Every good horror needs an underlying metaphor in the story that connects with real life and provides the depth to elevate it above being another hackfest or thrill-ride. Think Carrie, Exorcist or Alien. This low-key British film establishes a chilling atmosphere with its wintry setting, has the usual cuts, shocks and gore, and generally plays by the cliché-book - but it's the clever take on the teenager-grownup relationship that makes it so effective. Well worth a look for horror aficionados.
The little tykes are out to get ya!!! It's once more unto the breach for the kiddie gone wrong genre but at least it's more inventive and well-handled in this little seen low-budget British thriller. The acting goes from OK to downright terrible, but the murderous tots are quite good. This just doesn't pretend to be much more than it is, but the sight of little ones (4-5 year olds) killing off their dumb moms & dads has some fucked-up intensity not seen often. Well worth visiting at least once.
A surprisingly effective slow-burn horror film that deals with the conflict between parenting instincts and survival instincts after children inexplicably begin to attack their parents.
Nifty genre effort. Evil kiddies are no strangers to horror cinema, but The Children manages to take the subgenre in a new, interesting direction. The real treat is that it doesn't try to ratchet up the scares with jumps and a hyperactive soundtrack, but with mounting tension and suspense. Well done.
Holy creepy fucking shit. It's made so much worse by the fact that it's children, and a lot of children are creepy to begin with (this coming from a teacher, haha), but the transition from normalcy to fucking insane in the children, brief as it was, is done very well, and I loved how, right up until the end, the film totally played off of a child's ability to manipulate their parents, and adults in general. Superbly crafted. This may very well spark a new obsession for me: Hannah Tointon. Yum.
While the plot and acting were decent if both had been a little better I would consider this a minor horror classic.As is this was a creepy and entertaining horror film that just felt a little underdeveloped.
The first half is so so, and the second part is a bit thrilling. But not that great a movie. The concept is too much creepy so it gets you quite annoyed through the movie, but still not that good..
This is the kind of horror movie that horror fans like myself would really enjoy. The movie starts off slow enough, especially when getting to know the characters and what they are like, but after that first half hour this movie really picks up the pace and has lots of WTF kind of moments. The children in this movie were more than capable of looking cute at first and then really pulling off that creepy vibe. Well acted and quite an excellent movie. No surprise ending, but all is forgiven.
Superb. Gorgeously and inventively shot. The brilliance of the film, however, lies in the way it's edited, never showing too much and being all the more effective for it. In fact, in many scenes, even though you have a pretty clear idea what happened, the possibility is left open that it could be a misinterpretation. Which is, of course, one of the factors troubling the parents who can't believe what's happening to them. Unsettling stuff.
'The Children' is a predictable body snatcher clone, burdened by the retardation of human reactionary patterns, that the poorly though through premise commands: " ... lay in a pool of blood in the snow. MEANWHILE, inside the house, Robbie was strolling about. He picked up a ball from the hallway floor. Someone might slip and get hurt." Grievances aside, making annoying parents murder their own annoying children is a masterstroke. A shame it's sadistic potential is never fully explored.
The Children starts out slow, lets tension build, and then unleashes a terror amongst the characters we've grown to like. There are slight deviations from the usual slasher formula, but the lead characters, except for Casey, are moronic, especially in comparison to the kids haunting them. Some moral questions are brought up, but are somewhat ignored by the actual film. I'll say one thing though, there better not be a sequel for this film, as it doesn't need one.
I really got into this little thriller. The children are killing the adults..and the movie has some really tense minutes and the camera work and setting of this movie..its really a fun ride
The generally proficient application of cliches to this "horror weekend" scenario still only results in a sporadically chilly clichefest, wearing wintry self-consciousness and post-Village of the Damned sights of children looking moody like badges of honor. The truth is that instead of channeling parental paranoia and psychology (as Joshua and Orphan did well) through the telling of this woodlands-set grim tale, The Children lacks real context and meaning. It just happens, sans scale.
A bunch of obnoxious middle-class knobheads (topics of conversation: MMR jabs, home-schooling, eco-tourism) get picked off by their own malevolent brats, no doubt driven to kill by the sheer mundanity of their own existence. Straw Dogs meets The Omen, only not as interesting as either of those films. Starts building a nice atmosphere in the opening 20 minutes, but soon gets dragged down by the usual horror clichés. Not terrible, just very predictable.
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