Movie Review: The Children

The Children

Rating:  

Directed By: Tom Shankland

Starring: Eva Birthistle, Stephen Campbell Moore, Jeremy Sheffield, Rachel Shelley, Hannah Tointon

Plot Synopsis:

You brought them into the world. They will take you out. A family anticipates a Christmas filled with sledding, laughter and hot cocoa as they head to their vacation home in the secluded backcountry…The holiday cheer takes a fast turn for the worse after a mysterious flu-like virus sweeps through the kids. One by one the children become deadly. Amidst the suspicion, mayhem and murder, the parents fight for survival against their own twisted offspring. (Ghosthouse Underground)

 Review:

When I first heard of the british horror flick, The Children, I wasn’t too fond of seeing it.  As a parent, the thought of killer kids wasn’t something I wanted to subject myself to.  However, I eventually decided to “nut up” and take a peek at this film, and I’m so glad I did.  Tom Shankland lands himself on the horror map with the near-perfect and truly scary “killer kid” flick, The Children.

At first, the premise of killer children lends itself to a giggle.  I mean, who’s scared of a kid, right? Some movies have done this angle right (Pet Sematary, The Omen, Children of the Corn) and it turns out the “killer kid” premise is pretty horrifying.  But, none of the previously mentioned film are truly scary or nightmare inducing.  The Children is. 

Here’s the basic plot, a flu-like virus turns innocent kids into evil killers bent on ending their parents lives.  This is a basic plot, nothing too fancy.  It’s been done many times over.  What The Children does well is ratchet up tension, the first 30 minutes is perfectly paced character and story set up.  After the set up, the rest of the film is tense, frightening and asks the question, “Can you kill your own child in self defense?” Because of this moral dilemma, I found myself huddled on the couch, eyes wide and totally tense.

The acting is great.  All the parents are totally believable.  I wasn’t familiar with any of the actors, so that helped bring me into the story.  Also, the child actors are phenominal.  I really hope this film doesn’t scar them for life! They are adorable and then extremely scary and disturbing.  There’s just something really creepy about a cute kids staring blankly at you.  I just got shivers.

The Children is very close to being a perfect horror film.  I actually only had one instance where I was slightly taken out of the movie.  Maybe it was explained but I missed it.  There is a scene where Eva Birthistle‘s character is trying to her uninfected teenage daughter (Hannah Tointon).  She tries breaking through a locked door with a fire pick, when she could easily just unlock the door.  Maybe there’s a missing scene explaining this.  Very minor gripe, but enough for a momentary distraction.

In any one elses’ hands, The Children could have been a mess.  However,  Tom Shankland‘s tight direction makes this one of the scariest films of the decade and one that will resonate for years. 

Rated R for disturbing bloody violent content, terror, language and brief drug use.

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