In James D.R. Hickox’s 1995 horror flick “Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest,” the rural mayhem of Gatlin, Nebraska is transposed to the concrete wilds of Chicago. A child cult leader named Eli (Daniel Porter) is adopted by a citybound foster mother (Nancy Lee Grahn) who is astonished by his gentle demeanor and Amish-like language. What she doesn’t know is that he worships a demonic corn deity (!) called He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Said deity had been mentioned in both 1984’s “Children of the Corn” and 1992’s “Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice,” but no one had ever seen the elusive HWWBTR, leaving its true nature mysterious.
Eli has magical corn kernels in his possession, and he can swiftly grow and harvest a miniature corn crop in an isolated Chicago lot. This attracts both HWWBTR and an eager cult of teen followers. Eli, like his “Corn” forebears, instructs his underage cult to rid the world of evil adults, making way for a world of gentle piety. Throughout the film, Eli fosters both his crop and his teens, occasionally committing murders on HWWBTR’s name.
During the climax of “Urban Harvest,” Eli gives a fire-and-brimstone sermon to a rapt audience of brainwashed cultists. He is confronted by his brother (Ron Melendez), and during the conflagration, HWWBTR is unleashed from the earth. It looks like a giant naked mole rat. The monster begins slaughtering and eating the teens. There’s a lot of blood and screaming.
One of those teens, attentive viewers will notice, was played by a young Charlize Theron in one of her earliest roles. Theron didn’t have any lines, but she recalls “Urban Harvest” with a mix of joy and chagrin. In an interview with Total Film (transcribed by the Daily Star), Theron talked about how she was coated with fake blood, and how her screaming was dubbed.
Charlize Theron was killed by He Who Walks Behind the Rows
He Who Walks Behind the Rows, incidentally, was designed by master creature-maker Screaming Mad George, the man behind films like “Freaked,” “Society” (highly ranked by /Film), and the third and fourth “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies. The idea of a giant gopher-monster chowing down on teenagers is innately silly, and “Urban Harvest” was notoriously cheap, but the monster at least looked kinda cool in a vacuum. The “Corn” movies are admittedly dumb, and even Stephen King, who wrote the original story on which they are based, isn’t fond of them.
Theron saw “Urban Harvest” as an eye-opening experience as to what life in Hollywood was going to be like. It was her first time on a big movie set, and she was eager to participate. She even got a new pair of Puma-brand sneakers for the occasion. “Urban Harvest” required the non-speaking teens to bring their own costumes, so Theron was keen to show off her outfit. She didn’t realize how much red-dyed Karo syrup would be thrown on her. She said:
“I felt like I’d made it! I remember very vividly they asked us to bring our own clothes, and they had to be black. I was living hand to mouth at the time, but I had invested in these nice black and white Pumas. And so, having never been in a film, I wore my new shoes. An hour into shooting, I was lying in a cornfield and fake blood was being dripped all over my new shoes.”
One wonders if she still has those shoes. Unfortunately, the Pumas are not prominently displayed in “Urban Harvest.” Theron, however, does get at least a few close-ups. She is then ripped apart by the gopher monster, screaming in terror.
Her screams, however, weren’t hers.
Charlize Theron’s screams were dubbed over
Theron also recalled seeing the final cut of “Urban Harvest,” and being shocked that the filmmakers dubbed over her screaming with another actress’ voice. This was something of a letdown, but also a lesson as to how Hollywood works. Theron admits to being dismayed. She said:
“I remember telling my mum, ‘I made it, I’m in a movie!’ Then going to the screening and hearing my voice dubbed … I didn’t even say anything. I only screamed! I felt a little bit like, ‘Wow, my scream isn’t good enough for the big screen.'”
The following year, Theron played a femme fatale-like character in the new-noir, post-“Pulp Fiction” flick “2 Days in the Valley,” and this time she had much more to do. She played a woman who got caught up in a crime plot, and spent much of the film injured with a gunshot wound, wandering the Southland, looking for treatment and/or revenge. After her appearance in Taylor Hackford’s 1997 demonic thriller “The Devil’s Advocate,” Theron became something of a household name. Her talents were wholly evident. She has since been nominated for three Best Actress Academy Awards, having won for Patty Jenkins’ 2003 biopic “Monster.”
She is also part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the “Fast & Furious” franchise, and was beloved in “Mad Max: Fury Road.” She has a lot of range and an excellent career (“Reindeer Games” notwithstanding). And she started it all by being eaten by a giant gopher. We all need to start somewhere.
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