The Children

Plot synopsis:
The film begins with a family of five, mother Elaine (Eva Birthistle), father Jonah (Stephen Campbell Moore), teenage daughter Casey (Hannah Tointon), and the two younger children Miranda (Eva Sayer) and Paulie (William Howes) heading up to a large house to spend New Year with some relatives. When they arrive, they are greeted by Elaine's sister Chloe (Rachel Shelley), her husband Robbie (Jeremy Sheffield), and their two children; Leah (Raffiella Brooks) and Nicky (Jake Hathaway).Paulie, who has been feeling unwell for the journey is sick outside the house, so Elaine sees to him. While she looks after him, she tells Casey to carry the bags into the house and Casey asks her if she has heard of contraception. Inside, the children are enjoying themselves, except for Casey, who is annoyed that she didn't get to go to her friend's party. Chloe then gets annoyed because Nicky is playing with a toy gun that Casey got him for Christmas. She then continues moaning about her mother, who called at 11pm wanting to speak to the children, and tells them that she hasn't invited her mother over for New Year. Paulie climbs up on to the table, calling for Elaine, and when Jonah picks him up, he hits him in the face.Later, when putting the children to bed, Chloe discusses the MMR jabs with Elaine as Jonah tells Robbie about his job. Casey then asks Robbie where she can get reception for her phone, and Robbie shows her because he is glad to escape the conversation. Miranda mentions that Casey isn't supposed to talk to her friends because Jonah has grounded her. Casey makes a remark about him, calling him Jonah, rather than Dad. Chloe tells the family about how she is home schooling the kids, and Jonah mentions that he is teaching Miranda to speak Mandarin.Leah shows up and tells Chloe that Paulie scares her, and Miranda agrees to take her back to bed. Robbie takes Casey outside, and she leaves her friend a message on the phone, asking her to pick her up the next day. Casey hears the cat, and walks around to look for it, but she can't find it, so she re-enters the house. Robbie locks the door when she gets back in. Later on, Leah coughs something up and wipes it on her pillow, meanwhile, Paulie appears at the foot of his parents' bed, silently watching them.The next day, everyone has a snowball fight, while Casey talks to her friend. She arrives back and asks Robbie if he has seen the cat, and he says it might be in the woods. She walks past a tent, where Miranda refuses to let her in. Inside, the cat's collar is hanging up, indicating that the children have done something to it. More of the sick that Paulie had earlier is seen on the floor, indicating that Nicky is sick too.Later, Paulie is playing with a sledge, and it falls down the hill, hitting Chloe in the leg, causing her to drop a tray and spill hot tea over Jonah. Jonah gets mad at Paulie, and spanks him, with Robbie telling him not to hit children. He then shouts at Casey for not looking after the children, even though it was not her responsibility. The children go to the bedroom, and Miranda tells Chloe that she doesn't want to be there. When Chloe leaves, Miranda tells the others to stop staring at her.Robbie is smoking in the greenhouse, when Casey comes in, and shows him her tattoo. Chloe arrives, sees her with her shirt lifted up and glares at her. During dinner, Chloe deliberately causes an argument by mentioning Casey's tattoo, but Miranda starts screaming at everyone and all the children go mad, so Casey and Robbie go outside to look after them. While there, she goes to the to the other side of the hill to meet her friend, but falls down the hill and hits her head. The kids put Robbie on the sledge, but it crashes, tearing skin off his head.Inside the house, Jonah tries to get Paulie to go upstairs, but Paulie stabs him in the arm with a kitchen knife, before running away. Chloe finds Robbie, dead and shrieks at Casey to find her children, so Elaine heads out into the woods to find them, and bumps into Casey. Casey tells her she went to meet her friend when the accident happened, but she came back. Her friend texts her, but she sees Leah in the woods. She goes to find Leah, but trips over into some more sick and screams.Elaine takes Chloe back into the house, then goes outside to find Robbie's body missing, finding it inside the tent. She sees Paulie on the climbing frame, and climbs up to rescue him, but her high heel slips and she falls, breaking her leg. Casey rescues her and drags her into the greenhouse, but the children begin throwing stones through the windows. Casey makes her a splint to help her walk, but then they hear Paulie trying to get inside. He crawls in, and attacks them, but Casey pushes a shelving unit on to him, before