The Children (2008)
 

Before watching, I heard nothing about this great little British shocker from (Tom Shanland - the guy who gave us the muddled but kinda entertaining Thriller WAZ).

Two familys come together in a remote country home to celebrate Christmas unbeknown to them that their children are infected with some vague/unexplained virus that turns the tots in psychotic killers.

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Despite the mostly unlikable bunch of characters (Rich Twat 30-somethings), the acting is remarkably strong and combined with some great editing (particulary the sound) create a atmospheric and slowly climatic descent into horror as the Adults realise that the danger is not only awong them but the threat is from their very offspring..

The violence is strong, realistic and cringeworthy with the added taboo of much of it being perpetuated against minors much like the also excellent 'Who would kill a child?'..

I'd definally recommend this suprising little low budget rural English horror..

yep..that's a nice one.

I thought the unsteady (to say the least) camera work in the action scenes ruinede this movie.

Wanna see creepy children? Watch Plague Town.

yep, i enjoyed this one

Really I thought Plague Town was a far inferior film - the incredibly bad acting of the Irish Villagers really got to me after a while. Though the film wasn't absolute shite I do feel The Children was on a totally different level..

This was a pretty good film. I didn't much care for the ending or the first kill sequence (he died from a cut scalp...really?) but for the most part it was good...

This movie was better than I expected. I really liked the slow building suspense. Pretty good kid actors as well.

In terms of a "creepy children" movie, I cannot recommend Home Movie more - definitely check it out.

As for The Children, thanks for the rec. I saw a trailer for it the other night and thought that it could honestly go either way in terms of being effective or not. I find it hard to find children as threats unless the direction/acting is done really well. I'll have to check this one out. Thanks, Ferox.

The way the kids in The Children are creepy are much the same way as they are in Home Movie. It starts off subtle and it also has the fact that parental nature leads to a state of denial where your offspring is evil/dangerous.

(Most) Parents would find it very difficult to maim/hurt/kill their own small child no matter what the situation.

Thats where the films horror came from, certainly.

I enjoyed it, I was expecting it to be rubbish so was pleasantly surprised when it wasnt. As you said, the acting was fairly solid especially from the kids and it built the suspense well.

Its not a brilliant film, but it is good.

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