On November 23, 2015 the first three films in the Children of Corn series are set to receive a UK DVD & Blu-ray release from 88 Films. This Children of the Corn Collector’s Edition Set will also include a franchise-spanning booklet from author Calum Waddell. The special features will include the documentary The Life, Legacy and Legend of Don Borchers. Per the press release this documentary “focuses on the charismatic and frequently unrecognized genius producer behind Children of the Corn as well as such B-movie classics as Beastmaster (1982), Angel (1984), Crimes of Passion (1984), Vamp (1986), Two Moon Junction (1989), Desire and Hell at Sunset Motel (1991), Doppleganger (1993), The Demolitionist (1995) and many more.”

I haven’t seen any of the Children of the Corn movies in ages so my memories of them are very vague. What I do know from talking to horror fans over the years is that people seem pretty torn on the series as a whole. People seem to love them or hate them with no in between ground. I’m down to re-visit them and this set sounds like a fun way to do it.

Here’s the official press release:

Released in 1984, and adapted from a popular Stephen King short story, the original Children of the Corn became one of the most successful of the legendary author’s page-to-screen adaptations. The hit horror sickie headlines a pre-Terminator Linda Hamilton and Peter Horton (TV’s Thirtysomething) as a travelling couple who unwittingly become trapped in the fictional town of Gatlin, Nebraska, and find themselves stalked by a creepy clan of young cultists. No adult is allowed to survive in Gatlin or else, their prophecy predicts, the harvest will collapse. Suffice to say, all hell soon breaks loose (literally) and demonic entities ensure that Hamilton and her husband are in for a long night… Co-starring popular genre face Courtney Gains (The ‘Burbs) and given a malevolent mid-western touch by director Fritz Kiersch (Tuff Turn), Children of the Corn remains one of the most spine-tingling terror titles of the 1980s.

Unsurprisingly, this blockbuster bout of bloodshed led to a franchise of fan favourite sequels – although it would take until 1993 for Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice to rear its rural shocks. Once again set in Nebraska, this frightful follow-up has some members of a nearby town choosing to adopt the surviving adolescents from the previous pot-boiler. Unfortunately for them, a demonic entity out in the cornfields is planning to possess the supposedly sane school-kids so that a new crimson-caked celebration can begin. Featuring some malicious set pieces, and a script co-written by Gilbert Adler (producer of Superman Returns and Valkyrie), Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice carves up a thrilling entry into the winning franchise formula.

Also re-mastered in HD for this very special set is Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995), the concluding episode in the series to see the light of a cinema screen. Perhaps the most potent of all the Children of the Corn sequels, this third instalment gave an early role to future Oscar winner Charlize Theron (Monster/ Mad Max: Fury Road). With Nebraska cowering in fear at the thought of another child-led slice and dice revolution, two youngsters are adopted and taken to Chicago – where, it would seem, they are safe from any satanic influences! Alas, the opposite is true, and even big city life is revealed to be irrelevant to our clan of pint-sized psychopaths. Another winner, with a slow-burning sense of suspense and plenty of gory thrills and spills, Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest is a spook-fest that more than deserves its BluRay reappraisal.