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did 'island of the damned' inspire 'children of the corn'?

posted 11 years ago by anticaria
4 replies | jump to latest

'el juego de los niños'/the children's game, novel by juan jose plans, published in 1976, turned into the movie 'island of the damned' in 1976..

A couple of English tourists arrive on an island where all the children have gone crazy and are murdering the adults.

VS.

'children of the corn,' short story by stephen king, published in 1977, turned into a movie of the same title in 1984..

A young couple is trapped in a remote town where a dangerous religious cult of children believe everyone over the age of 18 must be killed.

it appears extremely likely that stephen king knew of the spanish film and the novel it was based on prior to penning his short story..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] anticaria 11 years ago

this film even uses a sickle in the sequence where the children are using the old man as a sort of piñata and swinging at him with a sickle..

the sickle of course is prominently displayed in the cover art for children of the corn..

sure hope mr. king didn't rip off 'el juego de los niños' in his short story, 'children of the corn,' although it certainly appears as though he did..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] ethermusic1981 11 years ago

I'm sure it did. As much as I like Stephen King (the older stuff), nearly every idea he's ever had has come from somewhere else.

I thought the exact same thing about King's short story while watching "Who Can Kill a Child?". Good call, anticaria.

[–] Rueiro 11 years ago

It surely did!

[–] ElectricWarlock 11 years ago

Yes, I absolutely love both stories, but the similarities are undeniable. If Stephen King did lift ideas from this movie, I can certainly see why. If you're going to pay tribute to something, it might as well be something good, right? If I were to write a horror story, I would want to write one as good as this movie as well.

Burn, witch! Burn, witch! Burn! Burn! Burn!