CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984) (Arrow Video Blu-ray Review)

CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984) 

Label: Arrow Video
Region Code: A
Duration: 82 Minutes 
Rating: R
Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Stereo, English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Fritz Kiersch
Cast: Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R.G. Armstrong, Julie Maddalena, John Philbin, John Franklin, Courtney Gains 

Eighties killer-kiddie classic Children of the Corn (1984) scared the living Hell out of  me when I caught in my pre-teens on VHS. I grew up in a very rural area in Upstate New York with plenty of corn fields around me, so the idea of a dark Lovecraftian force known as "He Who Walks Behind the Rows" who spurred children to kill the adults really burrowed down into my psyche and imagination in a big, bad way. Even as a kid I found the idea of kids killing all the adults rather frightening, and while the movie affects me differently now three decades later as a father and, somewhat arguably, an adult, I think this one holds up mighty finely. 

The film opens on a Sunday morning in the small town Gatlin, the

adults are gathered at the local diner for their usual post-sermon breakfast when the kids rise up and massacre every last one them while creepy kid cult-leader Isaac (John Franklin, The Addam's Family) peers through the window. We get some decent carnage as the kids poison the coffee pot, hacking and slashing the adults and slicing off the proprietor of the diner's hand in a meat slicer! Now, the carnage is mostly relegated to splashes of blood but I love it when the kid with the milkshake mustache catches a face full of the red stuff! 

Three years later young couple Vicky (Linda Hamilton, Terminator) and her boyfriend Burt (Peter Horton, TV's Thirtysomething) are travelling through rural Nebraska when a young boy emerges from the corn field right into the path of their car. They put him in the car and drive into the nearby town of Gatlin, which at first seems deserted, but soon enough they discover the kiddie-only inhabitants are nothing to be trifled with, as creepy cult-leader Isaac and his evil-ginger sidekick Malachi (Courtney Joiner, The 'Burbs) capture Vicky and put her on a crucifix made of corn, to be sacrificed to their Lovecraftian lord, He who Walks Behind the Rows. 

Based on the Stephen King short story "Disciples of the Crow," this is probably the first King adaptation I saw as a kid, it was chilling to me as a kid, though now I can see it for the somewhat problematic thing that it is, padded for time to stretch the short-subject source material, adding a young girl with clairvoyant visions, but that the creepy kid cult-leader as played by John Franklin (who was 24 when he made this) still manages to make my skin crawl with his eerie sermons and odd demeanor, he has an evil precociousness that I find chilling. Then we have Malachi, whom develops a feud with Isaac over the proper way to worship their dark Lord, culminating in some treachery. 

The finale is fun piece of work, both frantic, frightful and field-burning, but the visual effects might be a bit problematic for those who weren't raised on this vintage slice of horror - they do not really stand-up to the test of time, but the scenes of He Who Walks Behind The Rows burrowing beneath the surface of the ground and the way it displaces the dirt looks very cool, and the fireball is wonderful.  To this day I cannot pass a corn field and think of this film, it's left it's mark on me for sure, a testament to the iconic nature of this one. 

Audio/Video: The Children of the Corn (1984) arrives on Blu-ray from Arrow Video befitting from a new 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative. Right away you see the improvement, this is a step up from my 2009 25th Anniversary Blu-ray from Anchor Bay by a large margin, he film grain seems better resolved and more textured, looking more natural. Colors have more life and you can see a new color timing has been done, not sure if this is more accurate to the theatrical run but to my eyes it looks superior to the previous Blu-ray. Audio on the disc comes by way of an English LPCM 2.0 or DTS-HD MA 5.1, I prefer the stereo track, which has more presence and power to my ears, optional English subtitles are provided. 

Arrow Video carry over all the extras from the 2009 Anchor Bay Blu-ray (minus the trivial trivia track) which were produced by Red Shirt Pictures, and kindly offer-up a handful more new ones to make this the definitive edition of the movie. There's a brand new commentary from with John Sullivan of www.childrenofthecornmovie.com and horror journalist Justin Beahm, and Sullivan shows up again for a 16-min location revisit showcasing the filming locations current day.

