THE CHILDREN (2008)


Starring:
Eva Birthistle, Stephen Campbell Moore & Jeremy Sheffield
Directed by: Tom Shankland
Written by: Tom Shankland & Paul Andrew Williams
Rated: R
Running Time: 1hr 24mins

Fantasia Film FestivalTom Shankland & Paul Andrew Williams

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

“I’ve always loved films like DON’T LOOK NOW, THE INNOCENTS and THE OMEN. There is something so terrifying about the idea that an innocent child might actually be evil. Our culture seems to depend on the idea that kids are innocent, so when you turn that belief on its head, the audience are automatically unsettled. Co-Writer/Director – Tom Shankland – Cineuropa.org

Since the release of Mervyn LeRoy’s classic 1956 film THE BAD SEED, killer kids have become a prominent staple in horror cinema. Notable examples include VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (released just four years later), THE OMEN (a personal favorite), CHILDREN OF THE CORN, THE BROOD and THE GOOD SON (which stars Macaulay Culkin from HOME ALONE fame as the malevolent adolescent). Many of these films not only became regarded as classics but also garnered a dedicated cult following. One film that fits into this category but has remained under the radar for far too long is the 2008 Ghost House Underground release, THE CHILDREN (not to be confused with the 1980 film of the same name). It’s an intense and often disturbing horror film that succeeds mainly because of the chilling performances given by the child actors at the story’s center. It’s the perfect choice for when you’re in the mood for an unsettling movie-watching experience that delivers more than its share of creepy moments.

The film, written and directed by Tom Shankland and based on a story by Paul Andrew Williams, unfolds during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. It begins as Elaine and her husband, Jonah, take their children to visit Elaine’s sister, Chloe, and her family at their isolated home nestled deep in the woods. Upon arrival, one of the children, Paulie, appears to have come down with a virus. He throws up after getting out of the car, only to have his mother dismiss it as carsickness. As the family settles in, everything seems pretty normal—typical family vacation stuff, with adults catching up and children playing in the snow. However, an unsettling atmosphere quickly begins to take hold. The children’s behavior grows increasingly odd as their actions hint at something more sinister, quickly spiraling into violence when the youngsters, seemingly under a dark and mysterious influence, become the driving force behind the terror.

With a tight eighty-four-minute runtime, Shankland’s expertly crafted script still takes its time to introduce and familiarize the audience with the characters. By doing away with the typical time-consuming exposition that many movies use to provide information about who everyone is, Shankland employs a more organic style of dialogue. He brings the group together and gives them seemingly random topics to discuss while still sprinkling in small facts to help the audience understand who each person is.

The script leans heavily into the theme of a parent’s responsibility as protectors of their children. However, Shankland flips this dynamic on its head, making the children the danger from which the adults must now themselves be protected from. As the story progresses and events spiral out of control, the parents struggle to acknowledge the horrifying reality, with denial playing a key role. After all, who wants to believe their own child could be capable of becoming a dangerous killer? The script effectively manipulates the situation to make some of what is happening seem accidental while keeping certain adults away from the incidents that would become undeniable if witnessed. Casey, who is at least 16 or 17, seems to be the only child unaffected by the virus, although we never really know why because Shankland has decided not to over-explain things, leaving a lot of what’s going on a mystery, something that effectively adds to the movie’s overall tension, and plays into the ambiguous ending that gives the film it’s nearly perfect closing moments. 

Right from the film’s opening moments, a strong sense of isolation is felt. In the opening credit sequence, Shankland immerses the viewer in dark shots of the dense woods and blends them with the eerie sounds of wildlife that echo along the desolate road leading to Chloe’s house. Shankland and cinematographer Nanu Segal masterfully create a chilling atmosphere despite most of the movie taking place in broad daylight rather than under the shadows created by night. Segal’s striking visuals, paired with Stephen Hilton’s eerie score and Tim Murrel’s deliberately slow-paced editing, which occasionally erupts into chaotic, frantic cuts to heighten the confusion of the more unsettling moments, work well together and will keep the viewer on the edge of their seat, anticipating the next unnerving moment. Even in an innocent scene like the one where the kids are outside playing in the snow for the first time, the filmmakers utilize these three filmmaking tools in order to give even the most harmless of scenes an undertone of creepiness.

