Sunday, June 14, 2009 -- Tom Shankland's "The Children" (2008)

G’day mates---you are cordially invited to a screening of the latest cinematic addition to the ever fruitful horror subgenre, the creepy child movie, and thus aptly named, The Children (2008). Chances are, you’ve already seen a creepy child movie. From The Bad Seed (1956), Village of the Damned (1960)--and its enjoyable John Carpenter remake from 1995, The Shining (1980), Who Could Kill A Child? (1976), The Omen (1976), The Good Son (1993) , Stir of Echoes (1999), The Ring (2002), Joshua (2007), Vinyan (2008), and Orphan (2009), there’s a plethora of themes to mine the depths of. (And with the exception of the unreleased Orphan, I love each of the above films as if they were my own darling children). This recent British addition, from director Tom Shankland (whose previous horror feature W Delta Z was released on DVD in this country as The Killing Gene, 2007), was not granted distribution on this side of the globe, but, his native country has already released it on DVD, and thankfully, voracious followers of film, like myself and my buddy Erik, have made it possible for a few of us in the Americas to experience the joy of creepy children.

The Children concerns a group of heternormative familial units, and, set during a Christmas holiday retreat, the children suddenly turn on their parents. Sounds like oogy fun, right? I’m sure I will make a fun snack to accompany our guilty pleasure (fallopian tube noodles sounds apropos). Showtime is 8:00 PM Sunday. Venue is at Erik’s, contact me for details. Running time is 81 minutes.