The Children (The Day)
| release date | October 6 2009 |
| studio | Lionsgate/Ghost House Underground |
| director | Tom Shankland |
| writer | Tom Shankland, Paul Andrew Williams |
| starring | Rachel Shelley, Stephen Campbell Moore, Eva Birthistle, Eva Sayer, Jeremy Sheffield |
| rating | R |
| site | thechildrenmovie.com |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
1 Comments
Ok so I watched this movie actually sometime ago. I cant go anywhere without talking about it. I absouletly loved it! This movie is like really nothing I have ever seen before. Sure we have all seen Movies with the same concept, but trust me the things you see in this movie if your like me will leave you going “oh yeah” I was very surprised and enjoyed the whole thing. I wish it maybe could have ended better. However from what I hear there will be a part two. One bad note, my children freaked me out everytime they coughed for days. hehehehe ok not really…
There is no doubt that this is a well done movie with some really creepy parts, but I have trouble with the fact that they don’t explain the children’s illness. Overall though, I enjoyed watching it and would recommend it to anyone.
Next to Martyrs & Let The Right One In, the best movie of 2009. Suspense & Brutality in here are absolutely insane. I loved it!
This was an very atmospheric, unsettling, brooding and brutal little chiller that will have you gasping for air at the end of it. From the moment it started you get the sense of dread throughout knowing something bad is going to boil over and it had me biting my finger nails in fear, it definitely knows how to build up suspense. The acting was pretty well done especially when the insanity kicks in, I was rooting for the good guys at the edge of my seat and though it wasn’t overly bloody when it did get violent it was harsh and brutal. I thought the ending though abrupt was very creepy and shocking and horrifying but I do think they should make a sequel to it. Overall this was an near flawless horror movie that had some flaws here and there but weren’t noticable enough to mention and I thoroughly recommend it if you are a fan of movies like Village Of The Damned or Invasion Of The Body Snatchers or just want a good spook this halloween. See it!
amazing movie. def a different movie. the children def act their roles well. worth checking out!!
I can see that there are tons of great reviews for this movie, but I couldn’t disagree more!
I went into watching this movie expecting a descent horror movie, but ended up wanting to turn off the movie several times.
Ok, so some parents and their children go to a house to celebrate the holidays. One kid is acting sick and weird, and this sickness is passed on to the other children one by one. The children then start doing meaner and meaner things, till really bad things start happening.
Sound fine, right? Only problem is that the child-actors are really bad, and in no way believable and scary. This is probably the same level of acting that is seen in the original Children of the Corn.
The parents behavior is highly unbelievable, even when they realize that the children are evil. At any time in the movie I felt that the parents should just grab the children at beat them up or lock them in a room. It is not like they are evil critters that are fast and bite hard or anything like that. That parents are just unbelievably dumb, which makes the movie fail hard!
Eden Lake is a WAY more believable movie that this one, so check that out instead. Also Children of the Corn is better and scarier, though it is a B-movie at their worst.
If you are annoyed by terrible child acting and irrational parents you should ship this one!
This may just be the best killer kids movie ever!
I love this movie! The gore and suspence were crazy, and the kids are so creepy. Probably one of the best horror movies this year.
Dont let your eyes fool you, the children may seem cute and adorable but beyond that, the children are evil and sick. This movie was really scary. The children were extremely creepy. this movie was made with so much skill. i recommend it to anyone looking for a scary children splatter fest.
Loved how they pushed the envelope with this film. Scary, unrelenting and a film that freezes you to the bone.
I thought it was great. Surprisingly better than this week’s Trick ‘r Treat. A fine addition to the evil kid genre.
I enjoyed this film , Little kids always creep me out in horror movies not sure why but this is no exception . 7/10
I have posted my review at:
http://www.horroramnesty.com
This movie is really well done.
