27) Disciples of the Crow (1983) and The Boogeyman (1982) - Obscure Stephen King flicks #7

"The Lord is he who walks behind the rows."

Director
John Woodward

Cast
Eleese Lester - Vicky
Gabriel Folse - Burt
Steven Young - Young Billy
John Woodward - Older Billy

I picked two movies for this post because (1) each was only 20 to 30 minutes long, and (2) they're both featured on a two volume VHS set called Stephen King's Nightshift Collection. The set includes four short movies - three of which are based on King stories found in his book of short stories, Night Shift. Why one movie, The Night Waiter (1987), in this King collection has nothing to do with King or his book is beyond me.
When it comes to obscure Stephen King movies, this set definitely fits the bill. I never even heard of them until I read an article in a recent issue of HorrorHound magazine that mentioned the title Disciples of the Crow. A quick Google search led me to this obscure collection not available on DVD.
The only way I was able to watch these movies, luckily, was on YouTube. Unfortunately, the King short The Woman in the Room directed by Frank Darabont, who's no stranger to directing other movie adaptations of King's work - Shawshank Redemption, The Mist, The Green Mile - wasn't available in English. It's found on volume 2 of this collection along with the other movie I reviewed down below, so I'll find a way to watch it soon enough.
Disciples of the Crow, based on the story Children of the Corn, is featured on volume 1.
When compared to the more popular movie Children of the Corn, which has weaved its way into pop culture spawning six sequels since its 1984 release, as well as a made-for-TV remake in 2009, Disciples of the Crow is actually a little better. This isn't saying too much as it's only a 20 minute film. It was also released before the more popular movie adaptation. Even today, people (whether they've seen the movie or read the story) use the phrase "Children of the corn" to describe country folks deemed not quite up to snuff with the rest of the society. The title has made its way into the lexicon of other book titles used as modern catchphrases - Catch 22, for instance.
Children of the Corn fails in its ending. It's tacky, stupid, and seems like an ending for the sake of an ending. That's my biggest problem with it. I'm just throwing that out there.
In Disciples, we see an opening of a dry atmosphere with a golden sun amidst the screeching of crows. We then see a young boy, Billy, perform a ritual with a crucifix in which he's making something with corn. He joins other kids, and the movie then cuts to families gathered in church. Billy sees Jesus on a stained glass window, where his face turns dark. Billy takes this as the sign to kill the adults. Before we see that happens, the scene switches to 12 years later.  
The story centers on a couple, Vicki and Burt, who while driving on a secluded road towards Jonah, Oklahoma, accidentally hit a young boy who ran out from the cornfields next to the road. When Burt gets out to see if he's ok, he finds a knife made from a corn cob, stabbed in the boy's side.
They pull through a small town which turns out is completely deserted.
It has been taken over by the cult of children, and their trip through the town quickly becomes an escape for their lives.
Disciples of the Crow has more mystery and intrigue behind it. It's too bad the movie is so short as it leaves a lot of unanswered questions. There could have been more to add, making it a better, scarier film.
The imagery is great, despite the movie's overall amateur appearance - looking and sounding (i.e. the poor dialogue) more like a film school project.
One thing I really liked over the more famous movie adaptation  was the adults death scene inside Mercy Baptist Church. In Children of the Corn, that scene takes place inside a diner, which is fine and creepy as hell. But to have it inside a Baptist church is much more dark, putting the mindset of the cult's god (he who walks behind the rows), shown through the action of the children, in a much more accurate light. We don't actually see the adults get taken down by the children as its more implied.
The movie did a decent enough job to tell its story in such a short amount of time, relying more on visuals than dialogue.
For Stephen King fans, Disciples of the Crow is a small obscure gem lost among bigger films made with bigger budgets, that's worth checking out.

The Boogeyman

"Maybe if you think of a thing long enough, and believe in it, maybe it becomes real. Maybe all the things we were afraid of as kids, you know, the monsters like Frankenstein, Wolfman, or Mummy - maybe they were real."

Director
Jeff Schiro

Cast
Michael Earl Reid - Lester Billings
Bert Linder - Dr. Harper
Terence Brandy - Sgt. Garland

I don't know for sure, but I'd bet that the Stephen King short story The Boogeyman, published in the same book mentioned above (Night Shift) was an inspiration, somehow of another, for the story It. There are some similarities between the two stories. Well, mostly that there's a scary monster and children are its victims.
The movie opens with Lester Billings (Michael Earl Reid, Army of Darkness) finding one of his children dead in the bathtub.
The audience follows Billings as he discusses with his psychiatrist that the monster in his children's closet is real, and it's literally killing them.
He goes into gruesome details about how he has found his kids dead in there beds at night, with the closet door open, and how helpless he has been. We cut back and forth between scenes of Lester with his family, and his sessions with his doctor.
For a short psychological horror/thriller, this movie really pulled me in. And if you're not familiar with the story, the ending is great and unsettling.
Watching a man we know is fully aware of some paranormal being manifesting in his home and killing his children, who's trying to convince his doctor of what's happening, and the madness this drives him into is the stuff of good horror and thrillers.
Sometimes the monster in the story isn't the scariest thing. Rather, it's watching the main character live with the knowledge that something horrifying and unexplainable exists whether they like it or not. Watching the main character deal with something they have no control over in such a situation is half the scare. The other half is, well, the monster itself. And trying to get rid of it may not go the way the protagonist thinks it will. But if it leads to a resolution, we're willing to cope with our losses (or, rather, those of the protagonist), whatever they might be, just so we can have that resolution.
Reid plays his role well - a helpless father facing a reality that's unbelievable and larger than his imagination can fathom right in his own home. All he can do his grasp his shotgun and try to face it for the sake of his family. This, mixed with the screams of his children begging for him to save them, makes it hard to watch. Yet his performance is well done for what it is. You can't help but feel sympathy for Lester who's left to the mercy of authorities and his psychiatrist.
Initially, I thought the title seemed too generic and silly. I mean, "The Boogeyman?" Seriously? But watching it, it makes sense. It's the looming presence of evil who's always there waiting, and that knowledge consumes your sanity.
This movie is precisely that, and the ending is unexpected. It's an ending that really throws Billings' lack of control over the entire situation in his face.
Like Disciples of the Crow, this movie is worth watching for any big Stephen King fan. It's not a movie that'll blow you away. It's more like a really great episode of Tales from the Crypt or The Twilight Zone.
This was an entertaining short movie, and a creepy one as long as the audience doesn't let the films age or production value get in the way. It's worth checking out, especially for the die-hard King fans.
 
Obscure Stephen King