The adult actors are all very strong, but the real key to the film’s success largely stems from Shankman’s casting and directing choices regarding the child performers, all of whom seem to be between the ages of four and 10. Let‘s face it: in a film like this, if the child actors don’t come through effectively (as we have seen many times before), the film will not work. It helps that Shankman never seems to underestimate their talent and allows them to act like children when needed while also trusting them to deliver on the more creepy moments. Because the kids aren’t possessed by a demonic force, nor are they turned into emotionless zombies, but instead are inflicted with a nasty virus, there is little change in their physical appearance, and their behavior is still revealed through genuine human emotions. One particularly terrifying scene features two of the children, played by Rafiella Brooks and Jake Hathaway, slowly ascending a staircase toward their helpless victim. Their eerie yet very real stares, mixed with the masterful facial makeup crafted by Shankman’s makeup design team, create one of the film’s most haunting images.

The standout performance among the youngsters comes from Eva Sayer. At around nine or ten years old, she successfully portrays the wide range of emotions needed to make Maranda one of the most unsettling child characters ever presented on the silver screen. Initially, she effectively plays Maranda as a bratty younger sister to Casey, always trying to get her into trouble in the way that little sisters do. Then, as the film progresses, her behavior changes as she seems to be the last of the children to be affected, and her fear of the other children seems evident even when the adults don’t seem to notice what is happening. She tells her aunt, “I don’t want to be here… They’re being funny. I don’t like them.” However, it’s when her character eventually becomes evil that Sayer truly shines. Maranda convincingly manipulates the adults with a sweet yet deceitful demeanor, particularly fooling Jonah into believing she’s a victim and Casey is actually the one behind everything happening. Then, in an instant, she swiftly transforms into the most menacing of the kids when needed. Sayer portrays the emotions of innocence and evil perfectly and the film wouldn’t be as effective without her. Just by looking into her eyes, the viewer can see into her soul as the wheels of her brain are turning as she thinks about how to manipulate the situation. There is one especially bone-chilling moment involving Maranda and a splint (you’ll know it when you see it), which is, in my opinion, one of the creepiest moments I have ever seen in a film like this.

Hannah Tointon also delivers a compelling performance as Casey, an older teenager who embodies the rebellious spirit common with teens. Uninterested in spending the weekend isolated with her family, she longs to join her friends at a party instead. Her strained relationship with her stepfather, Jonah, which has been an issue for a long time, becomes central when things begin to go wrong. It doesn’t help that Maranda is actually Jonah’s child and he treats her like his little princess, blind to the fact that she can do anything wrong. After a disturbing encounter with two of Chloe’s children, Casey tries to warn the adults about how dangerous the youngsters are, but they dismiss her concerns as unbelievable. Chloe’s denial of her children’s dangerous behavior, combined with years of unresolved tension with her stepdad, leaves them both in disbelief and even seeing Casey as the one responsible for the chaos. Tointon effectively portrays Casey’s growing desperation as she fights to convince the adults of the truth. In one of Shankland’s best writing decisions, Casey’s fate is left ambiguous at the film’s end as we are forced to question why she wasn’t affected by the virus, with Tointon’s pitch-perfect performance giving the viewers something to discuss long after the credits roll.

THE CHILDREN is a low-budget film that maximizes its limited resources by confining the action to a single location. The challenge for director Tom Shankland was to find creative and clever ways to keep the story engaging while staying ahead of the audience and maintaining suspense throughout and he succeeds in delivering a horror film that deserves a spot on everyone’s must-see list.

 

Watch THE CHILDREN (2008)

You May Also Like

Share with Friends
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x