British horror film directed by Tom Shankland, based on a story by Paul Andrew Williams. A relaxing Christmas break turns into a terrifying fight for survival as the children begin to turn on their parents and embark on a gruesome killing spree.
Starring: Eva Birthistle, Stephen Campbell Moore, Jeremy Sheffield, Rachel Shelley, Hannah Tointon
Directed by: Tom Shankland
Runtime: 84 minutes
Studio: Lions Gate
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Mrs B and I are both in agreement when it comes to children. We don’t want any. We never have and we never will. I’ve always said of children that I’d like to bypass the first twenty years of their lives and starting a parental relationship from there, but that’s just me. Millions of us have children and do an amazing job bringing them up but it’s never appealed to me. Tom Shankland’s The Children did nothing to dissuade me from my viewpoint but it promised to be a gruesome horror film with youngsters being the instruments of death but is it any good?
The film focuses on two families getting away for a Christmas vacation in a remote house surrounded by wintry woodland. The first family comprises of Jonah (Stephen Campbell) and Elaine (Eva Birthistle), their teenage daughter Casey (Hannah Tointon), and two other children Miranda (Eva Sayer) and Paulie (William Howes). The family meet Elaine’s sister Chloe (Rachel Shelley), her husband Robbie (Jeremy Sheffield), and two more children Leah (Raffiella Brooks) and Nicky (Jake Hathaway). What should be a pleasant Christmas get together turns very violent when all the children began to behave very strangely and turn on the adults!
The initial problem with The Children begins very early on. We have no indication why the children go from being noisy and annoying to noisy, annoying and violent. Paulie is ill at the outset and Leah later coughs something black onto a pillow but we don’t know what it is or where it’s come from. The family structure is a pretty standard one. Casey is the sullen teenager at odds with her parents because she wanted to be with her friends at a party. She gets on best with Robbie who probably should know better getting too friendly with a girl who spends the film in s short skirt despite the surrounding snow and causes tension when Chloe finds her with Robbie showing off a tattoo. Uncomfortable, eh?
The film builds up quite well and the children do a pretty good job with those faraway glances which left me slightly spooked but even more convinced I want none of my own. The acting is average at best but probably adequate enough for a film like this though Tointon has to work hard with the emotions as she emerges as the unexpected heroine towards the end. The conclusion to the film is open ended and will leave you speculating what happens when those final credits are rolling. This isn’t a bad horror film, for sure, but the lack of any real explanation as to the sinister disease that afflicts the children and turns them violent is a weakness.
If you’ve ever asked yourself if you want children then steer clear of The Children because it will likely put you off. This is an average horror effort with some gory moments but it begins with many questions which remain unanswered though the ambiguity about the ending will ensure that you’re probably still talking about after the last of the credits are over.
Verdict: 3/5
(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)
Film Review: The Children | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
