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The Children (2008)

R  |   |  Horror, Mystery, Thriller  |  5 December 2008 (UK)
6.0
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Ratings: 6.0/10 from 13,524 users  
Reviews: 115 user | 132 critic

A relaxing Christmas vacation turns into a terrifying fight for survival as the children begin to turn on their parents.

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
Elaine
...
Jonah
...
Robbie
...
Chloe
...
Rafiella Brooks ...
Jake Hathaway ...
William Howes ...
Eva Sayer ...
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Storyline

Elaine and Jonah and their teenage daughter and young son and daughter, come to spend New Year with her sister Chloe and husband Robbie and their two young children at their isolated country home. One by one the children, after apparently being sick, become increasingly malevolent. Written by don @ minifie-1

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

You brought them into this world. Now ... They will take you out.


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing bloody violent content, terror, language and brief drug use | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Official Sites:

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

5 December 2008 (UK)  »

Also Known As:

As Crianças  »

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£98,205 (UK) (5 December 2008)

Gross:

£199,259 (UK) (12 December 2008)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Casey's tattoo is the cover art of the album "Agaetis byrjun" of the Icelandic band Sigur Rós. See more »

Goofs

When we see Casey smashing at the bedroom door it constantly rattles and shakes madly, but when we switch scenes to the other side of the door, with Elaine leaning on it, the door is not moving at all. See more »

Quotes

Miranda: Bye-bye Mummy.
Elaine: What?
Miranda: Be nice to Leah and Nicky
[grabs her leg splints]
Miranda: .
See more »

Connections

Featured in The Making of 'The Children' (2009) See more »

Soundtracks

Background Radiation
Written by S. Reid / S. Alexander / C. Roberts / D. Warwick
Performed by Amino
Published by Spit Publishing UK limited
Courtesy of Spit Kingdom Records Limited
See more »

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User Reviews

 
Did you ever hear of contraception?
20 March 2012 | by (United Kingdom) – See all my reviews

The Children is directed by Tom Shankland who adapts the screenplay from a Paul Andrew Williams story. It stars Eva Birthistle, Stephen Campbell, Hannah Tointon, Eva Sayer, William Howes, Rachel Shelley and Jeremy Sheffield. 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? There's a nasty edge to Shankland's little shocker, and we are not just talking about creepy kids offing adults here. Although lifting freely from classic evil-children horrors from the past, The Children manages to remain fresh by playing on the aspect of the parents' refusal to accept that their cherubic offspring could do evil. Even when faced with blatant malevolence, the adults struggle to fight back. I mean, could you drop-kick your own child down the stairs? 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. Shankland shows a good sense of mood and pacing, drip-feeding the unease and never getting carried away with the premise. His closeup camera-work has an unsettling quality to it, while the deaths are inventive and mercifully not over done, the editing neatly giving us the viewers the chance to fill in the blanks. Some of the adult actors irritate rather than gain our belief, and the odd "dumb" reaction to a situation rears its ugly head. But mostly this is a thoughtful and spicy Brit horror that's worth seeking out by those after more than your rank and file slasher movie. 7/10


9 of 9 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
90 minutes I'll never get back euronick61
Was Casey infected at the end then? balgeorge
A couple of things: The fate of the cat + what was Miranda doing? theimdbdilrod
Call me stupid but.... withinthedusk
An Opinion from Open-Minded American Zw4nzig
Major plot holes can ruin a film. princessofquake
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