Children in horror

[stubbornforgey]

Personally ..i love children in horror..
they tend to give off an eerie feeling..especially when they appear as ghostly (hush hush sweet charlotte)
figures or act as little devils (pet semetary)

however a debate is brewing in NZ where they want to see children as
young as 10 acting in horror movies.
they reckon it effects the child chronic..
what do you reckon..
My point of view is ..fuck off ..if you don't want to see kids in horror movies
then don't go and watch them ':rolleyes:

[slayer666]

I agree that kids in horror can be quite effective. I don't especially get off on seeing them killed or anything, but they add to the creepiness factor like you said.

[bloodrayne]

Kids getting killed (which isn't usually shown, but is often implied)...Adds to the 'horror' factor because the thought of a child dying, especially violently, is horrific to us...Those of us who have children often consider our OWN children being hurt when we are confronted with the death of a child in ANY context

On the flipside, when a child is the killer, it's the corruption of innocence, and the shock that someone that we would naturally want to protect becomes a threat, that gets to us on an emotional level


The Good Son, Children Of The Corn and The Omen movies are good examples


Lasting images:

Gage Creed..."Now I wanna play with you"

The little girl killing her mother in Night Of The Living Dead

Regan in Exorcist, although in that one many people chose to look past the little girl, and see the demon as the aggressor

[DP McCoy]

The scene in Dawn of the Dead where two children attack Peter in the office at the airfield was cut in many countries because it was deemed offensive(on a side note those two children were the only Romero Zombies to ever run).
I personally didn't find that particular scene offensive in any way,however violence towards children must be carefully handled in movies of any genre,what made the scene in Dawn unoffensive to me was that i percieved these children more as monsters than kids.

[stubbornforgey]

Agreed,
Understandale in all points taken...
It is horrific to see any children hurt or maimed anywhere/ anytime/anyhows..
but when are people going to start seperating fact from fiction.

[bloodrayne]

when are people going to start seperating fact from fiction.Even though we KNOW it's fake, it can still elicit an emotional response from us because our inherent instinct to protect our children is very strong...

I'm pretty sure that reaching us on that level is the intention when children are put in these movies

[stubbornforgey]

Even though we KNOW it's fake, it can still illicit an emotional response from us because our inherent instinct to protect our children is very strong...

I'm pretty sure that reaching us on that level is the intention when children are put in these movies
good point..
being a mother myself i must admit ..seeing children portrayed in certain circumstances does leave a bit of a bad taste..
especially when the scene involves child against child ..

[Shadow]

Children in horror is probably one of the most effective ways to scare an audience. Its just one of those things that is more shocking. I wouldnt say I would be overly bothered because it is only a film but I think it is more effective.

There is the point though of is it right to use a child actor/actress in a horror film. I guess in the end it is up to their parents to decide.

[stubbornforgey]

Children in horror is probably one of the most effective ways to scare an audience. Its just one of those things that is more shocking. I wouldnt say I would be overly bothered because it is only a film but I think it is more effective.

There is the point though of is it right to use a child actor/actress in a horror film. I guess in the end it is up to their parents to decide.

yeah..
i always revert back to that scene in train spotters..
where that little toddler o'd 's on the drugs that
were left laying around..
So should age be a major factor when choosing children for certain roles ???

That scene haunted me for a long time ..admittedly

[Mictlantechutli]

Kill the kid.

I fail to see how kids are somehow more special than grown-ups. If you answer "innocence" then you probably don't know shit about children. There have been child murderers since the dawn of man.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/weird/kids2/index_1.html

If anything they are less important to society, because they don't know anything. I'll admit that a director needs to be careful not to terrorize a child actor on the set, but as a character in a film - anything goes.

Anything less is self-censorship.

[alkytrio666]

Kill the kid.

I fail to see how kids are somehow more special than grown-ups. If you answer "innocence" then you probably don't know shit about children. There have been child murderers since the dawn of man.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/weird/kids2/index_1.html

If anything they are less important to society, because they don't know anything. I'll admit that a director needs to be careful not to terrorize a child actor on the set, but as a character in a film - anything goes.

Anything less is self-censorship.
Smell flowers much?



