CINEMA: The Children

It seems our appetite for horror movies hasn’t been sated yet and here’s another slice of grisly ghastliness set, aptly enough, at snowy Christmas time.

When Elaine (Eva Birthistle) and Jonah (Stephen Campbell-Moore) with daughter Casey (Hannah Tointon) and autistic son Paulie (William Howes) go to visit Elaine’s family over the holidays everyone is expecting a jolly time. Being in a large house in the countryside the party sets out to build snowmen, have a few drinks and generally enjoy the festive season. But within hours of arriving the children start to behave bizarrely and as the visit progresses it turns into an ‘us and them’ fight for survival with no clear winner in sight. In fact, a lack of clarity engulfs the whole film with no real reasons given for what happens, except for a rather implausible kind of sub-plot towards the end.

Although the film is well shot and there’s sufficient quantities of blood and guts, the action becomes ever more frenetic and incredible and you’ll find yourself asking why, exactly, do all the adults seem to be reacting to events in slow motion and why none of them can take control. There’s also a rather ambiguous ending that stretches the audience’s belief even further. Director Tom Shankland made the infinitely superior Waz, so let’s hope he returns to form with his next outing.      Dee Pilgrim