Quote:
Children of the Corn
Synopsis: A young couple travelling cross-country find themselves stranded in the small town of Gatlin, where they meet a mysterious religious cult of children. With no adults in sight the terror brews as the new arrivals find the secrets of the prospering corn fields and the children who inhabit them. Led by the mysterious Isaac and the unhinged Malachi the blood-curdling secrets of the children of Gatlin are soon revealed to their new 'outlander' guests.
Featuring stellar performances from Linda Hamilton (Terminator) and Peter Horton (thirtysomething) and based on a short story by Stephen King, The Children of the Corn is a horror classic that has spawned multiple sequels and imitators, but none as harrowing as this masterpiece of horror.
Special Features:
Brand new 2K restoration from the original negative
Original Mono and 5.1 Audio Options
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary with John Sullivan of childrenofthecornmovie.com and horror journalist Justin Beahm
Audio commentary with director Fritz Kiersch, producer Terrence Kirby and actors John Franklin and Courtney Gains
Harvesting Horror: The Making of Children of the Corn – retrospective piece featuring interviews with director Fritz Kiersch and actors John Franklin and Courtney Gains
It Was the Eighties! – an interview with actress Linda Hamilton
Return to Gatlin – brand new featurette revisiting the film's original Iowa shooting 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
Feeling Blue – an interview with the actor who played "The Blue Man" in the fabled excised sequence
Theatrical Trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
First pressing only: Collectors booklet featuring new writing in the film
U.S. STREET DATE: SEPTEMBER 19.
Quote:
Children of the Corn is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The insert booklet contains the following verbiage, but be aware that virtually all other information provided by Arrow (including on the cover of the release itself) indicates a 2K restoration, not a 4K restoration:
Children of the Corn was exclusively restored by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with 5.1 and 2.0 stereo sound.
The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution at EFilm, Burbank. The film was graded and restored on the Nucoda grading system at R3store Studios, London. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches and other instances of film wear were repaired or removed through a combination of digital restoration tools and techniques. There are many instances of optical and animated special effects which could only be restored to an extent without creating unwanted digital artifacts.
The original 4 track stereo mix was transferred from the original Dolby mag reels and was remastered to 5.1 by Lakeshore at Deluxe Audio Services, Burbank.
Marty didn't see a whale of a lot of difference between the Starz / Anchor Bay and Image Entertainment Releases, other than relatively minor issues like the difference between 1.85:1 and 1.78:1 aspect ratios, so my comparison will tend to deal with the two previous releases as one entity. That said, I've tried to come close to recreating some of Marty's screenshots from his two reviews so that those interested can do their own side by side (by side) comparisons rather than completely relying on my descriptive powers. There's no doubt that this new transfer decidedly ups the ante in terms of detail and especially fine detail, notably during the many brightly lit outdoor scenes. The restoration has largely eliminated or at least ameliorated some of the age related wear and tear seen in the previous releases, and there's really not any discernable huge damage on display. The palette pops quite pleasingly throughout the presentation, with a few passing exceptions. The Arrow release looks darker than either of the previous releases, something that tends to make the grain field more apparent, which may or may not please individual viewers. There are still some variances in clarity, saturation, and density, as well as intermittent issues with fairly chunky looking grain. I've tried to provide examples of the less pleasing moments in screenshots 16 - 19.
Children of the Corn features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 mix. While the surround track is not the most consistently immersive offering imaginable (as Marty discussed in his reviews), there is good surround placement of Jonathan Elias' score, as well as some of the ambient environmental sounds out in the cornfield. The over the top finale also offers some good and relatively robust low end activity. Dialogue tends to be anchored front and center in the 5.1 mix, but is always rendered cleanly and is routinely well prioritized. I found the low end a bit more pleasing on this release than Marty evidently did with the previous releases, and I also heard no distortion in the low end.