Here’s the plot: “Revolves around Jess, a beautiful blind college girl who is tormented by a methodical killer who knows her well, and therefore knows what terrifies her. He is motivated by sadistic revenge, but she turns her apparent weakness into a strength and fights back.”

The Film:

The horror genre will take anything seemingly innocent, and turn it into evil, so it should come as no surprise that some filmmakers have used children as the forces of evil. Evil kids or bad seeds, if you will, have given us some spooky stories to make us weary of those little bastards, but most filmmakers really don’t push this idea. In Tom Shankland’s The Children, he falls victim to that notion.

A lot of praise has descended upon the film, and I’m curious as to why. Certainly, Shankland is a smart director, having a gifted eye for composition, and understanding that the set-up is crucial to the success of a film. There are many beautiful shots, and some well staged ones. One of the hardest things to do is to take something that is viewed as “good”, and make it evil, and evil enough to chill us. Shankland does a splendid job of framing scenes with certain angles and with the help of lighting, takes these innocent kids, and infuses evil into them. That’s tough to do, especially since he never really messes with their appearance.

Where the film stumbles is in the follow through. Everything is set up nicely, but the parents seem helplessly weak against the attacking kids. They also make numerous dumbfounded decisions, enough to irritate you. It’s frustrating because Shankland almost has the balls to do what most filmmakers or studios would not allow: violence on children. We hear enough about terrible tragedies on the nightly news, and I do not support violent acts on children, but it was a pleasant surprise to see at certain times the parents maiming the attacking kids. Logically, yes, one would defend themselves against any attackers, either man, woman, or child, so at least he allowed some realism in the film.

But back to the characters, and even with my gripes on their decision making at times, you don’t really like any of them. They’re kind of schmucks. Shankland presents us with two families, each with their own ideologies on how to raise their kids. One set is passive, the other, while not aggressive by any means, corrects them if they get out of hand. This will include a spanking or two. He has, like I’ve said a few times, a good set-up, but it all falls through his hands like sand. The duality of their child raising perscpectives should lead to a huge coin flip of what to do with these evil kids (that origin of why they’re evil is never explained either). The bicker a lot, and point fingers, but never realize the most obvious reason of the terror? Hmm.It all kind of leads up to nothing much, sadly, because there were some intriguing elements in The Children that needed to be carried out a bit farther. Even with some rare violence on children, Shankland still didn’t have the gumption to go where the idea needed to go. More violence? No, he just needed to polish up some ideas.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Lionsgate releases this film in the Ghost House Underground (Raimi studio) with a fine looking 1080p transfer that is quite nice. While there is some softness, details are mostly high, colors pop out at you, and it all leads to a decent high def experience. As like many horror films, we’re treated to a really nice DTS track that packs the appropriate bass punch, as well as an overall nice surround activity.

All extras are in standard definition.

Making of The Children: This is a bit different than most making of featurettes, as the director and the crew discuss their set-up for an upcoming scene in interviews, followed by the filming footage. It acts as an almost how-to guide, so tech heads might like this more, as casual viewers might want to skip.

Working with the Children: They say working with kid actors and animals are the two toughest things to do, but it all seems find here as this piece talks to the little people on their involvement.

Shooting on Location: This short piece has Shankland talking about why he chose a certain location, and we meet the family who owns the house in which they filmed in. It’s okay, but nothing substantial.

Deleted Scenes: A couple of interesting scenes left out of the film, but even if they were reinserted, I would still have issues with the overall film like I did. The first one is pretty good, though.

Paul Hyett talks Prosthetics: The make-up FX guy talks about the various bits of violence.

Snow Set Design: The film needed snow, and this piece shows how they brought in snow for the film’s shoot. Kind of cool, really.

On set Lair: Shankland had a private little cottage, and he tours it for us, showing us plans for the film, and art.

Trailers round out the extras.

Conclusion: The Children isn’t quite the ultimate bad seed film, but it with it’s flaws, it’s okay at best. Lionsgate gives it a solid Blu-ray, though, making it an easy rental.

