A family vacationing in the English countryside discovers that a virus has turned their children into evil creatures.
| Title | Children |
| Directed By | Tom Shankland |
| Label | Lions Gate |
| MPAA Rating | R (Restricted) |
| Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 |
| Format |
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| Original Release Date | 2008-01-01 |
| Brand | Lions Gate |
| Studio | Lions Gate |
| Starring | Eva Birthistle,Stephen Campbell Moore,Jeremy Sheffield,Rachel Shelley,Hannah Tointon |
| Running Time | 84 minutes |
| Release Date | 2009-10-06 |
| Manufacturer | Lions Gate |
| Publisher | Lions Gate |
| Region Code | 1 |
| Theatrical Release Date | 2008 |
| UPC | 031398109105 |
| EAN | 0031398109105 |
| Number Of Discs | 1 |
| MPN | 031398109105 |
| Creator |
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Review by Touch of Class, 2010-07-02
When viewing a horror film I like to put myself in the place of the main Characters for that "what if" feeling. The Children to me was very well made and super creepy! Celebrating the Holidays Two Sisters and their Husbands along with their Children gather together. It is not long before we discover...Something is wrong with the Children. Good special effects and decent acting make this worth watching. I have enjoyed some, not all, of the Ghost House Films. This one is a keeper I must say. To give you an idea of my taste I recently enjoyed: The Crazies, Eden Lake Etc. The Children is very entertaining and not super fast paced but enough to keep you interested. Thanks for reading :)
Review by Frederick Pangborn, 2010-03-20
This movie could of had potential but, instead it flops! I actually liked the cheap original version from the 80's better! By the time this movie begins to pick up and the parents are being killed off, your already a 1/3 through the movie and the killing that's done is done off the camera! They leave it to your imagination! Borrrring! Check out the original movie before you watch this crappy re-make!
Review by Stan C, 2010-03-19
I doubt I will watch another movie from Ghost House. This was slow, acting was bad, and you had to guess sometimes as to what was happening. What a disapointment.
Review by Michael P. Dobey, 2010-02-11
This dvd is has a excellent print of the children. It's a decent horror movie that is creepy and low budget. The gore effects are quite good though. I don't agree at all that this is a terrible movie. In fact it's a quite horrible idea that your kids would kill you at that age. And this explains how parents would be easy prey for killer kids. They wouldn't believe it till it was too late. The acting is quite decent and this british film has nothing to be ashamed about. It's hard for me to rate a decent horror movie badly when it's low budget. What do viewers expect when they buy low budget horror? Masterpieces of cinema? A few become that but to be fair how many A movies are bad and they have lots of money? The violence when it comes is pretty graphic and this movie is not for children. It takes about half the movie for the violence to start but who cares? Movies tell a story and not every horror movie can be fast moving action fests. Those are fine too; but movies are NOT video games and I don't expect insant gratification from them. So for me I enjoyed this movie and was creeped out by it quite nicely. I just wish the other movie of the same name the 1980 cult hit 'the children' was on a dvd with this nice a print. That one is pure low budget cult flick heaven.
Review by Eric Sanberg, 2010-02-04
I would really give this 3 1/2 stars but I can't seem to figure out how to do that. Anyway....I like a good horror flick as much as the next person so this one got reviews good enough to deem it at least watchable. I popped that baby into the DVD player and I was very satisfied.
A couple and their kids (one being a teenager) go to visit friends way out in the English countryside during the Christmas/New Year's holiday. Things start off well enough but one and then more of the younger children seem to start getting sick. It's not obvious right away but as the illness progresses and spreads the kids start getting more uncontrollable, and what, at first glance, seems to be accidents happening in their presence turns into outright hostility and killing.
This movie was shot very well. The serenity of the setting was well juxtaposed with the craziness of the escalating storyline. It was directed well enough. I suppose my main concern was not knowing the subtext. What was the director trying to say? There were some vague references to abortion, Chinese viruses/ medicine and the different way the two families chose to raise their kids and run their households. This was exacerbated by the fact I couldn't make out some of the dialogue. I have a very good surround system and either the movie's sound wasn't mixed well or I simply couldn't work the British accents. But one way or the other some important things got past me.
What IS good is the way the movie escalates. I'm sure most of us know how unnerving it can be when you have a group of young kids running around, screaming and crying. This goes right to the bones of a lot of people. Now add to that some horrible accidents happening and the resulting confusion about what is actually going on. Add to that the cold, isolation and seemingly innocence of the children and the dial on the creepiness factor climbs way up.
This isn't a great movie I suppose but overall it achieves the desired effect. If you like to be creeped out this is a good way to spend your time.