grabbing a knife to defend herself. Elaine tells her to stop, as Chloe comes outside. Elaine tells Casey not to let Chloe inside the tent, but Casey initially refuses to leave her mother to save her hated aunt.Chloe enters the tent, but Leah (who is inside) runs past her, and begins to cut at the tent. Casey opens it up and rescues Chloe, but the evil bitch blames her for everything going on, and locks her outside. She enters the greenhouse, and tackles her brother to the ground. He picks up a pair of scissors and tries to stab her, but Elaine grabs him and he falls on to a shard of glass. Jonah enters to find Paulie dead.Inside the house, Elaine tells Jonah what happened, and he blames her for the accident. Chloe calls Elaine and Casey monsters. Chloe tries to get out to find her children, and Casey tries to stop her. Jonah grabs Casey and throws her on to the sofa. Chloe tells Jonah that Casey needs to stay away from her family. Casey tells Elaine that it wasn't her fault, and the sickness is making the children go mad.In the woods, Chloe moans and rants at Jonah that Casey is in the house and if the kids go back there, she will abuse them. Casey blocks the doors up and locks the windows, so no one can get in. Chloe then finds her children, who kill her by stabbing her in the eye with a crayon. Meanwhile, Casey finds Miranda upstairs, sabotaging the phone lines, and tries to strangle her. Jonah arrives, pulls her off and hits her with a toy phonebox before locking her in. Casey shouts for him, calling him Dad. Miranda runs downstairs and tells Elaine that Casey was hurting her, and Jonah leaves her on the sofa, before getting into Chloe's car with Miranda and driving away.Casey shouts for Elaine to lock the back door, so the kids don't get in, and she locks it before climbing the stairs, but they get in through the cat flap. She tries to break down the door, but she can't. As Elaine gets outside the door, the children arrive, and she can't defend herself against them because they are children. Casey manages to kick a hole in the door, and grabs Nicky's head, impaling it on a piece of wood. As she is about to stab Leah, Elaine tells her not to.Elaine starts her car and drives down the street, until she sees Chloe's car parked at the side of the road. Casey gets out to investigate and finds a hole in the windscreen. She walks around the car and finds Jonah buried under some snow, and starts to be sick. Suddenly, Elaine sees Miranda rushing towards Casey and urges her to move. Elaine accelerates towards her younger daughter, and hits her, killing her instantly. Casey gets back into the car, and they drive away, as other infected children, including Leah, appear in the woods, and the film ends with us wondering whether Casey now has the infection.

Tags: violence, murder

Review:
Music is by Stephen Hilton and cinematography by Nanu Segal.A Christmas holiday at a remote country home turns into a fight for survival when the children suddenly start to turn on the adults.....Could you kill your own kid?
Added kicker in the writing is that the only character in the set-up who grasps what is going on is the troubled teenager (Tointon excellent), a nice twist for it is so often the case in horror movies that we bemoan dumb teens doing even dumber things.With the makers unfolding the drama amongst a virginal snowy setting, there's much thought gone into crafting more than just a standard gory shocker.
Well, other than 15 year olds who can't appreciate a horror film with *shock horror* time spent on genuine character development, a decent script and people behaving in a believable manner when confronted and confused by the horror they're confronted with.The Children is great because it's a rare oasis in the desert of generic (mainly US) horror, these are parents who understandably find it difficult to accept their own children have become killers and are obviously not too enamoured with the idea of killing their own offspring (which explains to certain 15 year old fools why the adults are so easily overcome).
Written and directed by Tom Shankland (who made WAZ), and based on a story from Paul Andrew Williams (who made the recent horror The Cottage), The Children is a very well made movie.One of the main reasons I enjoyed it was that it never explains why the children are doing what they are doing.
Too many movies try to explain what is going on, but the better horror movies leave it open and I think this approach works better, as it does here.The cast are all pretty good, with special mention given to Eva Sayer as one of the children, and Hannah Tointon as Casey the only teen in the group.One of the clever things about this movie, and there are many things to like about it,is how the adults react as events get out of control.
