jacobjohntaylor1 This a great movie. It is one of the scariest movie I have seen. It is very scary. It has great story line. Great acting. It is scarier then The Shinning. It is one of scariest movie you will see. It is a great movie.

skybrick736 Stephen King's short story Children of the Corn is wickedly disturbing, the idea of a small town being overrun by a cult of children, worshiping an ungodly entity is quite spooky. Credit to George Goldsmith and Fritz Kiersch for pulling of the chilling King concepts and atmosphere. The editing and sound was uniquely done, using odd shots, grittier images and fast paced filming techniques. Also, the filmmakers delivered on portraying the children as gruesome, evil figures. Both the young actors, John Franklin and Courtney Gains worked perfectly together as the film's arch villains, Isaac and Malachai. There roles were equally sinister, and their lines delivered to each were enthralling. The lead roles of Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton were also a team that had good chemistry on screen. A couple downfalls with the film include situational scenes cliché in horror and a subpar ending. Children of the Corn is underrated 80's horror flick that shouldn't be skipped by the genre's viewers.

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.

ohkcomputer The many, and admittedly mostly very poor sequels to Children of the Corn, already prove that the original movie did something very well for them wanting to revisit this concept. From the incredibly creepy opening scene to the introduction of the actual likable two main characters the movie sets the tone of the suspense to come perfectly. There is no weak acting in the movie and even the children do a phenomenal job. Two of them are actually really high in my list of creepiest characters horror movies. And that soundtrack! It's easily just as eerie and effective as the Halloween soundtrack by John Carpenter. Admittedly, this movie has a few weaker scenes but some are so brilliant it easy to forgive the movie for those. The story is quite simple, maybe even thin, but that in no way hurts the atmosphere and the viewer becoming invested in what happens on screen. The first time I watched it I remember being scared at every corner while walking my dog for quite a while, my imagination making the worst out of my actually very peaceful and somewhat boring village! Maybe by today's standards, this movie isn't that scary anymore but I bet many people who haven't seen it yet will still really enjoy this underrated little gem.