Stephen King always will be considered the “king” of horror fiction. From the late 70s until today, more than fifty of Kings novels and short stories have been made into a motion picture. Children of the Corn was the second film based on one of King’s short stories, and it more than quadrupled its three million dollar budget, becoming a moderate success at the box office.
CHILDREN OF THE CORN takes place in the small town of Gatlin, in western Nebraska. A newly-married couple, Burton Stanton (Peter Horton) and his wife Vicky (Linda Hamilton) are traveling to Seattle, Washington. On their way there, the couple’s car accidentally hits a boy. They think they have killed him. However, as a physician, Burt realizes that the boy’s throat has been slashed and that the accident is not what killed the boy. They soon, however, will get themselves into one hell of a mess when they come face to face with the children of Gatlin, a town where all the adults are dead and a cult of young demon-worshipping children lives among the cornfields sacrificing adults to their gods in order to make the corn harvest perfect each year.
The first time I saw this film was on video in 1986. I watched it with a good friend whose mother rented us all the latest horror films. The film bored us both, and when it ended, we could not wait to get upstairs to play video games. Years later, I would catch it on television, and I have seen it a couple of times. The last time was about five years ago when I watched all of the CHILDREN OF THE CORN series on DVD. Of all eight films, this one is still the best, but that is not saying much. While the story is a very interesting concept, the film drags a bit. Originally, Stephen King himself wrote the script for the film, but the studio went with a script adapted by George Goldsmith.
The film has decent production values. The locations and sets are believable enough, but the visual effects are silly and look as if they belong in a cartoon rather than in a horror film. The make-up effects are fine with some bloody images of death. Nevertheless, the overall look and feel of the film varies between scenes.
The film’s acting is probably the best it could have been. Peter Horton’s and Linda Hamilton’s performances are adequate. However, I think the children are the real stars of the film. Robby Kiger and Anne Marie McEvoy were both nominated for a Young Artist Award for their performances, and John Franklin and Courtney Gains give great and creepy performances as well.
The Blu-ray disc is packed with features including audio commentary with Terrence Kiersch, producer Terrence Kirby and actors John Franklin and Courtney Gains, It Was The Eighties! interview featurette with Linda Hamilton, Stephen King on a Shoestring interview featurette with producer Donald P. Borchers, Welcome to Gatlin: The Sights and Sounds of CHILDREN OF THE CORN interview featurette with production designer Craig Stearns and composer Jonathan Elias, Harvesting Horror: The Making of CHILDREN OF THE CORN featurette, Fast Film Facts, original theatrical trailer, poster and still gallery and original storyboard and original title sequence art.
Overall, the quality of the film on Blu-ray is decent. It still has the look of a horror film shot in the 80s, but has a cleaner look. This is a necessary disc for fans of the film. It is packed with a lot of content about the film and is well worth the buy just for the features. Later this year, there will be a made-for-television remake on the Syfy cable network. Given their track record, I do not think it will be superior to this film. Although I am not a big fan of the film, I respect it for what it is, and know some people really have enjoyed the series of films that have spawned from the original.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