I enjoyed this movie. It was different and great. And who doesnt love a movie with creepy murderous children.
fucking great another movie that makes me hate to have kids. First it was joshua, then grace, then this…and those other kids movies. But this one takes the cake as the most disturbing film ever. It was pretty amazing too. Really creeps you to the core, and the ending was fucked too.
I must have seen a different movie then. the killer children acted their parts really well, but the parents sucked ass. Really? Aside from the first death (don’t want to put in any spoilers) how did everyone keep falling into those kid’s traps? As adults they should have had better control over those kids. Bad parenting at its finest IMO.
I was surprised at how good this was. I did not expect it to live up to the hype it had been getting but was very surprised. The special effects were stellar. Looked amazing on Blu Ray.
cant believe people downed eden lake over this this movie is crap i mean hell its well acted and the rebel teen is pretty hot but the story is boring it doesnt draw me in in fact every second it goes by makes me wonder when the hell its going to end…. i hate kids enough and dont want to sit through a movie with a bunch of autistic children screaming and yelling for 90 minutes….. ill not watch this again nor will i recommend it
This movie had great potential, but ultimately chickened out. The acting is pretty good, even the kids most of the time, but the children aren’t all that scary. Some of the scenes played out a bit strange and the script felt lacking.
i usually agree with the movie reviews here but REALLY!? 4.5 stars? Thats seriously fucked up. I had the worst day ever yesterday…decided HEY if i’m celebrating my birthday alone atleast I’ll have my bowl, 12 pack of bud, and a good gorey movie. Oh except the last part was a fucking bust. The movie took FOREVER to get started, some of the kids were really bad actors (the little blonde girl was horrible) and the gore was miniscule. I liked the ending but really…4.5 stars? fuck you.
Awesome. Nuff said.
Worst child actors ever! lol, man i wanted to shut this off so many times when the kids kept whining. This movie had some potential like previously stated, but this movie is a failure.
Wish I had my money back.
I rented this movie on a recommendation from a close buddy of mine and he said it was brutal and a lot of fun, me being the pessimistic type I didn’t believe him, but knowing that this involved children (I also had an idea of what this was going to be like), and that the U.S. frowned upon movies that took such pride in children killing kind of added a spark to this movie…holy fuck. First things first, I love the british accent, I love the fluency, the proper structure it holds and the way it sounds, it sold the movie for me, I am really attracted to that accent. But onto the movie.
The Children wasn’t what I thought it was going to be in such a sense of the brutality behind it, it made me want to watch the children die because they were so annoying and so “innocent” to the parents that apparently death didn’t phase them for the sake of these little rats. The plot behind why all of this occured and how it remained unknown made it interesting. The kills were unique, and the scene of the snow covering up the blood had some really nice symbolism to it. I was kept on my toes during this, not knowing what the kids had planned and the quick flash scenes had me spooked. The film was a lot more graphic than expected as well and the way these children dies were awesome and had us all cheering because we developed a hate for them.
It made me think twice about wanting kids but all in good fun as this movie grips and flows freely, and with no regard to child deaths (thank god) it was a little refreshing (in an unfortunate sense)to witness it actually happening. I am definately going to pick this up on DVD to own this weekend.
I enjoyed this movie. It was interesting seeing children getting killed, since that’s rare in American movies at least. I liked the way the deaths were handled, too. They didn’t go around killing tons of kids like it was a zombie movie. That would have ended up just being hilarious. Each death took an emotional toll on the people forced to do the killing. They didn’t want to kill them, they’re kids and they are family after all. Good amount of gore. Not too much, but there’s definitely some in there.
First off, to compare this movie with “Eden Lake” doesn’t make much sense to me at all. Both , in my opinion, are great movies but very different. Except for the fact that kids are the enemy in both movies I don.t see the similarity. This movie has a supernatural element that was absent in “Eden”. There is an underline tension in this film that is rarely done so well. You feel increasingly uneasy as the movie unravels. It raises great questions that, if you have children or family you care about, would be extremely difficult to answer. I wasn’t very impressed with his last film ” The Killing Gene” but if this movie in any indication of whats to come, I’m excited to see whats next from director Tom Shankland. I highly recommend this film.
Let me start by saying that lately BD has let me down on some of its reviews about movies that people said were amazing and I thought were just ok. Now The Children is not one of those movies. This movie was great. Its very suspensful and has you wondering anxiouly whats going to happen next. I also felt the characters pain in a way because I was getting so annoyed and frustrated at certain things along with her. And I can say I hated those kids and thats why I felt so dragged into the movie. But the suspense was great and that would also be one of the reasons I really enjoyed this movie. Def check this movie out.
This was a fucked up little movie. This was really good considering it was a ghost house underground film. The kids were terrifying and by the end I questioned ever wanting children… Congrats!
definetely a treat for all horror fans.. i wish it would have ended alittle different though.. VERY sold film
hated this movie all the crying and sceaming kids made my head hurt and least tells us what wrong with the kid’s. I think it could of been good but over all for me why to much prise.
Crap! had a headache after this movie…so unless u love the sound of screaming children..this movie is not for you. Little bloody..but overall Crap.
Creepy, stylistic and intense.
After seeing BD gives this movie 9/10, I was very excited about seeing it. Who doesn’t want to see killer kids right ? After wacthing it tonight i can say “i don’t”. While the concept of the plot was intriguing the overall product was awful. Besides the endless whining of the kids , several parts of the movie make 100% no sense. The movie is just everywhere. I know the director wanted us to feel for the parents in their dilema, but it just didnt work. I did like the sequence of the actions shots and 2 of the death scenes were well done. But overall I don’t recommend this movie.
A very solid film with good acting, creepy fucking kids (especially the first one), decent violence, a great build up, and a great finish.
My only real complaints are I wish there was more violence and I wanted to see that tasty teenage hussy in a skimpier outfit… and possibly naked. Other than that, this film is a home run. =D
4 skulls out of 5
These Children wont be getting anything for Christmas this year. FANTASTIC little Story, good acting, great camera work & editing, The Children is a cut above across the board. Wonderful imagery and Hitchcock like suspense keeps you glued until the very end. The best thing about this film is its simplicity. Things aren’t over explained. True horror is leaving things to the imagination. More films like this please.
I don’t normally comment on other reviews, but the negative feedback of this movie on this site is rubbish. The complaints of annoying screaming children? Sorry..if you have sick & frightened children, there will be ungodly screams, and chaos will ensue.
ENTERTAINING!! kinda cheap but also makes yah kinda wonder what the heck is going on here!! ..due to the fact its not a remake and a pretty unusual plot … watch it
I watched this last night and I must say that I did not like this movie at all. They never really explained what was happening to the children that made them turn on the adults like that. There was not much gore in the actually movie and I think that the killings happened to quickly. Some parts of the movie was creepy especially when the kids were staring at the adults, I personally find that creepy. Overall I would not recommend this movie
Now this was awesome a british family is celebrating Christmas. It is suposed to be the happiest time of the year. But when their is a mysterious flu going around. The children are doing anything but spreading good chear. They are getting sicker by the second both mentally and phisically they are becoming violent and h…ostile to their parrents. Looking for a scapegoat they blame the eldest of the children. A seventeen year old girl who is not a girl but not yet a woman. The young lady is in holliday hell as she doesnt fit in with her family and is taking the blame for for her siblings and cousins horrifing behaviour. Including a horrificly gory sledding crash that leaves her uncle needing medical attention. Everyone is pegging her for a blacksheep when they should be watching the actual children, who are as crafty and as manipulative as they get. They have the wits of Kevin MacCalister and the soul of Damion Thorn. I really thought that this was a creepy and well made movie. I wish more people new about it. I was really blown away by the uncertain cross road that the film ends on. Becouse it really foreshadows that the worst is yet to come for the surviving characters. Absolutely stunning and bonechilling, a holliday horror classic for those who know about this film. 7/10
This movie well done pretty well, it just upset me because of the fact that I have a child and he looks sort of like Paulie and is around the same age. So when the mother ends up killing the child it made me gag haha.
I guess having a child does that to you though, you can’t watch shit with children in it like you used to be able to.
Over all I liked the movie, but probably nothing I would watch again.
It wasn’t very scary either, it was just very very strange, in a good way though.
I like a lot of horror movies, but this was no where near my top favorites. I can appreciate the story though, it makes you wonder if some virus is going to come around and do that to your children, or someone else’s.
I just watched “The Children” and I am in awe..I was expecting it to be decent but this film way exceeded my expectations.
I will give a brief synopsis because you can read the synopsis anywhere you look up the film.
It’s New Years Eve, and two families are meeting to celebrate the holiday together, both families have two kids.One of the families has a teenage daughter as well…The kids start getting sick then all bets are off..They start to become vicious and evil.The camera work is genius and I was so unsettled and jumpy during the movie that I had to take a xanax..and I am a hard core horror lover..It was the suspense and the way the scenes were put together and intertwined that made it excel.
For a movie with such young kids in the production they spared no violence or hard core scenes.
I might expect they would soften it a bit but they didn’t .Kudos’ for that as well.
I was entertained from start to finish and I mean the last frame.
Think 1981′s Bloody Birthday with gore no cheese and great acting.
This is definitely a film I will watch again and probably again .
Nothing special. Unnecessary and underdeveloped sub-plots (Casey and the Uncle’s sexual tension nonsense). I actually thought the pivotal scene the BD review mentions was one of the most annoying moments in a film in a long time. Kill the children. Save yourself. Easy call.
I loved this movie but when Jeremy Sheffield was
the first one to die off of it I was a bit saddened cuz I think he’s soooo HOT! The movie was a little disturbing but otherwise fantastic
and a BLOODY GOOD TIME!
Horror in the UK is starting to grow! This is one of the most intense films I’ve ever seen and the children are very good actors for there age. The idea is such a thought provoking one as well, could you kill a little kid? I don’t think I could! Even if they were trying to kill me. This is unmissable stuff which shows how a fantastic holiday can quickly turn into a day of terror
This movie is really silly but played seriously.
It has the theme ‘could you kill a child?’. But the characters do dumb things throughout which will make you more and more frustrated watching this film. The fact the actors are quite good just makes this even worse.
The music is over-used to make the kids scary and there are quite a few jump-scares.
But there is some good gore scenes and scenes of kids getting killed brutally.
This movie could’ve used more morbid humour and better direction/script (several plot points don’t get developed enough).
So, I thought Drag Me to Hell was the scariest movie of the last two years. Boy, was I wrong. “The Children” is most DEFINITELY the most eerie, intensely frightening movie of the last two years. The kids are just CREEPY, especially Paulie and the blonde girl. The suspenseful scenes freaked the hell out of me, especially while watching it in the dark. That absolutely twisted ending left me wide-eyed through the credits.
“The Children” can easily be considered “Orphan” on crack. It’s bloody, scary, sad, beautiful, everything you’d look for in a GOOD horror movie. From beginning to end, this movie does not let up, and it does not let the fact that its stars are children be an excuse for not being bloody.
The gore factor is definitely high in this film. Every slice and stab and crack is so realistically violent, it makes one cringe.
All in all, there are no problems I could find. It doesn’t get slow at any moment in the movie, but it’s not too short. The acting is incredible, especially for a movie that works with children, young,young children.
See it. That’s all you need to hear about “The Children”. SEE IT. It’s absolutely spectacular.
Very entertaining movie!!!! This is a reason why i should not have kids….i always knew that children in groups were trying to kill thier adults….
I really don’t see the love for this movie.I was bored to tears the first 45 minutes of it then its just rushed.I thought the acting sucked especially the kids!Esther from Orphan was an incredible actress, who was believable, these kids however weren’t.It had a suspenseful ending but that was about it.Not scary either.
This is my first viewing of Ghost House pic. I put these off because its such a chore to go through the “8 Films to Die For” series that I didn’t want to waste time on more shitty horror. I was wrong to do this.
This is a great example of how a tired premise can still make a good movie by doing everything right. First off, the characters are all set up well in the beginning half hour. What’s good about this is that you can come to preconceived ideas about what you want to happen to whom. I enjoyed watching this thinking things like: “This douchebag needs to get offed” and “I hope the teenager shoots that little asshole in the face with her uncle’s shotgun.”
Yes, I was referring to one of the children in the second thought and it was before said child was evil. The kid is a prick.
Secondly, and most importantly, the movie doesn’t disappoint on these expectations. Every character I despised got shitcanned. (Including the above mentioned prick in the best scene in the film. I was laughing for about a half hour after the movie was over after that scene.) Which to be honest wasn’t that hard to pull off since, including the kids, there’s only one cool character and two tolerable ones. Normally, that’s not a good thing; in this film, though, it’s a good thing.
Third, I believe almost every character’s reaction. Even the token, “I can’t hurt my babies” chick, is played off acceptably. Not every character was completely helpless in this movie just because their kids are attacking them. (This does happen near the end of the film, but fuck it.) I mean, I can understand not wanting to kill your kids. I honestly could never kill one of my own kids, but if one of the bastards was trying to kill me, I’d at least dry gulch the little fucker.
2 for the setup, 2 for the satisfaction from said setup, and 4 for the garden shed scene. 8 out of 10.
awesome movie… Stupid people won’t get it and smart people will like it… period.
Loved this film,it gave me the creeps and it takes alot too creep me out!!!!!!
This movie was highly realistic. Great acting!!! I never thought that sunny snow days could be so creepy. It has some brutal death scenes all involving children, and the horror factor is very effective. I really enjoyed it.
The film starts easy enough, a gathering of two sisters and their families and children. You can imagine with all of the young children, loud noise, screaming and crying. To some this already sounds like a horror film, but for most, this is what the holidays are for. When a young child becomes sick and withdrawn, as is often the case with children, the others beginning getting sick and acting strangely.
What follows from here is a disturbing, somewhat shocking and horrific series of events that can also be a bit sad as well. The idea of children as killers is something that has been explored fairly often over the years, but seldom does it come off as well as it does here. The violent actions of the children really capture the Pet Cemetery vibe where they use your love for them and their innocence to put you into a situation where they can strike.
It is hard enough to imagine killing another human, but imagine if the person you need to kill is your six year old son. The moral quandaries add another interesting level to the film, particularly when you look at who has no trouble fighting back and trying to kill the killers. There is some type of generational statement being made here as well, something along the lines of the younger generation being far more capable of committing violent acts on a child, in a life or death situation.
The use of a simple virus is a highly effective means of establishing what is occurring and without going into detail, towards the end of the movie you begin to see that this problem may in fact be more widespread than these two families. I really wanted to seem more of an exploration about how widespread this virus is and the effects that it has on society.
The violence was used sparingly, but with great effect and in such a way as to engage the viewer, but not repulse them too much. If you are one of those people that cannot stand even the though of violence towards a child, you need to find another movie to watch. If, however, you enjoy a taut horror-thriller that will keep you watching and creep you out, this is a great choice for you.
Of the 4 recently released Ghost House Underground films, this one seemed to be the best, especially in terms of acting and production values. The ability for these children to act so effectively is amazing and it keeps the movie feeling believable at all times.
I didn’t get this movie at all and found it all a little pointless.
When it comes to modern British horror, it’s either done very well indeed or ends up being a little bit shit… Sorry to say that The Children (in my eyes) was unfortunately the latter..Yawn!!
Evil little brats! Was kind of suprised how polarized the reviews were for this. Thought it was a creepy and entertaining flick, and also found the acting to be good–even the infected little bastards. It’s no slam-bang affair through the beginnings, but that is where the subtle things with the children start evolving, and found the pacing to be just right for that. Actually some wicked violence from the kids, and some mean violence from the adults that kinda catches a viewer off-guard. Thought this was well made and executed—cool horror movie.
You can’t make the children in The Children do the dishes because they’ll beat you up, chop you to pieces, grill you, chew you, swallow you, churn you up, and spit you out. I loved The Children because it made the orphan in Orphan look like a menstruating Gary Coleman.
I really liked this movie,it was very suspensul and very disturbing.
I must be stupid then…oh wait, no I’m not, I just didn’t like this movie.
That probably comes from expecting this to be a remake of the 1980 film of the same name, which it wasn’t…or maybe it was, and they just changed up the story that much. Wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened.
I felt it was just too slow and clumsy, and that the director relied too much on the story being predictable. Most of the time you don’t even see what happens, you’re just left to fill in the blank spots yourself, because you’ve aready seen the same thing a million times. Okay, creepy kids do something creepy, and just as the outcome of their creepiness should be shown, we’ll switch to the next scene because we all know what’ll happen anyway.
And Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan) wasn’t in this film.
Personally, based on all the mixed reviews, I’d recommend renting this before buying it.
O.k. little british film. One question thou why not knock them out and tie em up and thats that. This film came off very comical and the acting was not that good. anytime you are saying to yourself this movie isnt over yet is never a good sign.
We’ve all seen little kids throwing tantrums in front of their parents. Yelling, screaming, sometimes even hitting. What if these kids knew what they were doing, and actually were trying to hurt their parents? Fun little film that makes you question if kids hurt their parents on accident or if maybe they have ulterior motives. More details here:
http://thewolfmancometh.com/2010/08/14/the-children-2008/
Quite good, ending was quite dark. Child death movies are always a bit weird.
But yeah quite good.
Its not as good as BD makes it out to be but its still pretty good. Very tense movie throughout. Probably one of the best psycho kid movies ive seen. Its worth your time to check it out. Ending didnt do it for me though, I felt jipped.
The Children is right off the bat a movie that is going to scare you. Not out of sheer horrifying stuff, but the fact that it is just in a healthy, normal nature to not harm a child. So when a child becomes sick with a flu like virus and begins doing things that are frankly inhumane, it rattles your cage.
Being an avid horror movie fan, I for one was skeptical if this movie could pull through. Surely the story had some potential to be scary, but there was a lot that could go wrong with the film as well. Everything though, from the artistic shots, to the acting [especially from the children themselves] and the gruesome deaths that would be left throughout the film, was just incredible, and I will touch on these in depth.
You’d naturally think the children of all people, would not excel in the acting department. Though they came through with flying colors. I remember one scene in particular, without spoiling anything, of a girl sitting on the bed and the children watching her. The geniune fear she presented was almost too hard to watch. I felt myself feeling horrible as she screamed for them to stop. This coming from a child and presenting such emotion behind it had me unnerved. Even when the children come into the infection, it was terrifying. To see an innocent child, and trust me they are damn cute and innocent, to carry out an elaborate plan is just hard to watch.
Another scene [and this does contain spoilers, though minor] was a child moving a wagon in placement with a sharp gardening tool. One of the adults was coming down on a sled and couldn’t stop in time and comes head first into this. You cringed knowing it was coming, you felt an urge to help, and when it happens, the sickness that follows is just brutal. I am not a squeamish person, but that was defintely something. For all your horror/gore buffs out there, no, it is not truly over the top gore that will finally break you from your shell. It is how the movie sets up for it, and seeing the character hit it, and the aftermath of blood, the screaming, it’s absolute genius acting.
