The Children - Review

[Paul Heath]

A couple of weeks ago we were treated by the lovely folks at Vertigo Films to a special screening of their new horror flick THE CHILDREN, which hits British cinema screens on the 5th of December - hey, just in time for Christmas, which just happens to be when this is set.

The story is that a family of four head out into the glorious, and seasonally decorated British countryside for a quick break in the days between Christmas and New Year to visit relatives, a couple who also have happen to have a couple of annoying sprogs. Anyway, all the festive cheer turns to crap after one of the kids falls ill - then another, and another and so on. After contracting this mysterious virus, said kids turn on the grown ups, bumping them off one by one in typically gory fashion. Not a good all round family flick for the holidays. Oh no.

Vertigo invited THN to the screening at a swanky London venue called The Hospital a week or two ago, just after Hallowe'en, so you could say that I was in the mood for a bit of blood and guts, or indeed psychological horror, which I was kind of expecting. The former description of the film is more fitting, and THE CHILDREN is actually quite a graphic, and indeed daring film for its rather modest '15' BBFC rating. Yep, the kids cop it as much as the adults in this low-budget affair, which I expected to find a little upsetting, but believe me, you really want to see the end of these little blighters by the end of this movie - they're 'orrible.

Heading up the cast is a very lovely young actress named Hannah Tointon, who most young ones will know from the teen soap Hollyoaks in the UK. Here, she very much holds her own, and is the driving force behind the film. She screams, she runs, she's as sexy as hell, and she can actually act. The young actress moves the plot forward and she carries it very well. A name to watch out for in the future. The rest of the cast, relatively unknown to an international audience also hold their own, even the kids, who will put you off having little ones for life. There really is something freakishly off putting about when a toddler sets about banging the crap out of a xylophone in the middle of the snow with a blank look on his face.

We're heading towards a positive review here, and deservedly so. It's possible one of the best horror films of the year, and I'm proud to say it is indeed British (the direction and script comes from WAZ helmer Tom Shankland - from a story by THE COTTAGE director Paul Andrew Williams). It's a little slow in getting to the juicy stuff, but in a month when its all tinsel, mince pies and guy in a big red suit, it's a bit of a rarity, so get on out there and give it a try. -- Paul Heath, November 2008

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