# Disciples of the Crow
**Disciples of the Crow** is a 1983 American short horror film directed by John Woodward, adapted from [Stephen King](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-king)'s short story "Children of the Corn". It was the first screen adaptation of that story, released a year before Fritz Kiersch's 1984 feature film of the same name, and it is one of the earliest examples of a "Dollar Baby", the informal license under which King allowed student and independent filmmakers to adapt his short stories for one dollar.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352297/) • [2](https://www.movierewind.com/2022/disciples-of-the-crow-1983) • [3](https://www.stephenkingshortmovies.com/reviews/disciples-of-the-crow-by-john-woodward/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | John Woodward, who also produced, edited, and played Older Billy[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352297/fullcredits/) |
| Source | Stephen King's "Children of the Corn", first published in the March 1977 issue of *Penthouse* and collected in *Night Shift* (1978)[5](https://s1.thcdn.com/design-assets/documents/arrowfilms/ChildrenoftheCornTrilogy_Booklet_watermarked.pdf) |
| Setting | Changed from Gatlin, Nebraska in the story to Jonah, Oklahoma, with a 1971 prologue[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352297/) • [6](https://www.mandatory.com/fun/190529-the-series-project-children-of-the-corn-part-1?start=4) |
| Runtime | Listed by IMDb at 30 minutes; several reviews describe it as an 18- to 20-minute film[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352297/) • [2](https://www.movierewind.com/2022/disciples-of-the-crow-1983) • [7](https://www.planocritico.com/critica-colheita-maldita-discipulos-do-corvo-curta-1983/) |
| Cast | Eleese Lester (Vicky), Gabriel Folse (Burt), Steven Young (Younger Billy), Martin Boozer (Preacher)[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352297/fullcredits/) |
| Awards | A National Merit Award and a Gold Hugo Award at the Chicago Film Festival[8](https://www.stephenking.com.ar/archivo/INSOMNIA%20088.pdf) |
| IMDb rating | 5.3/10 from 657 votes[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352297/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and adaptation choices
The film opens in 1971 in Jonah, Oklahoma, where a boy named Billy (Steven Young) and other children gather in a cornfield around a crow idol; they later kill their parents in a single night.[6](https://www.mandatory.com/fun/190529-the-series-project-children-of-the-corn-part-1?start=4) The story then follows the couple Burt (Gabriel Folse) and Vicky (Eleese Lester) as they drive through the area, strike a boy already dead from a slashed throat, place the body in their trunk, and arrive in an apparently deserted town whose children turn on them.[7](https://www.planocritico.com/critica-colheita-maldita-discipulos-do-corvo-curta-1983/)
Several choices distinguish the short from the 1984 feature. The cult's deity, "He Who Walks Behind the Rows", is mentioned only once and never shown; Woodward instead centers the imagery on the crow, with a dagger made from a corncob topped by a crow's head, corn-husk crucifixes, and a painting in the church.[3](https://www.stephenkingshortmovies.com/reviews/disciples-of-the-crow-by-john-woodward/) The named characters Isaac, Malachai, Sarah, and Job from the story do not appear.[2](https://www.movierewind.com/2022/disciples-of-the-crow-1983) The ending is open: the couple escapes, but a knife is left stuck in their car and the engine grows hot, leaving their survival in doubt, an ambiguity closer to King's story than the feature's resolution.[3](https://www.stephenkingshortmovies.com/reviews/disciples-of-the-crow-by-john-woodward/)
## Source and production
King's story "Children of the Corn" appeared in the March 1977 issue of *Penthouse* and was reprinted the next year in his collection *[Night Shift](https://www.edgepedia.org/night-shift-short-story-collection)*.[5](https://s1.thcdn.com/design-assets/documents/arrowfilms/ChildrenoftheCornTrilogy_Booklet_watermarked.pdf) Woodward, making what one account calls a small-budget student film, adapted it under the Dollar Baby arrangement; a reviewer who screened it at the Brazilian Dollar Baby Film Fest describes it as the second Dollar Baby ever made.[9](https://childrenofthecornmovie.blogspot.com/2009/10/before-stephen-kings-children-of-corn.html) • [3](https://www.stephenkingshortmovies.com/reviews/disciples-of-the-crow-by-john-woodward/) Woodward handled direction, screenplay, production, and editing, with Johnny Stevens as producer and cinematographer and Bill Averbach composing the score.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352297/fullcredits/)