This is actually the best thread we've had in weeks, so I thank you, Stubbs, for that.

I tend to agree with Rayne...what's so damn scary about most child-based horror movies is a loss of innocence.

In The Exorcist, Ragen had barely seen the outside of her mother's house, and now she's forcefully masterbating with a cross, and sticking her mom's head in the bloody remains.

In Children of the Corn, an entire town's children lop off their parents, the ones who have raised them, loved them, taught them...and they turn around and slaughter them.

We can even trace this sickly theme back to early films such as M (1931). The most horrifying scenes are the one in which we see Lorre slowly seduce a small girl with things like candy, or a balloon. They don't know any better, so, innocently, they go along with the friendly man. We all know what happens after that.

Another great example is Night of the Hunter.

Do I think children should be eliminated from horror movies? Absolutely not.

Do I think children in horror movies add a kind of horrifyingly disturbing element? Absolutely.

[Shadow]

I agree!
You ask for scares, you ask for horror. You want something shocking there it is for you. Children in horror, victim or villian is disturbing. Exactly what we look for in horror.

[bloodrayne]

Kill the kid.

I fail to see how kids are somehow more special than grown-ups. If you answer "innocence" then you probably don't know shit about children. There have been child murderers since the dawn of man.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/weird/kids2/index_1.html

If anything they are less important to society, because they don't know anything. I'll admit that a director needs to be careful not to terrorize a child actor on the set, but as a character in a film - anything goes.

Anything less is self-censorship.You're negating the 'protection' factor...Most animals are genetically programmed to protect their young in order to perpetuate their species...The larger mammals who are only capable of producing 1 or 2 offspring per year, are even more protective, as it's more of a necessity...Humans are among those...So, we can't help but feel it

[bloodrayne]

Do I think children should be eliminated from horror movies? Absolutely not.

Do I think children in horror movies add a kind of horrifyingly disturbing element? Absolutely.I agree 100%...It definitely adds an element that really can't be obtained in any other way

[Shadow]

You're negating the 'protection' factor...Most animals are genetically programmed to protect their young in order to perpetuate their species...The larger mammals who are only capable of producing 1 or 2 offspring per year, are even more protective, as it's more of a necessity...Humans are among those...So, we can't help but feel it

I agree.
It could be looked at as a weakness (not that I believe it a weakness to protect your young) when it comes to horror films. They have found what scares us and work on it.

I hope I put my point across ok there.

[Demonique]

I feel that having children in a horror movie adds verisimilitude to the story. Our world is one of people of all ages. When a horror movie has a world of only adults, there is a missing aspect to the realism. Yes - these movies are, of course, contrived but I like seeing a more rounded world. As to what ages the actors should be, I think it depends on the child. Some children are too young at 12 and some are old enough at 6. Each child has differing amounts of internal fortitude. I hear that most children find the 'make believe' fun at any rate.

[AsylumSeeker]

I wonder if they are looking at it from the standpoint of what some of the kids go through on set while filming these things and any lasting scars that could leave on their psyche. Linda Blair has said that they took alot of care to try to make it a game on the set of The Exorcist, but she still had nightmares and had to perform some pretty horrific things. Not to mention the way people treated her afterwards. People would run away from her in the street and everyone seemed to confuse her with the character. There was really no gore in that movie. In a gorefest kind of movie with a kid, he/she would have to see all of this stuff and be present with the weapon/etc. to understand what was going on enough to react on film.

I believe that child actors these days are far more sophisticated than back then. Not only have they been exposed to far more in terms of movies and extremes than they have been at any point in time before, but most of these kids are basically slave labor for the parents to suck off of. They are 7 going on 30 in some ways and are far too jaded by the time they are 13.

I would be more willing to back a ban on using child actors whose parents treat them like a blue ribbon pig and suck off of them, than to say that horror films alone are bad for them. I'm sure with the SAG protections they give to child actors and the big hullaballoo over all the teen star turned crack addict/armed robber that there is some kind of counselling taking place. If not, that would certainly be something to ensure. I do believe they should be very careful what children they choose for these types of parts and make sure that the child is mature enough to handle it.

