Children of the Corn – Arrow Video (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1984
Director: Fritz Kiersch
Writer: George Goldsmith
Cast: Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R.G. Armstrong, John Franklin, Courtney Gains, Robby Kiger, Anne Marie McEvoy, Julie Maddalena, Jonas Marlowe, John Philbin

Release Date: September 29th, 2021
Approximate Running Time: 92 Minutes 8 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English, LPCM Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $49.95

"a young couple who find themselves lost on the backroads of Nebraska, eventually winding up in the seemingly deserted town of Gatlin. But the town is far from empty. As the couple soon discover, it is inhabited by a twisted cult of murderous children, thirsty for another blood sacrifice..." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Brand new 4K restoration from the original camera negative by Arrow Films."

Children of the Corn comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 88 GB

Feature: 61.6 GB

With this new transfer from Arrow Video they improve upon their 2017 Blu-ray releases transfer in every way. Colors saturation, shadow detail, black levels and image clarity look solid throughout. Also, there are no issues with compression and grain looks natural. 

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English and a LPCM mono mix in English. Both audio mixes are in great shape, as dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced and robust when it needs too. Included with this release are removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a storyboard gallery, a trailer for Children of the Corn (1 minute 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Rich Kleinberg whose performance as the Blue man was cut from the final film titled Cut from the Cornfield (5 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), interviews with production designer Craig Stearns and composer Jonathan Elias titled Welcome to Gatlin (15 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette that revisits the film’s original Iowa shooting locations titled Return to Gatlin (16 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with producer Donald P. Borchers titled Stephen King on a Shoestring (11 minutes 18 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with screenwriter George Goldsmith titled Field of Nightmares (17 minutes 19 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), interviews with actors interviews with Julie Maddalena and John Philbin titled . . .And a Child Shall Lead Them (50 minutes 52 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Linda Hamilton titled It Was the Eighties! (14 minutes 7 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), retrospective documentary with director Fritz Kiersch and actors John Franklin and Courtney Gains titled Harvesting Horror: The Making of Children of the Corn (36 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), two audio commentaries’ - the first audio commentary is with Fritz Kiersch, producer Terrence Kirby, John Franklin and Courtney Gains, and the second audio commentary is with John Sullivan of childrenofthecornmovie.com and horror journalist Justin Beahm, a short film that was also adapted from Stephen King’ short story titled Disciples of the Crow (18 minutes 56 seconds, 1:33:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), reversible cover art, a slipcover and a 28-page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled Behind the Rows written by John Sullivan, an essay titled Praise God! Praise the Lord! The Influence of the Child Preacher in reference to ‘Children of the Corn’ written by Lee Gambin and information about the restoration/transfer.

Summary:

The screenplay for Children of the Corn is adapted from author Stephen King’s short story of the same name. To date, there have been eight Children of the Corn sequels, one remake and one short film titled Disciples of the Crow. 

At its core the horror genre preys on our darkest fears. And though there is never a shortage of protagonists for this genre to draw inspiration from. With this genre’s most sinister source of evil being children. And nowhere is more clear, then how the horror genre uses innocence to disguise the evil that is lurking beneath the surface. 

Another staple throughout the history of horror cinema is religion. And at the heart of Children of the Corn is a cautionary tale about the dangers of religious fanaticism. With this film’s agents of carnage being a group of children led by false prophet named Isaac.

The characters are well-defined and the cast are very good in their respective roles. With this film’s standout performance being John Franklin (The Addams Family) in the role of Isaac. He delivers a spellbinding performance that perfectly captures his characters ability to influence his followers. Another performance of note is Courtney Gains (Hardbodies, The ‘Burbs) in the role of Isaac’s malevolent older brother Malachai.

When compared to other horror films from this era, The Children of the Corn is not as graphic when it comes to its depiction of violence. With most of bloodshed occurring off-screen. With this film’s standout moments being this film’s opening setup where the children under Isaac’s direction murder all the adult in their town and a scene where the couple who are lost accidentally run over a young-boy who appeared out of nowhere.

Children of the Corn gets a solid 4K UHD upgrade from Arrow Video, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer