Horror that's Truly Horrifying!
Added 11/8/2009
This is a great film in any genre, the children really delivers the horror unlike 95% of other movies that claim to be horror and just plain suck. I'm an avid horror fan so trust me when I say you can't miss with this one. From the very beginning the tension and unease continue to build until it's so thick you can push it aside like a curtain. You actually wish something would happen just to let the air back into the room, even though you know it will be terrible. Prepare for some truly disturbing material with visuals to match!
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Only two reviews for this excellent film?
Added 11/7/2009
It's not often any more when I watch a modern horror movie, and instantly fall in love with it. "The Children" is a movie that should impress not only horror fans, but fans of good cinema.
The plot may be farfetched (to the point of being ridiculous, maybe?): Children encountering an unknown substance develop an illness that eventually makes them murderous against the adults taking care of them. But what this movie does with this simple concept is nothing short of amazing, evoking horror, sympathy, empathy, and for those of us who are parents -- genuine sorrow and thought-provoking (albeit disturbing) themes.
I won't rehash the plot here (there are plenty of "reviews" that will do that for you on the web), but I will say that the acting is top-notch. It's extremely rare in horror movies that acting can reach this caliber. You can not only see, hear, but also FEEL the horror the characters are experiencing. There's a particularly nasty injury that occurs about midway through the film, and the actress plays it out to the HILT, reacting realistically to the pain -- a rarity in horror movies.
But the child actors really take the cake. Often in movies like this, the kids ham it up to the point of not being believable. NOT in THIS movie. Having had a minor acting background, I'm dying to know how they made the kids as . . . emotionless as they did. But that's what sealed the deal for me.
I am relatively new to the BD market, having obtained my first BD player back in March. I don't have a very large collection, and because of the price difference between BD and DVD, I'm very selective about the movies I purchase on BD. That said, this will be the 7th BD in my collection. I may revise my review to talk more about the features on the BD when I receive it (just ordered it last night), but don't bet on it (I'm a serious flake), so all I can do is review the movie now.
If you like horror movies that rely on blood & gore to "scare" you, then you might want to steer clear of this movie. But if you want a lean & tight psychological thriller that is truly chilling, then I cannot recommend this one high enough. A warning to fellow parents out there: This movie WILL disturb you . . . but if you like that, then get this movie. Now.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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The best thing to come from Ghost House Underground
Added 10/8/2009
These lines of direct to DVD horror flicks to come along recently, the After Dark Horrorfest and more recently Ghost House Underground, usually feature a diamond in the rough among their various lineups. British import The Children is by and far such a film in this year's Ghost House Underground lineup, and it may in fact be the ballsiest horror film you'll come across right now. A family get together turns deadly when a virus infects the young children, which subsequently causes them to attack and murder the adults. As they fight for survival, it becomes clear that director Tom Shankland (The Killing Gene) is quite simply going for the throat of the viewer, as he pulls no punches in presenting some shocking scenes of brutality and bloodletting. Not to mention the fact that the film is actually suspenseful and it features a simply dynamite ending, The Children winds up being a blood-curdling shocker. The film's editing may be occasionally sloppy, but regardless of that, The Children is definitely worth your time if you're a horror fan. Be on the lookout for the gorgeous Hannah Tointon, who may in fact be a star in the making.
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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My New Favorite "Evil Children" Movie
Added 10/7/2009
I saw this film a few months ago and it immediately became my new favorite "evil children" movie, but also one of my favorite recent horrors. And it gets huge bonus points for being actually frightening. This review is of the US Region-free Blu-ray release from Lionsgate/Ghost House Underground, released today, Oct. 6, 2009.
The performances are uniformly excellent, which is crucial for a horror film to be scary. Special kudos for Mr. Shankland for coaxing genuinely creepy performances out of very young children. See recent The Omen remake to see how not to do it. ;)
This film is not for fans of jump scares or fast-paced editing. Well, to be honest, there are a couple brief flash-cut editing moments, but they are thankfully brief, and I can see the point to them, so they are forgiven. My point was, this is a slow burner that takes its time to establish the setting, characters and mood. And as a real horror fan, I can appreciate this deliberation as true scares are built from those building blocks. The horrors that do happen, in time, are that much more effective wen they do.
The picture on the BD looks great to me, but I'm not a real A/V geek, so you can look elsewhere to discuss crushed blacks. ;) There are a wealth of special features here, too, but noticeably absent is a director's commentary, alas.
On a side note, what was wrong with the fantastic cover art of the UK release? And why does Ghost House feel the need to plaster their graphics all over more prominently than the film title?
Anyway, highly recommended for horror fans who are tired of cheap jump scares. But parents beware, as the themes here are truly disturbing.
8 out of 8 people found this helpful.
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superb movie but... extras?
Added 11/5/2009
The Children is a brilliant, low-budget, intimate horror from the UK that delivers its shocks and sense of dread in bright winter sunlight, in dazzlingly lit rooms full of glittering Xmas cheer, inside a beautiful country house. It amounts to a superb evocation of family breakdown in the face of crisis (I disagree with a reviewer who wanted a more explanatory history of the virus; even the microscope-eye-view of the multiplying viral culprit was unnecessary). The irritating young upper-middle-class professionals get their come-uppance, as it were, for paying so little attention to their children and are compelled (by their unwillingness to face up to their own realities) to blame one another for the domestic apocalypse breeding around them and specifically to accuse the astute and intuitive Casey, the teenage daughter who IS paying attention and sees exactly what's happening, but whose burgeoning sexuality is more than the "adults" want to acknowledge (especially Chloe, who doesn't like the dubious attention her husband is giving Casey). Hannah Tointon's hypnotising performance as Casey is the anchor of the movie - she's clearly going to be a major screen actress in years to come. But all the performances are great, although a lot of women viewers (not to mention we gay men) will be disappointed that mega-hunky Jeremy Sheffield (SPOILER COMING UP!) meets such an early and horrifying end. Ultimately the movie suggests that the "adults" are the ones behaving like untrustworthy children, while the actual kids are in the thrall of a kind of viral anomie and bewilderment that can only express itself in rage at the world they've been born into. A deeply unsettling and stunningly achieved movie. And it's full of brief but telling details - a viewer on IMDB has observed, for example, that Casey's "foetal" tattoo is a reproduction of the cover art for Sigur Ros's 'Agaetis Byrjun'.
One caveat re the US DVD - is it just me, or are some of the Special Features promised on the box - 'Snow Set design'/ 'Inside Tom Shankland's Lair'/ 'Micro video featuring In This Moment' - not repeat NOT among the actual Special Features available on the disc????
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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KIDS DO THE DARNDEST THING
Added 11/2/2009
A Christmas gathering goes horribly awry in this chiller. Some kind of virus affects foue darling youngsters who turn murderously aggressive. Starting out sinisterly slow, the movie builds as the youngsters start bumping off the adults. I wish there had been some kind of back story on what/where the virus started but it's the ambiguity that makes it all the more frightening. Watch this with ORPHAN and OFFSPRING and you may never want to have kids!
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Not great. Not good either.
Added 10/28/2009
The film has some moments of suspense, but it made me want to watch The Brood or Orphan. The adults are all one dimensional and completely unlikeable. You won't care when they die. There are a lot of moments that definitely speak..."not enough money to show that". The music was too much...it was very "oh something creepy is happening, well not yet..but soon...no no no" The ending was a little too abrupt and the the film was just too bright. It might have been more effective if it was shot at night. It might even have saved the film. It's worth one viewing.
1 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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A nice refreshing change of pace from all the torture terrors. Just nice, fun, homicidal children. Actually, this is a great little chiller because it had a few ingredients other horror films seem to lack these days: real suspense, eerie soundtrack, and a really good sense of tension. Quite enjoyable for the thriller-lover. recommended. (and a good excuse to skip the next famly function or join planned parenthood).
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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