F

This slick little psychological UK thriller revolves around a bullied school teacher, who has to face his demons after his school is taken over by faceless hooded thugs who set about systematically tormenting and killing off staff and students alike.

Made on a shoe-string budget (around £150,000), and with next to no gore or on-screen killing, F really was going to go one of two ways but thankfully it succeeds in dishing out decent chills and genuinely creepy atmosphere, making this a much more cerebral horror, compared to your run-of-the-mill blood and guts fest.

The hooded assailants work brilliantly, as we are never quite sure who they are, why they are there, or even whether they are human or something other-worldly. As the viewer, you are never really presented with any character you can sympathise with or root for, they are all pretty dis-likeable, and this might not sit well with some. Personally, I didn't mind as the lack of character connection means you can sit back and enjoy when someone is picked off by the thugs.

What really seems to be rubbing people up the wrong way is the film's ending. Without giving too much away, those who like a film to be wrapped up neatly in a bow, with no loose ends will be seriously annoyed. Personally, I found the ending quite refreshing - it doesn't allow us as the audience to sit back and relax, it send us away with a knot in the stomach, knowing that, just sometimes, things don't always finish with a Hollywood ending.

Children of the Corn (2009)

So, let me start this review by saying I truly LOVE the original 80's version of this Stephen King adaptation (most people say Shawshank is the best, I'd choose CotC any day!!), so when I spotted this on a movie channel the other night, I HAD to watch it!

Children of the Corn relies on the terror of the children, plus the strength of the 2 leading adults, to make the film work. From the first minute I was introduced to Burt and Vicky, I hated everything about them and things only got worse. Within 10 minutes, I was praying for the eponymous Children to do away with them both quickly to spare me the torment of having to listen to them bitch, moan and bicker. Sadly, this didn't happen and I was forced to watch the next 80-odd minutes of this poor remake. The Children had also lost almost everything about them that made them terrifying. The Isaac character is scary in the original as he is clearly a man-child, possessed by He Who Walks Behind the Rows. The Isaac in this version is simply an annoying brat who looks like he could easily be swatted aside by anyone who could actually be bothered to stand up to him.

Obviously, as this film is called Children of the Corn - you expect some of the scenes to be set *in the corn*, however, after what felt like an eternity of point-of-view shots of characters running head-long through the corn rows, it became mind-numbingly dull and I just wanted it to end.

This SK adaptation is definately one for the King purists and for those who enjoy watching small children get their necks broken, otherwise, I say stick with the 80's version and see how it should be done.