Children of the Corn (1984)
Studio: Image Entertainment
Theatrical Release: March 9, 1984
Blu Ray Release: September 6, 2011
R
Review by James Klein
Back in the 1980's, everything that Stephen King wrote was turned into a movie. The man's grocery list would have been made into a movie if given a chance. The Shining, Creepshow, Christine, The Dead Zone, and Cujo all were box office hits and still hold up to this day. In 1984, King's short story collection "Night Shift" contained a short story called Children of the Corn which was also turned into a low budget film that became a sleeper hit. To this day, Children of the Corn has spawned over eight sequels and a made for TV remake. How is it that this forgettable and at times laughable horror film became such a huge hit?
The opening of Children of the Corn is a bit dark and creepy as this small southern town is suddenly turned upside down when the children of the town attack and murder the adults. As we see patrons poisoned at a diner, the children and teenagers pull out knives and various farming utensils used for weapons to attack the adults in brutal fashion (some scenes were trimmed or taken out to obtain the R rating). As soon as the prologue ends, the film centers on a married couple who always seem to be arguing (not sure if this was in the original story but they seem to be at each others throats quite a bit) as they travel down a rural road and come across a young boy whose throat has been slit. As the couple journey to the next town to tell authorities, they come across the children of the town who don't take kindly to these new adult strangers. Soon they are captured and ready to be sacrificed by an unseen force that lives in the cornfields.
While the premise of Children of the Corn is interesting and the performances by Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton and its young leads are very good, the film just gets hokey and all too silly as it continues. The special effects dealing with the unseen monster in the cornfields is hilarious bad and makes no sense as characters are zapped by some force while the ground moves around like a Tremors film. I started laughing when the film seemed to be still continuing and the credit 'The End" appeared on the screen as the action was still taking place. Maybe the editor was sick of seeing the film?
The blu ray by Image may be the same transfer as the previous blu ray which is fine because the picture looks pretty good. At times a few shots will look a bit grainy but the film for the most part looks good. No complaints on the sound either. I will say that the blu ray is lacking in any special features which the old one had an audio commentary and a few featurettes. Why did Image take these off? All we get now is the trailer.
I must be missing something with Children of the Corn as it seems to be loved by many fans and almost considered a cult movie. It's not a terrible film but it isn't very good. I'd rather watch a different Stephen King adapted movie made in the great 1980's, and yes, that includes Maximum Overdrive.
Theatrical Release: March 9, 1984
Blu Ray Release: September 6, 2011
R
Review by James Klein
Back in the 1980's, everything that Stephen King wrote was turned into a movie. The man's grocery list would have been made into a movie if given a chance. The Shining, Creepshow, Christine, The Dead Zone, and Cujo all were box office hits and still hold up to this day. In 1984, King's short story collection "Night Shift" contained a short story called Children of the Corn which was also turned into a low budget film that became a sleeper hit. To this day, Children of the Corn has spawned over eight sequels and a made for TV remake. How is it that this forgettable and at times laughable horror film became such a huge hit?
The opening of Children of the Corn is a bit dark and creepy as this small southern town is suddenly turned upside down when the children of the town attack and murder the adults. As we see patrons poisoned at a diner, the children and teenagers pull out knives and various farming utensils used for weapons to attack the adults in brutal fashion (some scenes were trimmed or taken out to obtain the R rating). As soon as the prologue ends, the film centers on a married couple who always seem to be arguing (not sure if this was in the original story but they seem to be at each others throats quite a bit) as they travel down a rural road and come across a young boy whose throat has been slit. As the couple journey to the next town to tell authorities, they come across the children of the town who don't take kindly to these new adult strangers. Soon they are captured and ready to be sacrificed by an unseen force that lives in the cornfields.
While the premise of Children of the Corn is interesting and the performances by Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton and its young leads are very good, the film just gets hokey and all too silly as it continues. The special effects dealing with the unseen monster in the cornfields is hilarious bad and makes no sense as characters are zapped by some force while the ground moves around like a Tremors film. I started laughing when the film seemed to be still continuing and the credit 'The End" appeared on the screen as the action was still taking place. Maybe the editor was sick of seeing the film?
The blu ray by Image may be the same transfer as the previous blu ray which is fine because the picture looks pretty good. At times a few shots will look a bit grainy but the film for the most part looks good. No complaints on the sound either. I will say that the blu ray is lacking in any special features which the old one had an audio commentary and a few featurettes. Why did Image take these off? All we get now is the trailer.
I must be missing something with Children of the Corn as it seems to be loved by many fans and almost considered a cult movie. It's not a terrible film but it isn't very good. I'd rather watch a different Stephen King adapted movie made in the great 1980's, and yes, that includes Maximum Overdrive.
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