Children given over to the dark side has been a cyclical theme in the horror genre -- while many have told stories where possessed and/or psychotic pre-schoolers do terrible things, the subject requires a delicate touch (especially when pitted against the family-centric censors of the MPAA). Writer-director Tom Shankland, who turned what could have been another derivative "Saw" clone into something morally challenging and genuinely unsettling with "The Killing Gene," brings a similar sensibility to "The Children" -- a derivative yet effective shocker regarding a quartet of kids driven to murder by inexplicable forces. The film cobbles much of its thematic (and even technical) cues from the downbeat Spanish horror film "Who Can Kill a Child?" -- which dared to pose the morally provoking titular question to the viewer, as two newlyweds battled for survival on an island where children had inexplicably slaughtered all adults. Shankland transposes the locale from a sun-bathed European isle to an isolated English villa at Christmastime, where the adults engage in drink and mild debauchery, while four children are stricken with a sickness that gradually descends into homicides that appear (intially, at least) to be accidents. While "The Children" derives much of its effect from the desperation of its location, the suspense is built with delicate skill -- encapsulating the horror of the situation as it spirals further out of control, leading to a conclusion that chokes our hearts right as they are beating hardest. While "The Children" may not be the most creative attempt to mine terror from tots, Shankland's writing and direction turns it into an above-average fear-inducing machine.
6.5 out of 10
6.5 out of 10