[mordrid]

Children in horror in my opinion represents two factors, innocence and our own helplessness. Example, Night of the Living Dead. Probably the most disturbing scene from that entire movie was the daughter turning into a zombie and killing her mother. The innocence of the child is gone and love of the child made the mother helpless to defend herself.

[Shadow]

I wonder if they are looking at it from the standpoint of what some of the kids go through on set while filming these things and any lasting scars that could leave on their psyche. Linda Blair has said that they took alot of care to try to make it a game on the set of The Exorcist, but she still had nightmares and had to perform some pretty horrific things. Not to mention the way people treated her afterwards. People would run away from her in the street and everyone seemed to confuse her with the character. There was really no gore in that movie. In a gorefest kind of movie with a kid, he/she would have to see all of this stuff and be present with the weapon/etc. to understand what was going on enough to react on film.

I believe that child actors these days are far more sophisticated than back then. Not only have they been exposed to far more in terms of movies and extremes than they have been at any point in time before, but most of these kids are basically slave labor for the parents to suck off of. They are 7 going on 30 in some ways and are far too jaded by the time they are 13.

I would be more willing to back a ban on using child actors whose parents treat them like a blue ribbon pig and suck off of them, than to say that horror films alone are bad for them. I'm sure with the SAG protections they give to child actors and the big hullaballoo over all the teen star turned crack addict/armed robber that there is some kind of counselling taking place. If not, that would certainly be something to ensure. I do believe they should be very careful what children they choose for these types of parts and make sure that the child is mature enough to handle it.

Very good points made there. I would agree. I have always found it strange to see a film rated 15 etc have children in the film. You do worry just how much they are exposed to and if their parents care.

[stubbornforgey]

Alot of the scenes depicted here are seen in both horror or non.
So why the big song and dance about children in horror and yet not in other dramas'...
I mentioned 'train spotters'..the scene in that one.'very disturbing' to say the least..especially since the child in that was merely a toddler.

Should there be an age limit placed on these child actors..?
this is my question..and if so..how old ..?


It was rumoured that Carrie-Ann from Poltegeist..had mental problems
after shooting the movie.
It was written that Drew Barrymore almost killed herself after Firestarter..
and so forth.
So should there be boundries placed on this topic...

oh and Alky :D

we will get our forum topics back eventually !!

[alkytrio666]

oh and Alky :D

we will get our forum topics back eventually !!

You bet your ass.

...one step at a time, my friend. One step at a time...

[AsylumSeeker]

I mentioned 'train spotters'..the scene in that one.'very disturbing' to say the least..especially since the child in that was merely a toddler.



I've got to agree wholeheartedly on this one. That may be the single most disturbing scene ever in a movie for me. It was one of the only times I actually had to stop a movie and walk away because I just didn't want to see anymore. I came back and finished it, but while alot of that movie has left my brain, I can still see that scene like a photo in my mind.

[stubbornforgey]

I've got to agree wholeheartedly on this one. That may be the single most disturbing scene ever in a movie for me. It was one of the only times I actually had to stop a movie and walk away because I just didn't want to see anymore. I came back and finished it, but while alot of that movie has left my brain, I can still see that scene like a photo in my mind.

honestly..i bawled my eyes out.
and its not even a horror movie :(

[stenchofdeath]

Yeah, children in horror movies can be quite effective. I guess because we see well some of them as being sweet and innocent. However we seem to get really grabbed when we see the look of hatred or posession in a childs eyes in these movies. Check out "Zombies"- a posse of udead children run through the woods at night, slaughtering people and animals. Some others Village Of The Dammed, The Omen, and The Wicker man (originals and the re-makes) and lets not forget The Exorcist. I often wonder what the psychological effects must be for these child actors, being confronted with such serious subject matter. One can only imagine that there is a over zealous mother driving their child to be the next big thing in horror after the commercials. You would think that the child has demonstrated maturity beyond their years to even be considered for such parts

[bleeding_angelgirl]

can you say children of the corn and villiage of the damn those were some creepy kids

[bloodrayne]

Here's something that just came up at home:

Alex (12 years-old) has been in a college film...He plays a kid who's bouncing a basketball down the sidewalk, not paying attention to anything but the ball because it's on a downhill grade and he's trying to keep it from bouncing away...A car backs out of a driveway without seeing him and he gets killed...A person with the powers of time manipulation changes things so that when Alex bounces the ball past the driveway, the car is not there until a few minutes later, so Alex lives...So, in one scene you see him get killed by the car, in another scene you see him continue to bounce the ball past the driveway...


