The Children

Insomnia Range

Icon Films

R4 DVD/ Blu Ray

Tom Shankland's British horror movie, The Children is a superb evocation of terror and suspense set within the world of family life. It is the sheer normality of the family world that Shankland’s creates that makes the violence of the later sections of the film so powerful.

It’s Christmas, the time for family and celebration. Elaine arrives at her sister’s large country home with all the family. The kids all seem to be overflowing with fun except for teen Casey who seems annoyed by it all and spends her time sulking. Since everyone is carried away with seasonal celebrations no one really takes notice of Elaine’s youngest becoming ill nor the fact that his illness seems to be having an influence on the other children.

At first the children all seem a little off-colour but then soon extends to aggressive mood swings, crying, yelling and screaming, Of course while this is disconcerting to the viewer it is hard to tell whether these symptoms are serious or just a mixture of over excitement. Slowly, however, things begin to become a bit more ominous. The children’s behaviour begins to take on a spiteful and violent turn and you realize that some sort of virus is transforming the children one by one. Every time a child vomits it changes from a normal, if hyperactive kid, is a murderous monster with no control on its instincts.

The cinematography is quite super using very simple images to protect a sense of dread. The transformation of the children is simply marked by dark rings under their eyes and a behavioural change. Shankland is able to take all manner of everyday objects such as toys and dolls and turn them into something else altogether. While most of us see snow as a beautiful and evocative image of Christmas, here winter becomes a sign of evil and death, the whiteness of the snow seems to represent the pale face of the grim reaper and the wind heralds another killing.

The deliberate lack of detail in the story helps intensify the horror. What exactly is the nature of the contagion? Why does it only infect the young? The fact that these questions are not answered and we have only get hints which are dropped along the way adds to the suspense and terror.

Certainly the intensity of the violence will shock. Children and adults attacking each other is always sensitive in film and the ferocity of some the scenes certainly has the desired effect. However the first does not dwell unnecessarily on the violence and really uses it sporadically to tell the tale. Sure scalps are torn off and a pencil driven into an eye and so on but these are not indulgent.

An interesting theme is the psychological deception within the familial environment. Even when it is clear that something has changed their children into murderous machines they refuse to accept the fact and even attack those who dare confront them with it. This is an unusual and compelling horror film, beautifully executed and highly suspenseful.

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