Saturday nights “dangerous” again on Syfy this fall

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The kids aren't all right in Syfy's "Children of the Corn"

By Jeff Pfeiffer

A few months back, we warned informed you that SCI FI Channel’s changeover to Syfy would not impact the “quality” of the network’s original movie franchise. That is to say, you could expect more of the same formula that has made the channel’s Saturday night lineup into what it calls “the most dangerous night of television.” That held true with a few summer films that debuted under the new Syfy branding, and it continues with this fall’s original movie lineup — except perhaps for tonight’s premiere, Children of the Corn.

I can’t speak to the film’s execution, not having seen it, but it is a little different for Syfy at least in regards to the source material. Often these films are based on public domain stories whose authors are either unknown, or are long dead and have no relatives left to sue over wild changes in the plotline. But Children of the Corn is a Stephen King story, so one would imagine the rights weren’t all that cheap. And who knows — maybe it will hold a little truer to the source than usual, and be all the better for it. It certainly cannot be worse than the many failed theatrical and straight-to-DVD attempts at telling this story that have been made.

In Syfy’s adaptation of Children of the Corn, airing at 9pm ET/PT, Kandyse McClure (Battlestar Galactica) and David Anders (Heroes) play a couple on the verge of divorce, who find themselves marooned in a remote Iowa town, where they confront fanatically religious children who kill everyone over age 18 so the community can remain pure. Hopefully this version can remain somewhat closer to King’s original tale, since the story is very scary. But we’ll see.

As for the rest of the Syfy original movies airing this fall, it’s pretty much business as usual. Maybe the network blew its wad on the King story, because here’s what else is coming up:

Megafault — October 10 at 9pm ET/PT. Eriq LaSalle and Brittany Murphy star in this tale of a powerful earthquake that triggers a crack in the earth’s crust, which threatens to spread across the entire North American continent.

Ghost Town — October 24 at 9pm ET/PT. Stars Jessica Rose (perhaps better known as Lonelygirl 15), Gil Gerard (!), Billy Drago and Randy Wayne. A busload of college students takes a wrong turn and ends up in a real ghost town, inhabited by deadly ghosts.

Ice Twisters — November 14 at 9pm ET/PT. A scientific experiment designed to produce rain clouds in the desert goes awry, creating lethal tornadoes made of ice. Hmmm. Stars Mark Moses, Camille Sullivan and Kaj Eriksen.

Beyond Sherwood Forest — November 28 at 9pm ET/PT. Now here’s what I like to see — a nice, dumb twist on a public domain story that we all love. Here, the evil Sheriff of Nottingham uses a shape-shifting monster to try and destroy a young Robin Hood. Um … okay. Stars Robin Dunne, Erica Durance and Julian Sands.

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Credit: Ben Easter/Syfy