During the holidays, a family reunion turns into a madness when children become increasingly disturbed, due to what looks like a mysterious illness."Creepy kids" have been done a number of times in cinema but what separates this latest entry from many that came before it is the feeling that these kids are still kids.
There is still fear and fragility, which makes them a lot scarier for viewers, especially parents.Adding to the horror is that when the parents stand up for themselves against the kids, these acts of resistance are "unsatisfying" to us, unlike other movies of the genre.
I was surprised that Tom Shankland would direct something like this after his previous work, the polished horror/thriller Waz. A low budget plus a lot of kid actors mean that corners were cut.
Director Tom Shankland ekes the maximum value out of a single setting, and small cast, wringing every ounce out of an interesting idea.Two related smug middle class couples spend the new year in the English Countryside with their children when something makes "good children go bad".
In fact, the evil "possessed" children were acting in a more understandable way than the apparently normal adults.You can't excuse the way the adults in the film act by simply believing they are operating under extreme circumstances the way you can in movies like "Eden Lake".
The people that got on to give this one a low score obviously know nothing about the genre and need to go rate movies like High school musical or Paul Blart the Mall Cop. Official Chickencow post unaffiliated with any Film Company.
Elaine (Eva Birthistle), her second husband husband Jonah (Stephen Campbell Moore), her teenage daughter Casey (Hannah Tointon) and her children Miranda (Eva Sayer) and Paulie (William Howes) travel to the isolated house of her sister Chloe (Rachel Shelley) to spend the New Year with her family.
The Good Son, Devil Times Five, Bloody Birthday, Children of the Corn, Who Could Kill A Child?, Wicked Little Things, Village of the Damned, The Bad Seed, The Omen II: there are many films that have presented kids as malevolent killers, but the really effective 'scary children' movies can easily be counted on the fingers of one hand and The Children is not one of them.Although the brats in this film are undoubtedly wicked, casually offing their parents with a variety of sharp implements, they lack the genuine sense of menace essential for a really effective 'evil child' shocker, their diminutive stature and unconvincing blank stares unlikely to send a shiver up the spine of even the most timid of movie-goers.
The adults in the film do their best to convince us otherwise, looking absolutely terrified when confronted by a three foot tall moppet and screaming their lungs out at every available opportunity, but all the histrionics in the world ain't going to turn these tiny tykes into the bogeyman.Furthermore, the film suffers from editing that is more far more diabolical than any of its murderous children, making certain scenes virtually impossible to follow, and the script is hampered by both contrivance and ambiguity: I'm not one of those people that needs everything spelt out for me to enjoy a movie, but The Children's lack of exposition feels suspiciously like a cop-out—as though the writers just couldn't be bothered to come up with a convincing reason for the kids' startling behaviour.I appreciate the fact that director Tom Shankland (who was also responsible for the disappointing WAZ) doesn't shy away from depicting the violence in graphic detail, particularly when the grown-ups start to fight back (showing a kiddy meeting a grisly fate is still considered a step too far by many); and I appreciate even more that hot Hollyoaks babe Hannah Tointon gets to prance around for the whole film in an insanely short mini-skirt and over-the-knee stockings (and her mum ain't bad either); but even those elements do not come close to compensating for the film's crappier qualities.Quite how The Children has garnered so many positive comments and an average rating of 6.4 here on IMDb is beyond me, but I'm giving it a scathing review and a score of 2/10 in order to try and redress the balance..
The slow burning suspense of this movie is flawless as it sloowwwly makes the audience truly begin fearing these kids and are put in a constant anticipated state, wondering with giddy delight (if your a horror freak like me), or possibly biting ur nails to see what they'll do next.Unlike "The Ring" where the stupid damn kid is supposed to be soooo scary and yet she just a dirty little dead girl -- if that girl came out of the television and sloowly started crawling toward me-- Ide kick her in the face and not think twice!
So while it staggers through the finish line with a limp, The Children is nevertheless a good example of horror done adequately, but nowhere near perfectly.Telling the story of a New Years family get together out in a secluded part of the wilderness, The Children is a foreboding change of focus for the genre in that the movie's antagonists are around three foot tall and cry for their mommy.