Each and every shot was documented so well too. There is often shots of distance, or close ups of beautiful scenery, and being winter, the director knew to take advantage of these, adding even more innocence to the film. To appreciate them to the fullest, words cannot do justice.
All in all, this is a horror movie that I feel too many people are not going to give a chance. It is deep, the acting is downright incredible, the direction is spectacular, and most of all, it really keeps you on the edge of your seat in terror. If you have been debating whether or not to get this film, do yourself a favor and see it. Even if you don’t like it, you cannot help but admit the movie is a genius idea.
I give it 9/10.
The best scary movie ever, this movie is awesome!!! The children are like frightening, this movie will scare you to death. Ghost Underground knows how to make scary movies, and this one has become really scary.
From the moment I saw the trailer, I knew The Children would be a great horror film. I was completely right, as this is going to be a film I watch every Christmas! It has that winter cinematography setting and creepy atmosphere like “Orphan”, but retains itself from coming off as another common “killer kid” movie. Not only is there more than 1 psychotic child, but a whole lot more than you’ll think as you get close to the end. All in all, I enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to other people!
Just… Gorgeous.
love how the kids killed the adults hahahha not many kid killer movies
After enduring the crap that was released by Ghost House: Underground, “The Children” is refreshing reminder that there is still some essential decency in this world. While certainly not perfect, and I don’t even know if it’s particularly “good”, “The Children” is still crafty, ambitious, and visually impressive filmmaking that will charm its way into several horror enthusiast’s DVD collections. I’m an admirer of horror films, which is why I was able to enjoy a film like this one. The semi-imaginative and entertaining kills, as well as the crafty-bastard editing, are very good indeed. The characters and story; not so much.
While this film is all that it wants to be, and while it is still better than most “children-fun-amuck” films I’ve seen, it falls short of the awesomeness that it probably could have been. The film is a low-budget film from Britain that I would tell most non-horror fans to skip, and some horror fans to see. I can’t say I recommend it, but I admire it; most certainly. And anyone who thinks this film is utter crap cannot call themselves a horror fan, although neither can anyone who “loves it”. Win-win.
The film’s plot is nothing more than this: a family goes to their kin’s home for Christmas, hoping for a fun time, and find themselves a lot more than they expected when some sort of virus spreads to all the children, causing them to become murderous little bastards of destruction. That is what they want to be, and that is what they are; weapons of destruction. The problem with this is a lack of characterization. I have the same problem with many films involving anything that hacks, slashes, and kills its way through various human life-forms, but I guess they can’t all be winners.
This film, on a level of characters and story-telling, is weak. Bland, bland, bland, bland, bland; but only if you look at it from that angle, and that angle only. I was able to be entertained by this film because in terms of indie filmmaking, it’s quite impressive. Of course, I don’t think it will be remembered; it does not deserve this. But compared to the disgusting, revolting, offensive crap that it could have been, it is rather harmless.
However, aside from the excellent visuals, editing, and solid scare tactics; the film doesn’t have enough uniqueness and ideas to offer. It’s not the most original film, and it doesn’t need to be. Nor does it want to be. However, if horror is your genre, then I think it’s worth seeing. If not, then it’s just not worth your time. Me, I kind of enjoyed myself; when the movie wasn’t being boring, lacking all humanity and story-telling substance. It’s atmospheric and at times chilling, but I do like me a good psychopathic children-killing-adults movie. This is not exactly the movie I was looking for.
However, if you want to see an emo Brit, then now’s your chance. Like I said, I don’t “recommend” this film, per se, but there’s something I admire about it. I don’t have a problem with “The Children”, it’s just that you’d expect a movie such as this one to be better. But hey: at least it’s not “Offspring”, another Ghost House DVD release. THAT movie was shit. “The Children”, while only on the good side of decent, can’t really be called bad unless you have the attention span of a chimpanzee. Otherwise, smooth, but sadly decent sailing. Take it as you will.
I really liked it. I think it’s worth a watch. It’s extremely suspenseful.