Children of the Corn is by no means a good movie or anything, but the cheesiness does make it entertaining even if there isn’t anything particularly scary.
Children of the Corn
(1984)
Genre(s): Horror
Arrow Video | R – 92 min. – $49.95 | September 28, 2021
Date Published: 10/30/2021 | Author: The Movieman
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Note: Outside of the video portion, everything else was copied over from the 2017 Blu-ray review.
THE MOVIE — 3/5 |
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Loosely based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, the film starts out with narration by a young boy named Job (Robby Kiger). Job essentially tells the story of what happened three years ago when some of the kids in the small town of Gatlin decided to kill any and all adults because a young preacher boy named Isaac came to town and told them they had to. Flash forward three years, a young couple; Burton (PETER HORTON) and Vicky (LINDA HAMILTON) are driving along when they accidentally hit a young boy who was standing in the middle of the road. When they examine the body they notice he had his throat cut and decide to toss him in the trunk and search for help. When they stumble upon the small town of Gatlin they notice something is wrong as the ghost town is littered with corn husks and there is nowhere in sight. Eventually, the couple begins to solve the mystery of where all the adults went and who walks in the cornfield… It’s been years since I’ve last seen the film yet it still manages to hold a grip on me in the creepiness department. The acting of the children is exceptionally powerful like John Franklin (Isaac in the film) who has a very loud and booming voice sounding like a thirty-year old man; even the red-headed Courtney Gains (Malachai) strikes fear in the adults as one of the ‘older’ children who are essentially second in command. While the adults are no slouches either, Hamilton does very little in the film besides getting captured while Burton runs around like an idiot when they should have just left and driven to the other town a mere 19 miles away. A small remark – the ending in very, very cheesy and includes some of (not even sure this is a word) the most 80ish graphics I have ever seen. It literally looks like someone took a highlighter and rubbed it over the scenes in question. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4¼/5 |
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This release comes with a matted slip cover and inside an essay booklet that is the same from Arrow’s Blu-ray release. All features were ported over. Audio Commentaries:
As one would expect, the first track offers first-hand observations on filming on-location in and around Iowa while the second is far more academic but still well worth a listen. Harvesting Horror: The Making of Children of the Corn (36:15) is a retrospective documentary that features interviews with Kiersch, Franklin and Gains. It was the Eighties! (14:07) – Archive interview with actress Linda Hamilton. …And a Child Shall Lead Them (50:52) – These are new interview with actors Julie Maddalena (Rachel) and John Philbin (Amos) in separate interviews discussing their work on the film. Field of Nightmares (17:19) is another new interview, this with screenwriter George Goldsmith. Stephen King on a Shoestring (11:18) is an interview with producer Donald P. Borchers on making the movie on a limited budget. Welcome to Gatlin: The Sights and Sounds of Children of the Corn (15:29) are interviews with production designer Craig Stearns and composer Jonathan Elias. Return to Gatlin (16:29) is a look at the iconic filming locations in Iowa with John Sullivan. Cut from the Cornfield (5:30) is an interview with actor Rich Kleinberg on the infamous “lost” Blue Man scene. Last up we have a Storyboard Gallery (5:31), a Trailer (1:28) and even Disciples of the Crow (18:56), a short film adaptation made one year before the 1984 film. |
VIDEO – 4½/5 |
| Children of the Corn has been released on 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video where it’s presented in the original theatrical 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio. The 2160p high-definition transfer was taken from the original 35mm camera negative, scanned in 4K resolution. I assume it’s the same one from the 2018 Blu-ray, just upgraded to 4K. In any case, as the Blu-ray already looked quite good, this one also was great with sharp detail throughout and the natural film grain and noise noticeable giving it what I assume is a fairly close to a theatrical experience as possible. |
AUDIO – 3¾/5 |
| The disc has been given both a 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio tracks, the former from the original 4-channel stereo mix. Although not a particularly strong track, it still sounds rather good with crisp and clean dialogue coming from the center channel and modest spurts from the front and a little ambient noise on the back channels. |
OVERALL – 4/5 |
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Overall, Children of the Corn is by no means a good movie or anything, but the cheesiness – or should I say corny (?) – does make it entertaining even if there isn’t anything particularly scary. |