Screenwriter George Goldsmith shows up for an interview talking about his early career as a small town investigative reporter before dropping that for screenwriting, working on Master of Kung Fu TV series and Force Five, and adapting the work of Stephen King. another cool extra is the short film "Disciples of the Crow" (1983), which is one of the infamous "dollar baby" King adaptations, this one coming out a year before the feature length movie. There are  also over fifty minutes of new interviews with Actors Julie Maddalena and John Philbin (Return of the Living Dead), all in you're looking at over three hours of extras and that's before you get two the two feature length audio commentaries! 

For the sake of this review Arrow Video sent "check disc" without any of the cool packaging or artwork, so I'll share these pack shots from Arrow Facebook page - this is a cool looking release with a sleeve of reversible artwork, reversible poster, and booklet:

Special Features: 
- Brand new 2K restoration from the original negative
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- NEW: Brand new audio commentary with John Sullivan of www.childrenofthecornmovie.com and horror journalist Justin Beahm
- NEW: Return to Gatlin - A brand new featurette revisiting the film's original Iowa shooting locations with John Sullivan of www.childrenofthecornmovie.com  (16 min) 
- NEW: A Field of Nightmare - A brand New interview with Screenwriter George Goldsmith (17 min) HD 

- NEW: ...And The Corn Shall Lead Them - A Brand new interview with Actors Julie Maddalena and John Philbin (52 min) HD 
- Stephen King on a Shoestring - an interview with producer Donald Borchers (11 min) HD 
- 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 (61 min) 
- It Was the Eighties! - an interview with actress Linda Hamilton (14 min) 
- Welcome to Gatlin - The Sights and Sounds of Children of the Corn, an interview with production designer Craig Stearns and composer Jonathan Elias (15 min) 
- Cut From the Corn - an interview with the actor who played "The Blue Man" in the fabled excised sequence (6 min) 
- Theatrical Trailer (1 min) HD 
- Storyboard Gallery (6 min) HD 
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
- Short Film:  Disciples of the Crow (1983): Originally shot as Children of the Corn, this short film adaptation of the eponymous Stephen King Story was made one year before the 1984 feature version of the version  (19 Minutes) HD 
- First Pressing: Collectors booklet featuring new writing in the film.


Children of the Corn (1984) still works it's 80s killer-kids magic all these years later, a testament to both Stephen King's original story and  to the direction of Fritz Kiersch, this is a film that will be scaring audiences for years to come. Arrow Video have gone deep behind the rows of corn to unearth some awesome extras this release, on top of that the A/V presentation is gorgeous, making this easily the definitive version of the film on home video - for fans and newcomers this is the one to own. 

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985) (COLLECTOR'S EDITION BLU-RAY REVIEW)

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985) 
2-DISC COLLECTOR'S EDITION

Label: Scream Factory 
Release Date: July 19th 2016 
Region Code: A
Duration: 91 Minutes
Rating: R
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: Englisg DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono, DTS-HD MA 2.0, DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English subtitles
Cast: Miguel A. Nuñez Jr., Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, Brian Peck, Clu Gulager, Don Calfa, James Karen, Jewel Shepard, John Philbin, Linnea Quigley
Director: Dan O'Bannon

Dan O' Bannon's The Return of the Living Dead (1985) was hands down my VHS horror cassette of choice all through high school and beyond. Having grown up on a steady diet of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978) I was primed and ready for this '80s punk rock zombie movie when it landed on VHS with that very cool artwork that caught your eye on the shelf. It had everything a young me needed as a horny teenager who loved horror, plenty of splatter, some tasty black comedy, a nude Linnea Quigley and an awesome 80s punk rock soundtrack featuring THE DAMNED, TSOL, THE CRAMPS and that iconic "Partytime" tune by 45 GRAVE. The blend of comedy and gore was unrivaled at the time, and its the rare movie that even comes close nowadays. When it comes to horror-comedies very few can rival this classic. Many a day I would come home from school bummed after a long day of remedial academia and social teen leprosy, but I only needed to toss this on the TV and let the apocalyptic good times wash away my teen aged worries.