The Film: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Time flies when you are watching movies-a lot of movies, and 2009 has already reached its halfway point. Here at Killer Film, we try to catch as much of the films being released as possible, and we would like to present our 2009 Mid Year Report. Keep it mind, this is only what we have seen, and we can safely say we wish we’ve seen more, but we do still have the second half of the year to catch up. Without further ado, here’s our take of 2009 so far.

Quick Thoughts on the Year so far…

Donny: While I love horror, drama, documentary, and every other genre of film out there, my favorite by far is comedy.  In my opinion there is nothing better than watching good joke unfold on screen, but on the other hand if said joke doesn’t work (Year One) then my beloved genre falls flat on its face.  Luckily, this year we’ve had some amazing comedies grace us with their undeniable funny.  So far my favorites include; The Hangover, Adventureland, I Love You, Man, and the awesome direct to DVD 18 Year Old Virgin.  I’m also looking forward to Funny People and I want to see mega-hottie Megan Fox in Jennifer’s Body.  Lets hope the rest of the year offers up the good to make this year more than mediocre.  

Jon: I think so far, it’s been a decent year as of July 1st. A few select films are really worth seeing, others are okay. I suspect the rest of the year will have great documentaries, as I haven’t seen much so far released this year. I have enjoyed seeing studios taking chances on unique films like Watchmen, Observe and Report, and The Hangover, and that’s refreshing. 3-D films have been big and constantly pushed, a trend we will see more of. For the most part, 2009 started off slow, for me, and is just now picking up. See you all at the end of the year!

Serena: Being a huge horror aficionada, I was disappointed by the initial lackluster horror films slashing their way to the big screen, but I was quite surprised by how exceptionally well done the mainstream horror fare was this year. I also was blown away by some hidden gems like Pontypool, Dead Snow and The Children (my fave film of 2009 so far) that all reminded us why foreign films are owning the horror genre these days.  However, most of the big budget anticipated action films of 2009 have all left a bad taste in this reviewer’s mouth.  So far 2009’s films are a far cry from last year’s jam-packed list, but I’m looking forward to being entertained by Jake West’s Doghouse, Diablo Cody’s anticipated horror follow-up, Jennifer’s Body and to see how Juno is going to react to being left for dead in a cave in The Descent 2. 

Now, to the good stuff….

Best Films

Donny: The Hangover, I Love You, Man, Adventureland , Che

Jon: Pixar’s Up, Goodbye Solo, and Che

Serena: The Children,  Pontypool, The Last House on the Left, Drag me to Hell

Worst Films

Donny: Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Bride Wars, Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li

Jon: Pink Panther 2, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li

Serena: Bride Wars, Obsessed and Transformers 2 (sorry Donny! )

One Honorable Mention Pick

Donny: Downloading Nancy

Jon: The Girlfriend Experience 

Serena:  Downloading Nancy

Best Comedy

Donny: I Love You, Man

Jon: I Love You, Man

Serena: I Love You, Man

Best Horror:

Donny: Drag Me to Hell

Jon: Drag Me to Hell

Serena: The Children

Best Limited Release/Direct-to-DVD

Donny: 18 Year Old Virgin

Jon: Medicine for Melancholy

Serena: Pontypool

Best Direct-to-DVD Horror Film

Donny: Laid to Rest

Jon: Laid to Rest

Serena: Acolytes

Best 2008 Film Seen in 2009

Donny: How to Alienate People and Lose Friends

Jon: Waltz with Bashir

Serena: How to Alienate People and Lose Friends

One Film We Regrettably Missed 

Donny: Pontypool

Jon: Hunger

Serena: Adventureland

One Film We are Glad We Missed

Donny: Dance Flick

Jon: Dance Flick 

Serena: The Unborn

Well, we said ours, so what are yours? Tell us in the forums, comment below, or email us at donny@killerfilm.com and jon@killerfilm.com . Keep it here at Killer Film for more reviews, features, interviews, and news, and see you at the movies!