The Life of Chuck (2025)

"Moving, Uplifting, and Quite, Quite Lovely"

After a short stint in UK cinemas, Studio Canal have released writer-director Mike Flanagan's adaptation of Stephen King's novella (which you can find in his collection If it Bleeds) on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD.

It's not the easiest film to talk about without giving away spoilers, both in terms of plot and the cast members who pop up along the way, suffice to say that this is a story in three acts, told in reverse order. Act Three begins with a world on the brink of destruction. Earthquakes have destroyed California, Florida has flooded and the rest of the world has been subjected to the same kind of disasters.

During all of this, teacher Marty (Chiwetel Ejiofor) decides to make his way across town to see his ex-wife Felicia (Karen Gillan). All around him are billboards and TV adverts thanking someone called Charles Krantz (Tom Hiddleston) for 39 'great years'. But neither Marty, nor anyone he meets, has any idea who Charles Krantz is. However we will, and as the film progresses we begin to understand why he is so important to the people we have been introduced to.

THE LIFE OF CHUCK is very much the Stephen King of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION or STAND BY ME, and Mike Flanagan shows he is just as adept as Frank Darabont and Rob Reiner at telling the moving, bittersweet, ultimately uplifting tale of Chuck's life and exactly why it's so important. Flanagan fans familiar with his TV work especially will spot a number of familiar faces, and if you're fan of 1980s and 1990s cult cinema then there will be other actors you'll recognise, too.

Studio Canal's disc comes with an 18 minute making of featuring interviews with Flanagan and some of the principal actors, and there are more in depth interviews with Hiddleston (14 minutes), Ejiofor (10 minutes) and Mark Hamill (9 minutes). There's also a Mike Flanagan commentary. The presence of both his and Stephen King's name may make you prepared to be scared but instead THE LIFE OF CHUCK is, for those old enough, like a very touching episode of The Twilight Zone. No shocks, just a lovely story well told by a master craftsman, ably assisted by talented cast and crew. Excellent stuff. 

Mike Flanagan's film of Stephen King's THE LIFE OF CHUCK is out now from Studio Canal on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD

Creepshow 2 4K (1987)

The sequel to George A Romero's hugely successful 1982 CREEPSHOW (the series spinoff is still playing on Shudder) is getting a 4K UHD release from Arrow Films.

The first film boasted five Stephen King stories, and there were supposed to be five in this one but two (Pinfall and Cat From Hell) were removed due to budgetary constraints. The three that remain kick off with Old Chief Woodenhead, in which store proprietor George Kennedy and his wife Dorothy Lamour are threatened by three thugs who rob the place. But the giant wooden statue of a native Amercian that stands outside their shop comes to life and gets revenge for them. It's a slight story that takes up over 30 minutes of running time. The animation of the wooden statue is rendered nicely, but the kills are skimmed over and opportunities for suspense during the robbery neglected, with way too much time wasted on small talk at the beginning. 

Second is The Raft from King's Skeleton Crew collection. Four teenagers who go swimming in a remote lake are threatened by a bin liner-like something in the water that's hungry for human flesh. Some of the acting is a little ropey but the effects are decent and there's a good argument to be made for this being the highlight of the film.

The third story has Lois Chiles hitting and killing a hitch hiker in her rush to get home. Unfortunately for her the man won't stay dead. Almost all of this takes place on the road and builds to a satisfying denouement at Chiles' character's house. The stories are linked by some animated sequences that always looked cheap, especially on the big screen, and the lacklustre score by Les Reed and Rick Wakeman (plus one suspects some library tracks) doesn't help either.

Extras are all archival, including a commentary track with director Michael Gornick. Most are from the previous 2016 Blu-ray release and include interviews with screenwriter (in this case) George A Romero (11 minutes), Tom Savini (8 minutes), and actors Daniel Beer from The Raft (15 minutes) and the hitch hiker himself, Tom Wright (14 minutes). There's a 32 minute interview from 2004 with effects artists Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero, Berger's memories of Rick Baker and six minutes of Behind the Scenes with Tom Savini, plus the usual trailers and image galleries. 

        Arrow's limited edition set also includes a comic book with the omitted story 'Pinfall', plus a booklet featuring new writing on the film. 