All that he did for his role was bounce a ball to the driveway and stop....Then he started from the same position and bounced the ball until he was past the driveway


Now, for the new thing:

Jordan (7 years-old...Dustin's son) was SUPPOSED to be in a movie...His part was supposed to be filmed this Sunday...We were informed that it couldn't be done, so now we're just going to wait and do it (independently) this summer


He was supposed to play a kid who grew up to be a mortician

In his scenes he was playing with a headless doll in his room when his mother comes in, yanks away the doll, and yells at him

In a later scene, he's holding the doll and he's very sad, he says "look what they've done to you"


What is happening is the kid HAS become a mortician as an adult, and everything that happens to the doll is really happening to a corpse, the mortician is having flashbacks of his childhood (which is what Jordan's part is about)...So, you see the mortician talking to a headless corpse, that he loves like a kid's doll, and when the mother burns the doll (so the kid can't get it back again) the corpse is actually burning


As far as Jordan's involvement goes, he was only supposed to be playing with a doll, yelling "NO" when the actress (mother) takes it away, and then holding the doll and saying the one sad line...Not very traumatic, huh?


BUT...The heads of the department read the script after the stupid 'corpse actress' (20 years-old) complained because she felt that laying there while someone touched her hair was just too "creepy" and she would be uncomfortable and probably have nightmares:rolleyes:...This girl's major is acting...How is she EVER going to be an actress with that attitude?

Anyway...It was decided that it was too morbid for a 7 year-old to participate in...So, the director (one of my closest friends) asked if it could be changed to a 12 year-old (Alex), they said 'no way'

It's all just bullshit...Jordan is pretty disappointed...He loves horror movies, and the chance to be in one made him happy

[AmericanManiac]

I know this subject touch far to sensitive to some, my buddy a hardcore horror fan. He read my script about a kid being a vicitim. He hated it said it touched to close to home for him, because his son was the kids age. I just finished watching Wicked little things one of the horrorfest films. It was about ghost/zombie kids, they were pretty freaky although they did remind me of the kids from village of the damn because of the black eyes, and how cruel they were. I like the feeling of a kid being the one causing all of the problems, makes it more freakier. We look at them as an innoccent character and the next thing we know the kid is butchering an adult, it's effin great I love it!

@bloodrayne I think they should of went and shot the film with Dustin's seven year old. I mean the kid had his hopes up, and you guys were giving him the permission to do it. I don't think it is to morbid for a kid that age, it's a movie!

[Kane_Hodder]

The Village of the Damned film by Carpenter was very eerie. The child in the Ju On films also creeps me out. The children can be good performers and can create genuine creepiness in the film, as long as they are handled and directed properly.

[PR3SSUR3]

Heh heh, one of the things we miss about Lucio Fulci is his reckless abandon when it came to butchering kids - witness the opening prologue of Voices From Beyond for example.

And it doesn't bother the Orientals much either - The Untold Story massacre and fiery death/knocking-off-the-charred-corpse's-head scene in Run & Kill are especially memorable.

Why is that? Because as has been said here, inflicting grief upon kids is shocking in any context.

So long as it isn't anything sexual, and enough care is taken to not expose young actors to disturbing imagery on the set, this should remain one of horror's more attention-grabbing calling cards.

If anyone has the Eric Stanze movie I Spit on Your Corpse, I Piss on Your Grave it is interesting to see how they got around the bit where the young boy discovers the sexually mutilated corpse. The actor, one of the crew's sons, was never actually shown any graphic special effects through clever editing manipulation.

[Despare]

I think the most effective child murder I've seen recently is still the original Assault on Precinct 13. It's not just tacked on to elicit emotion but rather a true part of the story.

[_____V_____]

I m reminded of Newt in the drains and the Alien rising up behind her from the water. And Haley Joel Osment in the Sixth Sense. That Precinct 13 scene has to be up there in the list of child murder scenes in a movie.

Dont forget Sleepaway Camp...