The movie opens at the Uneeda Medical Supply warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky as Frank (James Karen, Poltergeist) shows a new employee named Freddy (Thom Mathews) around the place, cracking a few jokes before showing him some military drums that were accidentally shipped to the warehouse, which are kept down in the basement. He tells Freddy that the events from the movie Night of the Living Dead were based on reality, that inside the drums are reanimated corpses that were brought back to life during a military experiment gone wrong. While showing the newbie the drums Frank accidentally breaks the seal on the container and unleashes the toxic gas inside, and the two are knocked unconscious. They awaken a short time later feeling ill after having been contaminated by the toxic gasses inside. 

Returning to the main floor of the warehouse they are startled to find that a cadaver stored in the walk-in freezer has been reanimated. Frank reluctantly call the warehouse owner Burt Wilson (Clu Gulager) to help come assist with the situation. All three are panicked by the events and end up beheading the yellow-skinned cadaver with a hacksaw after pinning it's head to the ground with a pick-axe. The cadaver however refuses to die, causing the three men to dismember the cadaver, placing the parts in garbage bags. Now what to do about those reanimated body parts in the bags? The three men take the parts to the mortuary next door where the mortician Ernie (Don Calfa) hears the strange story. Calfa is fantastic as the mortician, who may be a Nazi in hiding based on his name and some hints dropped in the movie. After a bit of convincing Ernie lets them dispose of the reanimated body parts in the mortuary incinerator, but the toxic chemicals contaminate the air, reanimating the hundreds of corpses buried beneath the ground in the cemetery. 

Meanwhile Freddy's punk rocker friends learn that he has a new job and have decided to pick him up at the warehouse> We have Freddy's girlfriend Tina (Beverly Randolph), Suicide (Mark Venturini), Spider (Miguel Nunez), Trash (Quigley), Scuz (Bran Peck), party girl Casey (Jewel Shepherd), and new waver Chuck (John Philbin). They arrive at the cemetery next to the warehouse to wait for Freddy. As the sun sets punker chic Trash strips off her close and does an erotic nude dance atop a grave stone, when it begins to rain, the toxic tainted smoke from the mortuary mixes with the rain and soon the dead are rising and munching on punk rockers. 

The zombies from The Return of the Living Dead were way ahead of their time, they were fast, they were somewhat smart, and they even spoke. This is the movie that set the precedent that zombies eat brain, before this movie you didn't have kids on Halloween shambling around in zombie make-up moaning "braaaaaains", which is mighty impressive. In a scene the living  interrogate one of the zombies, asking it why they're eating brains, the dessicated corpse responds to "ease the pain of death", which is both chilling and fascinating. Of course I have to mention the Tarman, one of the greatest zombie creations ever put onscreen, my hats goes off to special effects creators William Munns, Tony Gardner, Kenny Myers And Craig Caton-Largnet who did some awesome practical effects work on the movie. 

There's so much to love about this movie, which was the first movie directed by Dan O'Bannon who was already known for writing the screenplays for Alien, the cult-classic Dead And Buried and the sci-fi horror epic Lifeforce. It is a bit surprising that he was able to knock this out of the park with his first directed movie, but he did it, this is a classic horror-comedy that in my mind is unrivaled. A lot of the movies success has to pinned on the great casting in the movie, beginning with the duo of Thom Mathews and James Karen as the employees of the warehouse, they have such a great chemistry and vibe well off each other, as does Clu Gulager and Don Calfa, eaxch of their line deliveries is pitch perfect. Then we have the assortment of punk rockers and new wavers, the most memorable being the bright-haired Linnea Quigley as Trash who is mostly nude for the duration of the movie, she's death obsessed and horny and it makes for a fun watch. 

