Talk us through itElaine, her partner Jonah, their teenage daughter Casey, and their two younger children Miranda and Paulie are heading into the remote wilds of England to spend New Year with Elaine's sister Chloe, her husband Robbie, and their two children Leah and Nicky. Phew thankfully that's the whole cast list in one sentence. We're talking quite a picturesque New Years what with the house being well off the beaten track, surrounded by forest on all sides, and the weather distinctly on the snowing side of the equation. Anyone else's horroradar immediately start blipping out a warning? The only blemish to the weekend is Paulie who appears to have picked up a virus that makes him quiet and prone to throwing up. Oh and Casey of course is a rebellious teen who doesn't what to spend her New Years with her family. Paulie starts to show some marked anti-social if not psychopathic tendencies and when the rest of the children start falling ill the audience isn't expecting the best. With rising tensions amongst the Adults as to child raising techniques it's up to Casey to try and convince the self centered Adults that something isn't right with their offspring. There's going to be some fireworks of the unexpected kind this holiday weekend!
Review“Did you ever hear of contraception?” - CaseyDirector/Writer Tom Shankland is taking a hell of a risk with The Children. Besides the by now horror trope of demonic and thoroughly evil children running a muck there's always the danger that he might get it slightly wrong and have the mainstream coming at him with all the spite they can master. You have to seriously know what you are about to put children in harms way in a movie, especially a horror movie, get it even slightly wrong and you will have picket lines outside the cinema. Considering Shankland isn't exactly a renowned horror Director there's a real feeling in this Indie film that he rolled the dice and went with a concept of what he could achieve rather than a more traditional horror approach. So how did the Director do in the face of a rising tide of Boredwood “evil children” flicks? Firstly I guess I should mention The Children is very much a Brit movie dripping in that Country's traditions of horror and what can be achieved with the simplest of effects. Shankland never explains the why of the situation, it's a virus but what caused it? - and respects his audience enough to allow a lot of latitude as to interpretation. A thinking person's horror movie perhaps. Equally we are not sure if the rising tide of terror is a local phenomenon or more widely spread. For sure Paulie has arrived sick, with what we assume is the causation for events about to unfold, and the other children quickly develop symptoma from our patient zero, but Shankland doesn't go for the standard television giving us an insight as to what might be happening outside our microcosm. The authorities are taking a lot longer to arrive than expected and communications are pretty dodgy though this could be due to a “dead area” and nothing else. The horror is contained to our isolated house but there's a nagging idea that things might be going to hell in a hand basket in the outside world as well, talk about leaving room for a sequel. Naturally since Shankland, who is after all simply delving into a honey pot of ideas of what the dark genre should do, has come under attack for plot holes, half baked ideas, and of course for using children as the antagonists. Apparently they aren't scary enough in some quarters, try pendling that idea on Christmas morning, hung over, with sub-teens wanting their presents ... morning of the living dead folks. It should be noted however that most attacks on Shankland's movie originate in the U.S where currently horror is of the conveyor belt mentality with everything being explained to the Audience who are considered too dim to really understand a movie where things are left to self interpretation. Witness for example the final scene of The Descent being cut from the North American release, and the Boston Globe's self important Critic Jesse Singal holding forth with “a film with real depth and edge that horror audiences might hate” aimed at The Last Exorcism. The dark genre might be dumbed down in the U.S, land of the hamburger and comparatively low I.Qs, but here in the Commonwealth we'll take our horror with a heavy does of intellectualism. We don't need things explained to the nth degree thank you very much, throw it in our direction and we'll work it out. Drag Me To Hell might be viewed as the pinnacle of the dark art film movie wise in North America, down here audiences are more apt to burst into laughter and rip the ludicrous plot to shreds. Here I exclude the Raimi fanbois of course. Shankland has made a horror movie for a thinking Audience, there are no plot holes, the ideas arrive fully formed, and we have children as antagonists who make the kids in Children of the Corn look like members of the Mickey Mouse Club. Shankland follows the modern traditions of Neil Marshall in confronting the audience's expectations and redefining what a horror movie can achieve. It's sterling stuff and knocks the underpins of your horror expectations out before getting down to the gristle. What Shankland does have happening is the parental motivation working against his Adult protagonists. While mayhem is going down, due to the kids going Jason Voorhees on us, the Adults are concerned ironically about what might be happening to their children, something the kids use to their own advantage. There's a feeling that even when the brown stuff has well and truly splattered from the fan that the Adults are simply unable to cope with the idea that their little darlings might be picking up the nearest sharp implement and demonstrating their disappointment on the lack of expected Christmas present goodness in the most graphic of fashions. Casey, who exists somewhere between childhood and adulthood, knows something is very wrong but is unable to get the Adults around her to see the reality. It's your rose tinted glasses situation and Shankland nails this part of the movie, there's really no thought of getting out of Dodge for much of the movie as no one, besides Casey, recognises they are in Dodge! It's powerful stuff and so believable that the “ring of crystal”, as Stephen King put it, is like a church bell calling us to join Shankland's mass for another viewing of The Children. 