CREEPSHOW 2 is out on 4K UHD from Arrow on Monday 29th September 2025

Stephen King On Screen (2023)

A new feature-length documentary about the screen adaptations of the works of Stephen King is getting a digital and Blu-ray release from Signature Entertainment. 

The film kicks off with a sequence whose intention is solely to incorporate as many references to King's work as possible (the end credits state 300!). King obsessives will doubtless have a lot of fun trying to spot them all while the casual viewer will wonder if they've rented the wrong film. Eventually, however, things settle down into what essentially consists of a series of interviews with directors and other technicians who have been involved with adapting King to the screen.

And that's the main criticism to be levelled at STEPHEN KING ON SCREEN, which is that there's zero in the way of analysis or criticism in here. A lot of movies made from Stephen King stories are pretty terrible and there would have been quite a bit to be made from an examination of exactly why. There's also pretty much zero about the challenge of adapting his work for a visual medium. 

Seasoned aficionados will find a fair bit to shout at the screen about - "Horror as a genre didn't really start until 1960 and PSYCHO" - well done Tom Holland. Controversial (and just plain wrong) comments such as these could (and should) have been trimmed as it wouldn't have affected the overall documentary.

Mainly, however, STEPHEN KING ON SCREEN feels like a lot of glued together 'making of' featurettes you might get on the DVD of a film, or for publicity purposes. It's great to have Frank Darabont talking at length about THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION or THE MIST, or Mike Flanagan talking about DOCTOR SLEEP and these segments are definitely worth watching. But the lack of a chronological walk through of King's movie adaptations, and especially an examination of the 'King explosion' of the early 1980s, would have been welcome. King's own contributions to the screen such as MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE and SLEEPWALKERS don't even warrant a mention. The overall result is a patchy affair that lacks a firm editorial hand and relies way too much on who was available for interview rather than trying to be something more in depth and comprehensive. 

STEPHEN KING ON SCREEN is out on from Signature Entertainment on Digital on Monday 26th June 2023 and Blu-ray on Monday 18th September 2023

Children of the Corn I, II, and III (1984, 1993, 1995)

"Outlander! We have your Blu-rays!"

Arrow are bringing out a box set of the first three films based on Stephen King's short story (there are eleven in all). We'll have a look at what we get altogether in a minute but right now it's time for another edition of Summarise That Franchise! Here we go:

CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984) More about that in a bit

CHILDREN OF THE CORN II: THE FINAL SACRIFICE (1993) Ditto

CHILDREN OF THE CORN III: URBAN HARVEST (1995) See above

CHILDREN OF THE CORN IV: THE GATHERING  (1996) 

CHILDREN OF THE CORN V: FIELDS OF TERROR (1998)

CHILDREN OF THE CORN 666: ISAAC'S RETURN (1999) and yes John Franklin is back to play Isaac.

CHILDREN OF THE CORN: REVELATION (2001)

CHILDREN OF THE CORN (2009) SyFy Channel Remake

CHILDREN OF THE CORN: GENESIS (2011)

CHILDREN OF THE CORN: RUNAWAY (2018)

CHILDREN OF THE CORN (2020) Not a remake but doing the modern day thing of not bothering with a number or subtitle.

Right! Let's get on with Arrow's set:

Disc One: CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984) in 4KUHD

Yes that's right. Arrow are bringing out Fritz Kiersch's low-budget adaptation of Stephen King's short story in a format that ensures the film looks the best it ever will while at the same time confirming it never looked that great anyway. But we do get a 5.1 surround mix to complement what remains one of the best 1980s horror movie music scores (from Jonathan Elias), which is a definite bonus. Most people will know the story by now: young couple (Peter Horton & Linda Hamilton) find themselves stranded in a small Nebraska town where all the adults have been murdered by the children at the behest of the unseen He Who Walks Behind the Rows. The short story is a cracker but, as Cinefantastique's review quite rightly said back in the day, George Goldsmith's screenplay has really had to steamroller it out to get it to feature running time. It's not a terrible film by any means but it's not that special either, and is most likely to be remembered with affection by those who first encountered it on VHS.