Audio/Video: The Return of the Living Dead arrives on 2-disc Bu-ray from Scream Factory with a brand new transfer from a 2K scan of the interpostive looking very film like and vibrant with a fine layer of grain and an impressive amount of fine detail. Skin tones look accurate and the shadow detail is nice and deep, this is a noticeable upgrade from the previous MGM Blu-ray back in 2011. 
The movie benefits from three DTS-HD MA audio options, we have the 2.0 Mono, 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround with optional English subtitles. I gave all three options a shot and really feel the 2.0 mono is the way to go, the stereo and surround mixes lack the upfront strength of the mono presentation, the music is too low in each of the non-mono mixes. The SSQ score and 80's punk rock soundtrack sound fantastic with inclusions from The Cramps, T.S.O.L., Tall Boys and of course the iconic "Party Time" from 45 Grave! Scream Factory went back to the original audio tracks to create a new soundtrack, unfortunately The Damned’s “Dead Beat Dance” could not be cleared for inclusion on the dis, but otherwise the original audio is as first heard in the theaters when the film played first-run, which is mighty cool considering past versions of the movie had been neutered to some degree. 

Onto the bonus features we have all the extras from the previous MGM Blu-ray, these include an audio commentaries with Director Dan O'Bannon And Production Designer William Stout, plus another with the Cast And Crew Featuring Production Designer William Stout And Actors Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley, Brian Peck, Beverly Randolph, Allan Trautman. Scream have also ported over all the extras from the MGM Blu-ray, these being A Conversation With Dan O'Bannon – His Final Interview (29 Mins), The Origins Of The Living Dead – An Interview With John A. Russo (15 Mins), The Return Of The Living Dead – The Dead Have Risen – Interviews With Cast Members Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Brian Peck, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, Linnea Quigley (21 Mins) and Designing The Dead – Interviews With Writer/Director Dan O'Bannon And Production Designer William Stout (15 Mins). Its great to have these MGM produced archival featurettes included. Scream have even ported over the worst extras from the MGM release, the Zombie Subtitles For The Film and In Their Own Words – The Zombies Speak, woof. 

Scream have not just porting over all the extras from the MGM disc but also licensed the extras that were included on the Region B locked release from Second Sight, that being the Severin produced featurettes The FX Of The Living Dead With Production Designer William Stout, FX Make-up Artists William Munns, Tony Gardner, Kenny Myers And Craig Caton-Largnet, Visual Effects Artists Bret Mixon And Gene Warren Jr. And Actor Brian Peck (Expanded Version) (33 Mins) HD, plus Party Time: The Music Of The Return Of The Living Dead With Music Consultants Budd Carr And Steve Pross And Soundtrack Artists Dinah Cancer (45 Grave), Chris D (The Flesh Eaters), Roky Erickson, Karl Moet (SSQ), Joe Wood (T.S.O.L.), Mark Robertson (Tall Boys) Plus Musicians Greg Hetson (Circle Jerks) And John Sox (The F.U.'s, Straw Dogs) (Expanded Version) (30 Mins) HD. The interviews with the band members and music consultants are very cool if you're a fan of the punker soundtrack, it ends with Steve Pross showing off various vinyl versions of the soundtracks. The Second Sight release included the More Brains: A Return To The Living Dead – The Definitive Documentary On The Return Of The Living Dead (120 minutes) doc, and so too does the Scream release, which is an amazing making of doc produced by the same team that brought us the horror doc Never Sleep Again. Unfortauntely Scream did not license all the extras for the doc which was included on the Second Sight disc, so you may want to hold onto that and/or the doc if you own those. Read my review of More Brains:  A Return To The Living Dead – The Definitive Documentary On The Return Of The Living Dead HERE. 