This in turn makes the movie's rather predictable middle act a little more sustainable thanks to the domestic overtone to all the violence and horror, and the result is more likely to have you wince rather than groan.
Combined with the erratic and often disorientating score penned by Stephen Hilton and the derivative but effective photography of Nanu Segal, The Children makes for a convincingly tense movie that makes up for its lacking script with fine aesthetics and implementation.As a horror movie, The Children does well, specifically during its opening and closing acts; establishing characters that feel like more than maniac fodder whilst avoiding bringing too much focus on the somewhat shaky premise, and instead shifting towards the atmosphere involved, and the character's reactions to this.
'The Children' is a horror movie about a couple of yuppie families, coming together to celebrate new year's eve in a nice, out-of-the-way mansion (one of those with no mobile phone signal just when you need them).
However, bear in mind that those being hunted are the children's parents, therefore they may find it hard to defend themselves against a little person they've spent their life bringing up.The Children isn't a perfect movie, but if you like horror, you should find it fun.Of course if the parents had done what the rest of us adults do when our kids get out of hand, i.e. put on Cbeebies at the first sign of unrest, then none of the bad stuff in the film would have happened.
The family pet soon goes missing and the parents offspring start exhibiting peculiar behavior, such as staring into space like those experiencing heavenly visions.The show turns very bloody and violent with a series of unfortunate mutilations and deaths at the hands of the juvenile delinquents and the mothers and fathers, who are used to ordering time outs for their loved ones, don't know quite what to do to correct the misbehaving youth revolt.
A very effective indie horror with a very common plot (children turning evil) but take my word The Children is the best in the lot of such kind of movies.
If you are a parent or an adult who spends a lot of time with children and who has a true empathy and understanding of them, I would advise caution before you decide to watch this film.
One development at the end of the movie was also a little contrived and illogical but that is really the only valid criticism of the story that I can make and to me it didn't detract from the overall experience at all.However, once the main premise of the film kicks in the pace is relentless and I think that the progress of events and the actions of the main characters are completely natural and believable given the circumstances.
So a warning - if a parent, guardian or any other person with deep emotional connection and understanding of children is thinking of watching this movie make sure that you feel up to it.
Of course, the actors playing the kids are all very good too: understated and creepy all the way through.It goes without saying that much of the film is familiar – there are only so many ways of shooting a death scene, and they've all been covered a million times before – but nevertheless it has a fresh feel to it.
and oh, yeah, the children have become possessed killers who want to leave no adult left to celebrate the New Year.Tom Shankland, a new name on the horror scene, delivers one of the best horror films in recent years to get missed by the big screen.
"As if" 4, 6 year old children could murder 6 adults.The person who wrote this must have a phobia of children to think this material is scary/thriller or psychologically "anything".It's like me be afraid of "hot cross buns" and then making a very poor movie about it and expecting every one else to share my fear of them.
I actually laughed So hard when one character finally hysterically shouted "MOM JUST SAY SOMETHING!!!" just to even get some acknowledgement of SOMETHING pertaining to the unfolding situation at hand through the door she was trapped behind only to be met with "*gasp whimper sob sputter* waaah, mumble, blubber." instead of ya know "Yes, the children are killing people they're coming into the house.".Basically what drives the vast majority of the movie is that fact that kids are trying to kill adults, and adults are blaming it on people that aren't kids, because said adults that got attacked are too stupid to say "Something is wrong with the kids." Basically that is awful writing and awful film making.Avoid this one..
i won't spoil anything, but the message that the film harbors in it's poorly written core is as follows; "what would happen if your kids went insane and you were too stupid to punish them like normal people do?" in addition to having an impossibly stupid plot, the acting is completely second rate, now granted that opinion may be biased due to my dislike of British jargon, the dialogue is pointless, and backed by virtually no preexisting plot that could even be interpreted as interesting or with contributing factors to the story itself, if anything it was filler content to skip harshly into the unfulfilling horror experience that was to follow shortly after.
