The Children DVD Review

The Children (2008)

Yet another great little British horror movie, with more scares per minute than most Hollywood product have in their entire running time. Unlike the previously reviewed Isolation, this revolves around a situation so mundane, it gives an added frission once events start spiraling out of control. Basically two upper middle class( and because of it, slightly annoying in their perfectly contented lives, although still realistic), sisters, with their husbands and children gather for a Christmas holiday, in an idyllic but seculded, snow covered country house. Things start small with the usual family disagreements. The eldest child, and heroine to an extent, is Casey, the teenager who’d rather be at a party with friends than here playing happy families and babysitting. Hannah Tointon gives her a great believability, swinging from selfishness and burgeoning sexuality- (that skirt can’t get much shorter, and her tattoo is a secret kept from her parents), to a mother defending fighter when the chips are down. Also her mother still calling her Mouse, shows she’s not so long from childhood herself, a point brought home in the chillingly open ending. The other children start getting sick starting with the youngest- they range from about six to ten in age, from some unseen virus. Cleverly this echoes one of the mother’s fears about illness, and the other husband’s get rich scheme about shipping Chinese medicine. The director also plays on audience expectations that it’s actually difficult to tell when a child turns psychotic, as any family is an environment of controlled chaos, with potential ( and some life-threatening), accidents lurking around every corner. There are many subtle touches among the later carnage, such as the children playing with, and later hanging up the cat’s collar in their camp- an uneasy sign that they have slipped into psychosis. Once in full swing, this also contains several scenes of child death ( normally through self-defense by adults), that you could never see this being green-lit in America, where this is taboo territory above all else. Although it is not gloated about, but handled in the matter of fact way of survival, of not just the fittest, but the most vicious and sneaky. This is worsened by the children still acting as though they’re only playing games. The ending, with the appearance of all of the other (neighborhood?) children in the woods, may be unrealistic, but then again, does explain why the emergency services haven’t turned up. This could be a nationwide pandemic, or even a localized outbreak, and perhaps a 28 weeks later expanded scope sequel is needed. 9/10