You might want to re-think having kids after seeing the British horror film THE CHILDREN, directed by Tom Shankland. It’s certainly the best advertisement for contraception ever committed to celluloid, firmly moving past former reigning champion of the terrorizing-tots subgenre DEVIL TIMES FIVE (1975), starring Leif Garrett. In fact, it’s a note-perfect and, dare I say, masterful entry into the genre as a whole and one of the clear standouts at this year’s Fantastic Fest. The idyllic Norman Rockwell-esque house where a pair of charming young British families go to spend quality time together over the Christmas holidays is slowly revealed to be a ruse of sorts, as we start to see their relationships play out on screen. Once their kids begin exhibiting strange behavior, screaming wildly and grabbing the nearest sharp objects, the character dynamics play out in an unexpected ways as the strangeness suddenly turns to tragedy. This makes it much more believable that the kids are so effective in their exploits. Normally, you would stick with your wife (Eva Birthistle) and her daughter (Rachel Shelley) in the midst of such chaos, but what if you suspected that your spouse has killed one of the youngsters already? Moreover, why wouldn’t you just stomp your pint-sized attackers and run away—unless you couldn’t bring yourself to do such a despicable thing? These examples of abandonment and powerlessness help keep the proceedings firmly grounded in a reality where you really can envision the children’s campaign of terror happening with such wicked success.
Although THE CHILDREN doesn’t delve needlessly into the exact reason why, suddenly, these cute kids turn nuttier than a Corsicana fruitcake, it’s most certainly not devil possession. A clue is given in a pool of yellow vomit with a dead frog lying close by. From that, one can certainly suspect that a sinister strand of virus may have been unleashed by Mother Nature herself. Is this a form of population control? If the children really are our future, it would make sense to kill off the older generation to make way for a new beginning, wouldn’t it? Toward the end of the film, it’s hinted that this is not an isolated incident, so maybe it is possible that something was in fact unleashed into the atmosphere.
Regardless, THE CHILDREN works fine without overthinking its premise. It’s a highly dramatic film, and eruptions of applause rained down every time another evil offspring met his or her gruesome demise. Only at Fantastic Fest could such sheer glee be expressed over the death of an adorable kid, but viewers everywhere are guaranteed to get into the spirit when the movie hits DVD this week from Lionsgate, under the Ghost House Underground banner.
Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/DrewBloodNYC
Comments (0)
Powered by Zombies.
.png "=)")
didnt...
The Warren's...