Search - Children of the Corn on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Graphic Violence, Not For Children, Adult Language, Profanity Movie Release: 1984 DVD Release: 04/10/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 32 mins Studio: Anchor Bay Members Wishing: 1 Genres: Horror, Supernatural Horror See Also: Children of the Corn [20th Anniversary Special Edition], Children of the Corn [UMD for PSP], Children of the Corn [Blu-ray]

Narrator Job (Robby Kiger) relates the tale of Gatlin, NE, where one day the children, led by a boy preacher named Isaac (John Franklin), rose up and slaughtered all the grown-ups. A few years later, Job and his sister, Sarah (Ammemarie McEvoy), help their friend, Joseph (Jonas Marlowe), try to escape through the cornfields of Gatlin. Meanwhile, Burt Stanton (Peter Horton), a commitment-phobic young doctor, and Vicky Baxter (Linda Hamilton), his frustrated girlfriend, travel through the cornfield-lined roads of Nebraska on their way to Burt's new internship in Omaha. Their car hits Joseph, who appears out of nowhere, but upon examining him, Burt realizes the child's throat was slit before he ever wandered out from the corn. Attempting to locate help, Burt and Vicky turn to gas-station owner Diehl (R.G. Armstrong), who urges the couple to go anywhere but nearby Gatlin to report the murder. Several contradictory street signs later, they arrive in Gatlin anyway, and, befriending Sarah and Joseph, attempt to uncover the mystery behind Isaac's cult and its mysterious deity, known only as He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Stephen King cash-ins flooded the market between the successes of Brian DePalma's Carrie (1976) and Rob Reiner's Misery (1990), many of them, like Children of the Corn, based only loosely on the author's fiction. The original short story appeared in the collection -Night Shift. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Peter Horton - Dr. Burt Stanton
Linda Hamilton - Vicky Baxter
R.G. Armstrong - Diehl
John Franklin - Isaac
Courtney Gains - Malachi

Originally released into theaters during a time before films adapted from Stephen King novels or short stories were garnering Academy Award wins or nominations, Children of the Corn has nevertheless gone on to forge quite a franchise for itself. Though the film was based on a short story, Children has spawned five sequels and a mob of faithful followers over the years, arguably thanks to the original film's shelf life on the video racks and its frequent appearances on late-night cable television.
Anchor Bay Entertainment's DVD release of the film is not a disc for the rabid fan, as it fails to include any worthwhile extras other than a 16-page collector's booklet containing a brief essay. But the film's transfer and sound are vast improvements over any previous video offering and should please fans of the film who have only seen it on VHS or on cable. The colors are stable throughout and the image is sharp and crisp. The only problems occur during some interior scenes where the blacks are not as deep and solid as they should be. Whether this is a failing of the disc's compression or the film's low budget is up for debate. Other scenes look perfectly fine and the blacks are indeed solid looking. Overall, an excellent transfer. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is great, as is the two-channel option. The disc is available letterboxed at 1.66:1 and has been enhanced for widescreen TVs. The theatrical trailer is also included. ~ Derek Hill, All Movie Guide