A slow buildup can create suspense in scary movies. In “Children of the Corn” (1984), it creates boredom, and time to wonder how a dimwitted young doctor and his girlfriend (gorgeous Peter Horton and gorgeouser Linda Hamilton) were able to string so many bad decisions together. It’s not their fault a small town was co-opted by a possessed cornfield for a reenactment of “Lord of the Flies.” But who drives from Illinois to Seattle by way of Nebraska? Even I-29 avoids Nebraska! But like the TV commercial says, bad decisions are the soul of mediocre horror flicks, even Stephen King’s.
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Let’s say you’re wondering what “Ordinary People” would be like if it took place on a farm in Montana instead of some WASP enclave in Connecticut (let’s just say, because we know you’re not). Well, your pretend prayers have been answered with “The Stone Boy” (1984). Brother dies accidentally, other brother feels survivor guilt, everybody else goes batshit crazy. Except grandpa (Wilford Brimley). He’s so even-keeled, he could look death in the face and sell it a reverse mortgage. Anyway, it’s an interesting film in that it portrays an adolescent with PTSD before we knew what those letters stood for.
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