Exclusive to this disc is a new episode of Sean Clark's Horror;s Hallowed Grounds which is always a favorite feature of mine.  Clark visits a few of the locations used in the movie in Los Angeles including the railroad crossing, General Glover's house, the Uneeda Medical Supply Company, and the Ressurection Cemetery which is now part of the 'burbs. Also exclusive is the inclusion of the work print of the movie which runs about twenty minutes longer that the theatrical cut. It is sourced from a bad VHS which looks awful, but it is an awesome bonus. The last of the extras is a 23-minute featurette The Decade of Darkness (23 Mins) which looks back at 80s horror, containing interviews with directors Joe Dante, John Landis, Stuart Gordon, author John Kenneth Muir, Fangoria's Tony Timpone and actor Bill Mosely with clips from Killer Klowns from Outer Space, The Fog, Pumpkinhead, Motel Hell, Dolls, TCM2 and Dressed to Kill. If you're any kind of horror fan this is standard entry level stuff, but again is a nice inclusion. There's also two barnd new audio commentaries, the first with Gary Smart (Co-author Of The Complete History Of The Return Of The Living Dead) And Chris Griffiths and a second with Actors Thom Mathews, John Philbin And Make-up Effects Artist Tony Gardner

Collector's Edition Special Features: 

Disc 1:
- NEW 2K Scan Of The Interpositive
- NEW Audio Commentary With Gary Smart (Co-author Of The Complete History Of The Return Of The Living Dead) And Chris Griffiths
- NEW Audio Commentary With Actors Thom Mathews, John Philbin And Make-up Effects Artist Tony Gardner
- Audio Commentary With Director Dan O'Bannon And Production Designer William Stout
- Audio Commentary With The Cast And Crew Featuring Production Designer William Stout And Actors Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley, Brian Peck, Beverly Randolph, Allan Trautman
- The Decade Of Darkness – Featurette On '80s Horror Films (23 Mins)
- Theatrical Trailers (9 Mins) HD 
- TV Spots (5 Mins) HD 
- Still Gallery – Posters, Lobby Cards, Movie Stills And Behind-The-Scenes Photos (88 Images) 
- Still Gallery – Behind-The-Scenes Photos From Special Make-up Effects Artist Kenny Myers' Personal Collection (25 Images) 
- Zombie Subtitles For The Film
- In Their Own Words – The Zombies Speak

Disc 2:
- NEW The FX Of The Living Dead With Production Designer William Stout, FX Make-up Artists William Munns, Tony Gardner, Kenny Myers And Craig Caton-Largnet, Visual Effects Artists Bret Mixon And Gene Warren Jr. And Actor Brian Peck (Expanded Version) (33 Mins) HD 
- NEW Party Time: The Music Of The Return Of The Living Dead With Music Consultants Budd Carr And Steve Pross And Soundtrack Artists Dinah Cancer (45 Grave), Chris D (The Flesh Eaters), Roky Erickson, Karl Moet (SSQ), Joe Wood (T.S.O.L.), Mark Robertson (Tall Boys) Plus Musicians Greg Hetson (Circle Jerks) And John Sox (The F.U.'s, Straw Dogs) (Expanded Version) (30 Mins) HD 
- NEW HORROR'S HALLOWED GROUNDS – Revisiting The Locations Of The Film (10 Mins) HD 
- The Return Of The Living Dead Workprint – Includes 20 minutes Of Additional Footage (In Standard Definition) (118 Mins)
- More Brains: A Return To The Living Dead – The Definitive Documentary On The Return Of The Living Dead (120 minutes)
- A Conversation With Dan O'Bannon – His Final Interview (29 Mins)
- The Origins Of The Living Dead – An Interview With John A. Russo (15 Mins)
- The Return Of The Living Dead – The Dead Have Risen – Interviews With Cast Members Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Brian Peck, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, Linnea Quigley And More… (21 Mins)
- Designing The Dead – Interviews With Writer/Director Dan O'Bannon And Production Designer William Stout (15 Mins)

Sream Factory have brought us the definitive editon of The Return of the Living Dead with a new 2K scan and improved audio with the most complete soundtrack since it was in the cinema in the eighties. On top of that they have ported over nearly all the extras from previous releases and spoiled fans with more even new cool stuff, including the extended work print of the movie! The movie is an all time favorite, a hi-energy horror-comedy that continues to win over fans with each new year. Dan O'Bannon made an instant cult-classic with this one, and it only gets better with age, if you're a horror fan this is a must-own movie, and this is the must-own version.