Arrow's package of extras for CHILDREN OF THE CORN is, however, very special indeed, and includes a 35 minute making of with director Kiersch and stars Courtney Gains (Malachi) and John Franklin (Isaac). Linda Hamilton gets her own 15 minute interview and there are also a stack of interviews with production designer Craig Stearns, composer Jonathan Elias (all too brief & I wish they'd sat him at a synth), producer Donald P Borchers, screenwriter George Goldsmith and even the actor whose part as 'The Blue Man' was cut. You also get two commentary tracks - one with Kiersch, Gains and Franklin with producer Terrance Kirby, and another with Justin Beahm and John Sullivan, described as a 'CHILDREN OF THE CORN historian'. There's a piece on the locations and, as an added bonus, the short film DISCIPLES OF THE CROW from 1983 which adapts the King story and predates the movie. With the transfer, sound mix and extras this disc alone makes this set worth getting.

Disc Two: CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984) on Blu-ray

The same as all the above but in Blu-ray format

Disc Three: CHILDREN OF THE CORN II: THE FINAL SACRIFICE (1993)

It took nine years for a sequel to appear, and probably the most succinct explanation as to why one appeared at all is included in the interview on this disc with screenwriter A L Katz. It's the 'next day' in Gatlin and the bodies of all the murdered adults have been discovered. The surviving children get moved to the next town over where surprise surprise it all happens again, only with a much lower budget and less talent involved in pretty much every department.

However, that's not to say CHILDREN OF THE CORN II isn't worth a look, because there are moments when it achieves true Bad Film status. From some jarring dialogue ("Stupid old corn") to the wheelchair through the plate glass window scene to a very peculiar reference to Victor Fleming's THE WIZARD OF OZ, CHILDREN OF THE CORN II has enough nonsense going on to stop discerning viewers from pressing the fast forward button.

There are two audio commentaries for this film (one would think one would be pushing it) as well as interviews with the above mentioned Katz as well as director David Price and Director of Photography Levie Isaacks. As well as stills and trailers there's also a scuzzy-looking work print of the film which has been spotted with bits from other music scores presumably as a guide to composer Daniel Licht and might actually see the best use at a fan Halloween or Xmas party quizzes.

Disc Four: CHILDREN OF THE CORN III: URBAN HARVEST

Two of the boys from the end of the second film (I think) end up being adopted by a couple in Chicago and one of them uses the handy abandoned factory next door to plant the suitcase full of corn he's brought with him. Shenanigans ensue, including a massive (and unfortunately massively low budget) Screaming Mad George corn monster at the climax which might have been brilliant with more money but more approaches sub FLESH GORDON / EQUINOX levels of animation. 

For a film that has the potential to bring 'He Who Walks Behind the Rows' to the big city this one's rather short on imagination, and spectacle and, well, everything really. It's not actually bad enough to be entertaining in the way Part II is but the monster at the end does almost make this one worth watching.

Arrow provides more extras for yet another film we never thought would see them. For a start there are two versions of the film - the R-rated US theatrical cut and the international version that's uncut. The chocolatey tones of Guy Adams guide us through a video essay that does it's damnedest to fit the film into the eco-horror subgenre, there's a new 16 minute interview with screenwriter Dode Leveson and a new commentary track from critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain. Perhaps most interesting of all is 38 pages of treatments of early versions of ideas for CHILDREN OF THE CORN III. Plus you get the usual still galleries and trailers.

Arrow's limited edition box set of CHILDREN OF THE CORN 

I, II, & III is out on Blu-ray and 4K-UHD for Part I on Monday 27th September 2021

The Dark Half (1993)

"Superior Stephen King Adaptation"

The sparrows are flying again as, hot on the heels of bringing UK audiences Lewis Teague's CUJO on Blu-ray, Eureka follow it with George A Romero's adaptation of Stephen King's THE DARK HALF in a dual format DVD & Blu-ray edition.

University lecturer Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton) is trying hard to gain mainstream acceptance with the literary novels he has written under his own name.  Seedy Fred Clawson (Robert Joy) visits Thad in one of his lectures threatening to blackmail him and reveal that Thad is the real author behind a series of sleazy crime thrillers attributed to the pseudonym George Stark.

