meddlecore Goddamn, is this film ever creepy as f*ck.Ever thought about killing your kids when they p*ss you off? Well, what if they were trying to murder you, and you had no other choice? I actually hated this little low budget horror-thriller, from the UK, at first. Because the first half is so saturated with the incessant screaming of pre-pubescent little bastards, that it is beyond annoying.However, that is done with intention, as to put you on edge (and I'm sure this is much more effective with people who are actual parents...although parents might be endowed with a certain tolerance, from their years of exposure, that I lack).Either way, by the end, it had completely won me over with it's overt creepiness, realistic gore, and general atmosphere of tension.It starts off with a couple families of best friends getting together to spend the Christmas holidays together.Everything starts off relatively banal, until the children contract an illness while playing out in the woods- when things start to take a darker turn.Tantrums, and what could be attributed to an accidental death...quickly develop into full fledged murder...What the children lack in stature and strength; they make up for with wit and utter remorselessness.Leaving what ensues, one of the most realistic, and plausible, sequence of events that you can expect to find in a gory tension filled slasher.The end is eerily similar to that of Vinyan, which was also released in 2008, and would qualify as being part of the same oeuvre.Making this, not wholly original, but really quite effective.Notable, particularly, for it's realism...it is definitely worth a watch!!! 7 out of 10.

redrobin62-321-207311 This is, without a doubt, one of the worst movies ever. It is so far from believable it may as well had been a movie about Pigs In Space. Hell, that would've been more fun than this asinine garbage.The adults in this waste-of-time film are the weakest, most soulless, ball-less wonders under the sun. They were so pathetic you want the children to hurry up and kill them to put us out of our misery. I can't think which was worse, this or 'The Good Son'. Both films belong in a landfill anyway so I guess it doesn't matter.I was so angry at the acting and writing in this film that I wanted to reach my hand into the screen, grab the writer/director by the throat and scream, "Apply at McDonald's! They're always hiring!" The makers of this film really never went out of their way to show how dangerous these kids were. Things just happened and you never saw the children actually doing them. You did see the aftermath, though.The most ridiculous element of this film was the ambulance and police. They never came even after hours transpired. Where were they? Where was the movie set? Antarctica? We know it wasn't snowing heavily because if the adults could drive away from the house, emergency vehicles could approach the house. This movie was so riddled with clichés I could've spliced it together with scenes from other movies and no one would notice the difference.Stay Far Away From This Turd. Save yourself some trouble and go walking the dog instead.

Paul Magne Haakonsen From the many good reviews and great praises this movie had gotten, then I had my expectation up high. But I must say that the movie failed to live up to those expectations. While the premises were quite interesting and the movie did offer some unique things, it just didn't push the right buttons for me.The story is about two families away together on a countryside vacation. And what starts as an idyllic vacation with snow and fun suddenly turns into a fight for their lives as their children mysteriously turn ill and start attacking the adults.Personally I found the no description of what caused the children to go berserk an interesting thing, because it keeps the audience in the dark and guessing. But I could also see how it would be a cause of frustration to some.And the fact that it is children who kill and also gets killed is something rarely seen in movies. So director Tom Shankland deserves a thumbs up for breaking the norm and going into taboo land.There were some good enough death scenes and a bit of blood and gore too. And again the director dares to show stuff that goes past what is commonly seen in movies.However, there was just something missing from the movie in order for it to really captivate me. I don't know what it was, but it just lacked that special ingredient.

jerry07 Whoa! How can a movie be so messed up in its script is out of my range of understanding. The theme and idea starts well and with real potential: virus gets children turn into killer maniacs, there is real promises for suspense with the slide scene, we easily imagine parallel plots with a post-teen character and a child who does not seem affected at first.But this is really all there is: hopes for a good horror movie. The script is otherwise below poor and the dialog non-existent. At times, you have this strange feeling of dialogs that make no sense just for the sake of filling the time (are those dinner conversation making any sense or just fillers?). This is a real problem as dialog helps building characters and in "The Children", the characters are simply not developed at all. As a consequence, very hard to empathizes with them hence, feel sorry about their death. Isn't this though the quintessence of horror movies? Build characters you either love and hate and slash them throughout (save one)? Beyond this major horror movie flaw, the character's actions also make no sense: succumbing to hysteria on the first kill, follow-up actions by the adults are illogical and unexpected. Did I miss a plot here: adult become dumb and all hysterical? Unfortunately, there is not even any hopes for that and the whole development fall short of any real suspense, empathy, true horror scene moments that make you jump or hold to your chair and no hope for a climax.Well, I had hopes seeing the rating and if you want to forge your own opinion go ahead but you have been warned.