"The Children" took me by surprise.It's effectively brutal and supremely moody horror film that managed to unsettle me.Christmas vacation turns into bloody nightmare of screams and murder,when the children of two families become merciless killers.The children begin showing flu-like symptoms including sniffing noses and vomiting.Their stares become cold and soon the blood of their parents begins to flow..."The Children" is surprisingly grisly and terrifying horror film from Tom Shankland.The child actors are extremely believable as aggressive sociopaths.The emotional impact of a parent faced with possibly having to kill their own child has just as much impact in the film as the children plotting the murder of their parents.There are some very disturbing scenes in "The Children" including three nasty child deaths.The first half of the film is pretty slow-moving,but the last act certainly delivers the goods.One of the best in the killer kid genre,compared only to marvelous "Who Can Kill a Child?" when it comes to sheer intensity.9 out of 10..
I don't know how in the world this film has a 6.8 rating at my time of viewing.It's not your average formulaic flick of the genre so I gave it a chance.The bottom line is that a group of children come down with some illness and begin killing their parents.There is no method to the madness and the one time a woman should have screamed in a "horror" movie, she didn't...go figure.Granted I didn't watch the final credits roll, so I might have only lost 82 minutes that would otherwise have been spent in some other non-constructive manner, like trying to get someone else to avoid this mess.If there had at least been a brief breast shot, it might have accrued a 2.1 rating..
Not only is this film well shot, well directed and well acted by both adults and children it has a great script which delivers a good story.
Killer children have popped up a handful of times in horror cinema; from the classic Village of the Damned, to more obscure films such as Bloody Birthday and Who Can Kill a Child.
Not much of a story here; more like a fantasy horror scenario of "what if one day all children became murderous creatures for no reason?".The movie plays off that premise and while it leads to many stupid situations, I can't say that real parents would do any different in such a situation.
Oh, and said virus makes kids turn on their parents-violently.Easily the best of the Ghost House Underground releases so far, "The Children" (not to be confused with the 1980 film of the same name) is a case study in tension and dread.
And unlike most horror films people don't do "stupid movie stuff." The characters are motivated into harms way by the most realistic thing of all: love.I will not talk about the plot but lets just say families come together and then things go terribly wrong.Shankland is a terrific filmmaker and everything, right down to the creepy music, was thought through.I dare you to watch this film them go to a kid's "fun restaurant" and not soil your pants.10/10 Stars..
First of all, let me just state I had neither high nor low expectations, I was just looking for some mediocre horror, reminiscent of Children of the Corn but with better special effects.And I must say I was very pleasantly surprised, the film gripped me immediately and I especially liked the minimalistic setting.
Because the first half is so saturated with the incessant screaming of pre-pubescent little bastards, that it is beyond annoying.However, that is done with intention, as to put you on edge (and I'm sure this is much more effective with people who are actual parents...although parents might be endowed with a certain tolerance, from their years of exposure, that I lack).Either way, by the end, it had completely won me over with it's overt creepiness, realistic gore, and general atmosphere of tension.It starts off with a couple families of best friends getting together to spend the Christmas holidays together.Everything starts off relatively banal, until the children contract an illness while playing out in the woods- when things start to take a darker turn.Tantrums, and what could be attributed to an accidental death...quickly develop into full fledged murder...What the children lack in stature and strength; they make up for with wit and utter remorselessness.Leaving what ensues, one of the most realistic, and plausible, sequence of events that you can expect to find in a gory tension filled slasher.The end is eerily similar to that of Vinyan, which was also released in 2008, and would qualify as being part of the same oeuvre.Making this, not wholly original, but really quite effective.Notable, particularly, for it's realism...it is definitely worth a watch!!!
The children start to kill off the adults in torturous and malicious ways, that will surely make you squirm at times.The acting is really good, especially from the actress who plays Casey(Hannah Tointon), and the plot is excellent also, with enough suspense to keep you at the edge of your seat and enough horror to make you want to leave the lights on.
The theme and idea starts well and with real potential: virus gets children turn into killer maniacs, there is real promises for suspense with the slide scene, we easily imagine parallel plots with a post-teen character and a child who does not seem affected at first.But this is really all there is: hopes for a good horror movie.