Rather than pay the money, Thad decides to use the situation to his advantage and 'kills off' his alter ego in a magazine photo-spread. Unfortunately, conspiring forces have led to 'George Stark' becoming rather more real than Thad wants, and Stark has no intention of staying dead.

Having spent many years trying to get an adaptation of THE STAND off the ground, and having worked with Stephen King on CREEPSHOW, George A Romero eventually ended up making THE DARK HALF, which stands amongst the best of the plethora of movies based on King's work that popped up with relentless regularity through the 1980s and 1990s. 

It's a stylish film, with good performances and a nicely understated, haunting score from Christopher Young. The only thing anyone might criticise now is the CGI which does look a little dated but it's a very minor quibble.

Eureka's Blu-ray transfer looks pretty much the same as the Region A Shout Factory disc, and all of that release's extras have been ported over (George A Romero commentary, Making of, deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage, storyboards, TV spot and trailer). New to Eureka's disc is the 40-minute episode of Jonathan Ross' Son of The Incredibly Strange Film Show covering Romero and Tom Savini. There's also an 'O' card slipcase and booklet with new writing on the film. 

George A Romero's adaptation of Stephen Kings' THE DARK HALF is out on dual format DVD & Blu-ray on Monday 14th October 2019

Cujo (1983)

"Nice Doggy.....?"

Lewis Teague's 1983 adaptation of Stephen King's CUJO gets an impressive two disc Blu-ray release courtesy of Eureka.

Cujo the St Bernard is out chasing bunnies when he gets his nose stuck in an old tree stump. Unfortunately it leads into a cave of rabid bats. Soon poor old Cujo's had his nose bitten and he's developing a severe case of the runny eyes, the drools, and the being covered in what looks like muds.

This is bad news for Cujo's car repairman redneck owner (Ed Lauter) and his friend, and it spells trouble of the trapped in the car with her six year old son kind for Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace), who finds herself under siege in her broken down old banger while a great big drooly powerhouse tank of a mad dog waits outside to get her, when he's not ramming the car doors.

The early 1980s was the era of Stephen King adaptations. Most of them weren't very good, but CUJO actually is, thanks to good performances and a skilled team behind the scenes who went all out to make the best film they could. 

Eureka's 1080p presentation looks a bit better than the Lionsgate 25th anniversary region free Blu-ray 2007 release. Ported over is the 47 minute making of, but you don't get the Lewis Teague commentary that came with that disc.

You do however get a new commentary track from Lee Gambin, who wrote the book on the making of and does a fine job of packing as many facts about the production in as he can. It certainly made me want to take a look at his book Nope Nothing Wrong Here: The Making of CUJO.

New to the Eureka disc are over three hours (!) of new interviews with Dee Wallace, composer Charles Bernstein, stuntman Gary Morgan, stuntwoman Jean Colter, casting director Marcia Ross, dog trainer Teresa Miller, visual effects artist Kathie Lawrence, and special effects designer Robert Clark.

On disc two you get 100 minutes of Lee Gambin interviewing Dee Wallace at the Cinemaniacs and Monster Fest 2015 convention. It's slightly fuzzy and shot from one angle only but it's good to have. Also on the second disc is nearly half an hour of Kim Newman talking about Stephen King adaptations in general and CUJO in particular and it's up to his usual excellent standard. 

There's also a 60 page booklet with new writing on the film by Lee Gambin (does the man have anything left to say?), Scott Harrison and Craig Ina Mann, and the entire package is boxed within a hardbound slipcase with a Graham Humphreys cover. A superb release. 

Lewis Teague's CUJO is released in a special two disc set (4000 units only) on Monday 29th April 2019

Creepshow (1982)

While there have been a number of anthology horror movies that have tried to capture the look and feel of the old-fashioned horror comics of the 1950s and 1960s, none have managed to do it with quite the degree of panache or success as 1982’s CREEPSHOW. The result of  three creative horror practitioners working at the top of their game (screenwriter Stephen King, director George Romero and make-up effects artist Tom Savini), it’s hard for those of us who saw this on its initial release to accept that the film is now over thirty years old. But you can’t keep a good horror movie down, and CREEPSHOW is about to be given a new lease of life thanks to a stunning new Blu-ray transfer, available soon from Second Sight films.

