villains in Children of Corn. A very young John Franklin played the antagonist who indoctrinates many other children to do a bloodthirsty deity’s bidding. Following his polarizing debut performance, Franklin went on to play the hairy, gibberish-speaking creature Cousin Itt in 1991’s The Addams Family and its sequel The Addams Family Values. He even reprised the role of Isaac in Children of the Corn 666, a direct-to-DVD sequel that he also co-wrote. Along with a stint as an English teacher in California, he also had single-episode appearances in Star Trek: Voyager, Fresh Off the Boat, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
4 Courtney Gains As Malachai Boardman

The Children of the Corn movies have spawned many evil children, but Malachai is the franchise’s most underrated villain. As Isaac’s right-hand man, he puts all the other cult children in line and evokes a chilling sense of fear. Apart from his screen debut as Malachai, Courtney Gains had character roles in various multi-genre projects. These include a performance as the 1955 high schooler Mark Dixon in Back to the Future and a cameo as a prison guard in Rob Zombie’s 2007 Halloween remake. He also occasionally serves as a video game voice artist, having voiced minor characters in L.A. Noire and Grand Theft Auto Online: The Last Dose.
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3 Robby Kiger As Job

Job is a unique child as compared to the other cult members because of his unwillingness to join his peers. Robby Kiger played the character at a tender age but unlike the other young stars of Children of the Corn, he still had considerable acting experience in numerous TV movies. He went on to have a recurring role in the sitcom Crazy Like A Fox in which he appeared as bumbling lawyer Harrison Fox Jr’s son Joshua. Kiger didn’t act much in the following years with his last screen credits being brief roles in the 1987 horror comedy The Monster Squad and the 1990 Winona Ryder-starrer Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael.
2 Anne Marie McEvoy As Sarah

Much like her brother Job, Sarah also refuses to join the cult and instead helps the adult protagonists of Children of the Corn. Anne Marie McEvoy didn’t pursue acting beyond the 1990s with her most prominent role being the recurring character Kathy Santoni in the legendary sitcom Full House. She even played an adult version of the junior school student in an episode of the sequel series Fuller House. McEvoy also made a brief appearance in Wes Craven’s made-for-TV horror movie Invitation to Hell in the same year as Children of the Corn, along with single-episode appearances in the sitcoms Free Spirit and Family Ties.
1 Julie Maddalena As Rachel Colby

A knife-wielding member of the cult who performs some of the collective’s congregation rituals is Rachel Colby, played by Julie Maddalena. The Children of the Corn actress would later make the jump from feature movies to English dubs of iconic anime shows from the late 1980s onwards. From voicing a Hologram in Cowboy Bebop to ship crew member Reese Arno in Mobile Suit Gundam F91, Maddalena is definitely one of the most diverse English anime voice actors. Her other voice-acting credits also included live-action shows and video games such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.