Children in horror
 

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:

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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 ..

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

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_k...2/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.