The film was shot on grainy Super 8 stock on location, which gives it a documentary-like texture that some critics read as amplifying the story's macabre tone.[6](https://www.mandatory.com/fun/190529-the-series-project-children-of-the-corn-part-1?start=4) • [7](https://www.planocritico.com/critica-colheita-maldita-discipulos-do-corvo-curta-1983/)
## Release and availability
The film circulated for years as a hard-to-find item. In 1991 it was released on videocassette as *Two Mini-Features from Stephen King's Night Shift Collection*, paired with *The Night Waiter*, a Jack Garret short unrelated to King's work that was marketed as if it were his.[8](https://www.stephenking.com.ar/archivo/INSOMNIA%20088.pdf) In Germany it appeared within a compilation film with other shorts in 1991, and an Australian videotape release of 1992, classified M, paired it with *Night Waiter* and *Killing Time* on a 66-minute tape.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352297/) • [10](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/disciples-crownight-waiterkilling-time) It is also known under the alternative title *The Night of the Crow*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352297/)
The short regained visibility through home video editions of the feature: Arrow Video's 4K Ultra HD edition of *Children of the Corn* includes it as an extra, described there as the first screen adaptation of King's story.[11](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/children-of-the-corn-4k-review-fritz-kiersch-arrow/) • [12](https://videolibrarian.com/downloads/255/download/JanFeb18VideoLibrarian.pdf)
## Reception
Contemporary and retrospective commentary treats the film as a rough but effective adaptation. One review calls it a low-fi amateur production with grainy stock, echoey sound, and clunky editing, while crediting it with capturing the story in two clear movements.[6](https://www.mandatory.com/fun/190529-the-series-project-children-of-the-corn-part-1?start=4) A Portuguese-language review judges it more concise and more successful at building a claustrophobic, tense atmosphere than the 1984 feature, despite negligible production values.[7](https://www.planocritico.com/critica-colheita-maldita-discipulos-do-corvo-curta-1983/) A fan-site review praises Woodward's handling of the child actors and his restraint in not showing the cult's deity, arguing that the short conveys King's voice with almost no dialogue.[3](https://www.stephenkingshortmovies.com/reviews/disciples-of-the-crow-by-john-woodward/) The film won a National Merit Award and a Gold Hugo Award at the Chicago Film Festival.[8](https://www.stephenking.com.ar/archivo/INSOMNIA%20088.pdf)
## References
1. [Disciples of the Crow (Short 1983), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352297/)
2. [Disciples of the Crow (1983) – Early Children of the Corn, Movie Rewind](https://www.movierewind.com/2022/disciples-of-the-crow-1983)
3. ["Disciples of the Crow" A.K.A "The coolest version of Children of the Corn", Stephen King Short Movies](https://www.stephenkingshortmovies.com/reviews/disciples-of-the-crow-by-john-woodward/)
4. [Disciples of the Crow – Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352297/fullcredits/)
5. [Children of the Corn Trilogy booklet, Arrow Video](https://s1.thcdn.com/design-assets/documents/arrowfilms/ChildrenoftheCornTrilogy_Booklet_watermarked.pdf)
6. [The Series Project: Children of the Corn (Part 1), Mandatory](https://www.mandatory.com/fun/190529-the-series-project-children-of-the-corn-part-1?start=4)
7. [Crítica | Colheita Maldita / Discípulos do Corvo (Curta – 1983), Plano Crítico](https://www.planocritico.com/critica-colheita-maldita-discipulos-do-corvo-curta-1983/)
8. [Stephen King archive (Spanish), stephenking.com.ar](https://www.stephenking.com.ar/archivo/INSOMNIA%20088.pdf)
9. [Before "Stephen King's Children of the Corn" there was "Disciples of the Crow", ChildrenoftheCornMovie.com](https://childrenofthecornmovie.blogspot.com/2009/10/before-stephen-kings-children-of-corn.html)
10. [DISCIPLES OF THE CROW/NIGHT WAITER/KILLING TIME, Australian Classification](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/disciples-crownight-waiterkilling-time)
11. ['Children of the Corn' 4K Ultra HD Review, Slant Magazine](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/children-of-the-corn-4k-review-fritz-kiersch-arrow/)
12. [Video Librarian, Jan/Feb 2018 (PDF)](https://videolibrarian.com/downloads/255/download/JanFeb18VideoLibrarian.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Individual short films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license