Platypuschow 1984 was an amazing year for movies, being the nerd that I am I pay attention to my analytics and 1984 is the 3rd greatest movie year at time of writing.Being a huge horror fan the fact I haven't watched the Children Of The Corn movies is remarkable especially when you take into consideration how much I love Kings work and how I've seen every other adaptation of his books.Off the top of my head I've seen the remake (2009) and one of the later sequels and have to say (And I never say this) the remake is better. Being that this is the original cult classic I expected so much more but instead found a disjointed lifeless effort that failed to impress.I'm not saying it's bad, but its mediocre at best. If the cult classic original is of this quality I'm concerned what the long list of straight to vhs/dvd sequels are going to be like. Time will tell!One of the weaker Stephen King adaptations.The Good:Still has the Stephen King vibeConcept is strong enoughThe Bad:Far too shortWastes a good storyThings I Learnt From This Movie:Linda Hamilton cannot singFor a religious man Stephen King really craps on religionThe only thing more obnoxious than a religious person is a religious childKids are evil, been saying it for years

Mark Turner When CHILDREN OF THE CORN was released I was working as a theater manager in Indianapolis. I had access to most movies coming out, was an avid fan of horror films and when I couldn't see them that way would rent them since this was the early age of the VCR. When I heard that a new movie was coming out based on a Stephen King novel I looked forward to it, expected to be chilled to the bone. The end result was entertaining but not quite that frightening.The story opens with a town in which all of the young people for reasons as yet unexplained kill off the adults. They do so at the behest of Isaac (John Franklin), a holy roller styled child preacher. Fast forward to several years later was young couple Burt and Vicky (Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton) are on their way to Burt's new job as a doctor. Driving through the fields of corn they hit a young boy standing in the middle of the road. Burt realizes he didn't die from the accident but from a slit throat so the couple go searching for help.They find themselves directed to the tiny town of Gatlin with its empty streets and corn stalk filled cars and stores. Eventually they come across two small children, our movie narrators, who don't tell them much. When the rest of the youth find them they capture Vicky and plan to offer her as a sacrifice. Will Peter be able to rescue her? Will he discover what is actually going on in this town? And will the evil that has been behind it all be revealed? Based on a short story the plot is fairly simple and the story here is as well. It involves a lot of moving from one place to another and listening to two factions in the town struggling with one another: Isaac the long term leader who has controlled it from the beginning and the devout follower Malachi (Courtney Gains) who thinks things haven't gone far enough. Their struggle is as menacing to watch as is the deaths they've perpetrated and now prepare for.The acting here is what one would expect from two pros like Horton and Hamilton. Both were well on their way to stardom when making this film, he on TV's THIRTYSOMETHING and she in the TERMINATOR films. What makes this movie stand out though is the performances of the young people involved. Franklin (although older than he looks) is the perfect fit for the character of Isaac. And Gaines looks like the local skateboard teen who could be trouble but in this case carrying a butcher knife and proving that he is.For being a horror film as well as one with an R rating there is very little in the way of blood or gore here and no nudity at all which makes one wonder why the MPAA would choose to pass this off with that rating. In the extras even the producers were stunned by the rating which was given without any explanation as to how to fix it. In any event, fans of the film and of Stephen King will want to pick this one up.That being said with a blu-ray edition out earlier why would anyone pick up this one? Two words: Arrow Video. Yes, I'm still singing their praises. The quality of the picture here is fantastic with a gorgeous transfer. The extras are very numerous and include a brand new audio commentary track with horror journalist Justin Beahm and CHILDREN OF THE CORN historian John Sullivan, an audio commentary track with director Fritz Kiersch, producer Terrence Kirby and actors Franklin and Gaines, HARVESTING HORROR: THE MAKING OF CHILDREN OF THE CORN a retrospective piece on the film full of interviews, AND THE CHILDREN SHALL LEAD THEM a brand new interview with actors Julie Maddalena and John Philbin, IT WAS THE EIGHTIES! an interview with Linda Hamilton, FIELED OF NIGHTMARES a brand new interview with writer George Goldsmith, RETURN TO GATLIN a brand new featurette revisiting the film's original Iowa locations, STEPHEN KING ON A SHOESTRING an interview with producer Donald Borchers, WELCOME TO GATLIN: THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF CHILDREN OF THE CORN an interview with production designer Craig Stearns and composer Jonathan Elias, CUT FROM THE CORNFIELD an interview with actor Rich Kleinberg on the infamous lost Blue Man scene, DISCIPLES OF THE CROW a 1983 short film adaptation of the original King story, a storyboard gallery, the original trailer and a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork. With all of these extras you can see why if you're a fan of the film you need to pick up this version for your shelf.

hellholehorror A nice little gritty horror movie from the eighties. It relies on the suspense built up from effectively menacing kids of the cult. There are some laughable bits like the corn parting to make a path and the occult effects at the end but I forgive these as they were just trying to make the film more supernatural. The only thing I didn't like was the religious and moral overtones. I got the impression that this was a Christian film warning of the dangers of other religions. That aside this is an enjoyable and occasionally scary horror film with two really evil characters.

erosthanatosfilms This has got to be one of the worst Stephen King adaptations and worst horror films ever to become popular. There are so many plot holes and idiotic characters that even my migraine medicine won't take away the pain inflicted upon my brain.Let's start with when the kid is trying to sneak away and the little girl screams "OKAY NO ONE IS WATCHING, GO NOW!!!" Seriously?.... Seriously?Then the dumb kid gets cut up and decides to run into the middle of the road... Only to get hit.How did the lead couple manage to not see the kid when it was a very straight road and the kid was already standing there???Also, does Vicky have narcolepsy? She fell asleep REALLY fast after she was left alone while Burt went go investigate. Also, why is the main couple lost when they clearly had a map in an earlier scene? Why not... USE YOUR MAP!This on on scratching the surface of a poorly put together film that basically bastardized Stephen King's work in favor of a schlock fest... Only watch if you want to see how to tell a horror story poorly.