|
Children of the Corn [Blu-ray]
(Fritz Kiersch, 1984)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Angeles Entertainment Group Video: Anchor Bay/Starz
Disc: Region: FREE! (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:31:49.153 Disc Size: 30 Gig bytes Feature Size: 26.5 Gig Video Bitrate: 18.10 Mbps Chapters: 33 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: August 25th, 2009
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Resolution: 1080p Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English (SDH), Spanish, none
Extras: • “It Was The Eighties!” (14-minutes in HD) -- Linda Hamilton talks about working on the film, offering great behind-the-scenes stories about the cast and crew• “Stephen King on a Shoestring” (11-minutes in HD) – All-New interview with Producer Donald Borchers. • “Welcome to Gatlin: The Sights and Sounds of Children of the Corn” (15-minutes in HD) – Interview with Production Designer Craig Stearns and Composer Jonathan Elias • Audio commentary with director Fritz Kiersch, producer Terrence Kirby and actors John Franklin & Courtney Gains • “Harvesting Horror: The Making of Children of the Corn” (SD) • Fast Film Facts • Original theatrical trailer • Poster & still gallery • Original storyboard and original title sequence art
Description: Young lovers on a cross-country trip stop in a small Nebraska community and make a shocking discovery. One day, three years prior to the couples' arrival, the town's children killed all of the grown-ups at the apparent behest of a demon simply dubbed "He Who Walks Behind the Rows." Based on a short story from horror scribe Stephen King's "Night Shift" collection, this film spawned a slew of bloody sequels.
The Film:
It's a peaceful, parched Sunday morning of late summer in the tiny
Nebraska farming community of Gatlin. It's that lazy hour between the
end of church services and the start of Sunday dinner when most kids
feel at loose ends - but not this morning. The Gatlin children, at the
direction of pint-sized Isaac, who looks like the demon seed of John
Brown, rise up and with cool dispatch murder everyone in Gatlin over the
age of 19. They use butcher knives, hatchets, sickles and whatever else
is handy.
While I can't be positive - it appears as though Children of the Corn may have had use of digital noise removal as the image has a strange softness making skin tones look almost plastic at times. I realize it has never been a pristinely sharp-looking presentation but despite what I determine to be untoward manipulation it still looks better than I have ever seen it before on digital. On Blu-ray, colors appear bright and there is even some depth to the dual-layered image where the feature itself takes up over 26 Gig. There is a hint of grain in the backgrounds but those sensitive to the homogenized appearance of the detail may be less happy with what they see... but it is absolutely possible that this is inherent in the print although I can't recall other mid-eighties stock having this effect. Daylight scenes seem to make the alleged transfer culprit a bit more prominent, but this is still quite a cheesy film and I really got something out of my viewing with these 1080P visuals. I wasn't overly deterred by the apparent weakness of the appearance, that is to say, I still got a heavy dose of 'the willies'. Once I got past it - I had a super viewing.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :There is some surprising depth to the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. Horror films can rely heavily on a decent mix with effect sounds, both subtle and demonstrative creeping out of every corer of your home theater. This isn't too bad at all - a darn sight tighter than the image. There is also a decent score - befitting the genre. Dialogue is conveniently scattered at times but, for the most part, I liked what I heard. There are English and Spanish subtitles (no DUBs) and m y Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.
Extras :The Blu-ray is stacked with three new 1080 supplements (40-minutes worth) beyond the director led commentary and older featurette found on the previous SE DVD edition from 2004. This is someone's favorite film at Anchor Bay as there is a lot of effort gone into the bonus features with cast input (seeing how they've aged is somewhat comforting), production design, retrospective pieces and even a Pop-up Trivia track. I kinda liked 'It Was the Eighties' with Linda Hamilton but surely there is something supplement-wise for anyone curious about Children of the Corn. You can even indulge in stills galleries, storyboards and a theatrical trailer as well. There is quite a lot here for those who wish to partake. Full marks for the extras. Great job Anchor Bay.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze August 19th, 2009
|
About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 7500 DVDs and have reviewed over 3000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction. So be
it, but film will always be my first love and I list my
favorites on the old YMdb site now accessible
HERE.
Samsung HPR4272 42" Plasma HDTV Gary W. Tooze
HD-DVD STORE HIGH DEFINITION DVD STORE
ALL OUR NEW FORMAT DVD REVIEWS
|