THE PERFECT HOUSE (2012)

THE PERFECT HOUSE (2012) 

Label: Wild Eye Rel;easing 

Duration: 84 Minutes
Rating: Unrated 

Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo
Video: Widescreen
Director: Kris Hulbert, Randy Kent
Cast: Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten, John Philbin, Monique Parent, Dustin Stevens, Andrea Vahl

Having just poured through the special features on the new  SLEEPAWAY CAMP Blu-ray I was drawn to this indie horror anthology by the inclusion of Felissa Rose and Jonathan Tiersten who both starred in that camp horror classic and feature prominently in the interviews on the disc. 

What we have here are three short anthology stories with a wrap-around, a very traditional set-up for the format. The wrap-around segment REAL ESTATE features a young couple looking for a new home - they arrive at what appears to be the titular Perfect House and are greeted by a sultry real estate agent (adult film star Monique Parent) in a short skirt who shamelessly flirts with the husband making suggestive comments while laying on a bed - it's very strange. I kept thinking what would I do if I were n that situation - it would be so uncomfortable. The couple love the home but the real estate agent says that the basement is usually a deal breaker and leads the couple to the basement where she points out a few of the houses more peculiar features which leads us on a journey into the stories past and three tales of terror unfold. 

First up is THE STORM - a twisted tale of a family taking shelter in the basement during a powerful storm. The power is out and the basement is lit my a candle where a mother, father, brother and sister sit around a candle waiting out the storm which is howling away in the background. We start to see that this is not a happy group of kin and there are dark family secrets tearing this family apart - additionally there's something in the basement hacking them up one by one. This is a good start to the film that sets a tone in a settings that is effective with some brutal violence, it's nicely done but felt a bit too short - even for an anthology entry. 

Onto CHIC-KEN we have Jonathan Tiersten as John Doesy who abducts, tortures and kills young men and woman from his quiet neighborhood. Knocking them unconscious he keeps them in cages in his basement workshop where he dispatches them like clockwork except for one young woman (Holly Greene) whom has been kept captive for five years to bare witness to his depraved deeds and for the occasional rape release. Tiersten is tolerable as the sadist but the delivery of his monologues are so monotonous - what saved this for me was Greene as the captive who both antagonizes her captor and pleads for the release of death. Some decent low-rent gore including an eyelid peeling with this one but at the end of the day this women-in-cages slice of exploitation is pretty mediocre. 

The meat of the production is DINNER GUEST starring Felissa Rose (SLEEPAWAY CAMP) and Jonathan Philbin (THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD). A family of five are summoned to a neighbors house for a dinner when things turn ugly as the discussion turns to the return of his prized weed whacker which he loaned the father some time ago. Dinner quickly turns into each of the family members tied down and tortured by the man who bares a passing resemblance to Gunnar Hansen at times. Pretty much just a series of torture set pieces as he puts each f the family members through a series of life and death games. Felissa Rose shows some decent acting chops as the screaming/grieving mothers who must watch as her family is decimated before her eyes but can do little to stop the madness unfolding. A lot of violence and screaming but very little tension - with so little build-up or character development I find it hard to care about these characters. 

At the end the wrap-around concludes and there's a brief prologue that would indicate a dark force inhabiting the home that attracts a certain type of murderess home buyer which does little to sweeten by opinion of the film. 

There are a lot of dark subject matter explored but directors Kris Hulbert and Randy Kent don't handle it a bit too bluntly.  It just feels ham-fisted and thrown on screen without a lot of thought going into it and if the execution were just a bit more considered and measured each of these segments would have a deeper impact on me, but it doesn't and at the end of the day I was not impressed. 

It would be hard to properly judge the video quality as the screener sent for review as it was a non-anamorphic DVD-R with choppy video - my viewing felt like I watching a streaming video with a poor internet connection, it was a chore to sit through. No extras on the screeners but retail versions have a commentaries, interview, behind-the-scenes stuff and more.  

As a low budget production this is not awful but the material needed to be fleshed out more - the script needed another pass to maybe get a bit more meat out of it. If I were to evaluate the film based purely on the onscreen violence this would get decent marks but it only scratched the surface of what this could have been with a more thoughtful approach.