Little Billy (Stephen King’s son Joe, now of course a writer himself) gets caught by mirthless father Tom Atkins reading his Creepshow horror comic. Into the bin it goes, but that’s only the beginning of the story. The creepy host of the comic appears at Billy’s window, and a freak wind blows the lid off the bin to unfurl the comic’s pages, revealing to us the five short stories that take up the majority of the movie’s two-hour running time.

First up is Father’s Day, in which dead, rotting Nathan Grantham comes back from the grave to strangle his murderer, Aunt Bedelia (a superbly mad Viveca Lindfors, an age away from Joseph Losey’s THESE ARE THE DAMNED). In search of his Father's Day cake he bumps off as many of her immediate relatives as he can as well. It’s a great opener, featuring a splendid zombie resurrection sequence, some gorgeous use of colour filters that are all the more vivid in this transfer, and a jolly ending - I got my cake indeed!

Part of the joy of anthology films is their potential to vary in tone, and The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verill is by far the lightest segment on offer here. Farmboy Jordy (Stephen King himself, no actor but giving it all he’s got) gets into trouble when he touches a meteorite that crash lands in his field. Soon grass is growing everywhere, including everywhere on Jordy. Based on an aborted King novel that was to be entitled ‘Weeds’, the story is almost a solo piece and while King tries hard, he isn’t quite up to carrying it.

Something to Tide You Over is next, and is actually my favourite segment. Rich, possessive cuckolded husband Leslie Nielson buries his wife (Gaylen Ross) and lover (Ted Danson) on the beach, allowing the incoming sea to slowly drown them. Of course, to quote a King story title ‘Sometimes They Come Back’ and in a George Romero film they’re definitely going to - as zombies.

The longest story is The Crate and features Fluffy the Arctic Monster on the rampage at a small town university, once he’s freed from the box where he’s been sleeping for nearly a hundred and fifty years. Hal Holbrook sees it as the ideal opportunity to dispose of his awful wife (Adrienne Barbeau in top comedy form) but then he has to get rid of the monster, too.

There were all kinds of problems with the filming of the last tale, They’re Creeping Up On You, mainly because it involves half a million cockroaches that invade the sterile apartment of rich, villainous Upson Pratt (E G Marshall). King’s story The Hitch Hiker (that can be seen in CREEPSHOW 2) was almost substituted instead, but fortunately everything eventually went to plan, which means you get to see the story that was intended to end the movie on a decidedly over the top and horrific note. It’s then time for a brief coda featuring Tom Savini as a dustman, and Billy getting his revenge on his dad and, that’s it - possibly the most fun you can have watching a two hour tribute to the comics of yesteryear.

Second Sight’s Blu-ray is a definite step up in quality from the previous 2007 Region 2 double disc release from Universal. Detailing is clear and sharp (it’s now possible to see just how good Savini’s Creep puppet and other creations are) and, as mentioned above, the lighting in the first story (and in The Crate) is comparable with Bava. There is some dirt visible on the frame at times and during The Crate there's some noticeable speckling on the far right of the screen. The disc offers both Stereo 2.0 and DTS 5.1 sound options, and all the extras from the previous release have been ported over. These include a commentary track with Romero and Savini, a feature length making-of entitled Just Desserts, Behind the Screams with Tom Savini - a lengthy featurette looking at how the effects were achieved, fifteen minutes of deleted scenes, a trailer, a TV spot and a slide gallery. New to this 2013 release is an extra  commentary track that’s been put together by Red Shirt Productions’ Michael Felsher, who was also responsible for the extras on the 2007 disc. Felsher has done a grand job of tracking down the people who weren’t profiled in depth on the Just Desserts documentary and interviewing them. It’s these interviews with cinematographer Michael Gornick, actor John Amplas, property master Alan Green and make up effects assistant Darryl Ferrucci (he’s the chap inside Fluffy as well) that make up this second commentary track, and a very welcome addition it is too.

The movie’s gorgeous transfer, coupled with every extra fans could possibly want, easily makes Second Sight’s CREEPSHOW Blu-ray the ultimate collector’s version of this classic horror movie. Highly recommended.

Second Sight are releasing George A Romero's CREEPSHOW on Region B Blu-ray on 28th October 2013 - just in time for Hallowe'en!