The Brit Director may not have a large budget but he's using what he's got to create a chilling atmosphere, and I'm not just talking the temperature here. We get some slick overhead shots, assume crane cam there, some kinetic editing to avoid prolonged gore scenes, you will believe you see more than you actually do, and some static angles that lifted the tension through the roof. Everything is built to either keep the atmosphere on the chilling side of the knife or to raise the tension levels another notch as you wonder who is going to survive this family get together. Shankland knows a thing or two about scare tactics, though why we needed those fast flashes past camera remains a mystery, and is applying as much mayhem as possible to get things rocking. You are never quite sure where everyone is and who might pop up just around the next corner. We're talking a Director who rings every ounce of tension out of an open doorway. What I particularly liked about Shankland's work here was the cut a ways to the background scenery that reinforced throughout the movie just how isolated the house is and the unlikelihood of external aid arriving in any shape or form. It's like Romero's Night of the Living Dead where a group of people are left to defend for themselves in a single location and then spend most of the time bickering amongst themselves rather than facing up to the clear and present danger. Please note The Children is in no way a zombie movie, we're talking more psychological carnage here. Shankland leaves his movie open ended, which of course allows for a sequel but which also leaves the individual viewer wondering what happened next. Was Casey succumbing to the virus or simply having a physical reaction to the carnage around her? What might be happening at the end of that driveway? I would be up for a sequel though one feels Shankland wont be involved as he has already made his defining statement with the movie we have just sat through. Guess a quick warning about the violence, we're not talking gorenography levels, but it's fairly well on the brutal side of the equation. The metal amongst other things is meeting the flesh and there's some shocking scenes coming at you that will stay in the memory long after the closing credits. I'm going to leave it there to avoid the dreaded spoilers, though it should be noted the children are not going to get out of this one fully intact either. I'm only going to talk about one actor in this movie, Hannah Tointon simply dominates as the teen take action chick Casey. It's a commanding performance that steals scenes left, right, and center leaving very little room for anyone else to shine. We are right behind Casey as she does her best to get the Adults to firstly believe what is happening and then tries like hell to get everyone safely through the situation. Hannah Tointon delivers a strong believable performance that should bring a smile to the faces of both Siqourney Weaver and Linda Hamilton. The price of admission is well worth paying for Tointon's work alone. Okay so sue me, I was so mesmerised by this movie that I didn't take any notice of the score. According to the imdb.com Stephen Hilton delivered the orchestral movements.
Summary ExecutionJust when you are wondering where your next horror fix is going to come from the Brits deliver yet another solid dark genre outing. I was held spell bound by The Children, was continually shocked at just how far Director/Writer Tom Shankland was prepared to go, and am left sweating on a sequel. I had an excellent time with the film and watched it a couple of times in a row to get all the nuances. There's a lot in this movie that isn't readily apparent on first viewing.Icon are releasing a jammed packed DVD of The Children to region four on 8th September, just after father's day ironically. The movie doesn't appear to have been given a cinema release in this Country, we tend to miss out on the solid adult horror and instead get the inane teen orientated crap from Boredwood, which is sad really as this one would have rocked on the big screen. Two thumbs up to the folks over at Icon regardless for bringing to us movies that we would normally have to import. Nice to see the local market getting some TLC on the dark genre front. If after a movie that breaks taboos, forces you to think about things, and that approaches the dark genre in an intelligent factor, then dial on into Tom Shankland's The Children. This movie is breath taking in it's sparseness, it's ability to get under your skin, and the share risk taking involved. It's play time, get into the sand pit for a devilishly good time. More fun than a tent fill of doll parts.
ScaryMinds Rates this movie as ... Tom Shankland delivers a winter chill that will freeze you to the core.
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