tomgillespie2002 Produced the year before the publication of Stephen King's short story Children of the Corn (which was subsequently made into a film in 1983), Who Can Kill a Child? is very similar in it's main idea. An English couple, Tom (Lewis Fiander), and his pregnant wife Evelyn (Prunella Ransome), arrive on a small island off of the mainland of Spain as tourists. On entering the small village, they find the place to be deserted. After some time searching for locals, they discover that the children have turned on the adult population, systematically killing all of them.During the opening credits of the film, a narrator describes - with the aid of documentary imagery - the many atrocities on humanity of the 20th century; from the concentration camps of world war 2, to the napalm bombing of Vietnam. In all of these, we are confronted with the very reality of the situations and the concept that within all of these inhumane acts, that children are the most innocent of victims. In a previous review (#106) for Devil Times Five (1975), I mentioned the 1970's trope for evil children. This is self evident within this narrative. As this concept was outlined within the context of American social change, I feel a slightly colloquial reading is needed for this Spanish film. In the 1960's and '70's, British tourism went further than it's usual boundaries of the UK. The gateways of Spain were flooded with these pale-skinned holiday-makers. Also, the children of this island are the last of Spanish dictator Franco's children. Franco died in 1975, meaning there was at last freedom, and Spaniards could move on from the devastation of the civil war. These children could represent the anger left by the atrocities of this period. They may well represent a new Spain which needs to move on; or the kids could be the remnants of Franco's ideas. But fundamentally, these kids want to destroy the adults that for years let themselves be dictated by a murdering president.The children of the film perpetuate (for me at least), the concept that they are intrinsically evil. Kids are f*****g monsters! The island children form a kind of collective psychic-psychosis, which can be projected onto other children; something that Evelyn finds out the hard way, as her unborn child kills her inside the womb after it has been possessed. After the island is rid of all adults, it would be time to move this psychic possession of children to the mainland. This is haunting stuff. The film is atmospheric, and has more tension than the film of Children of the Corn. It's a surprise that this film was forgotten. Chilling, disturbing: It also raises a fundamental question of morality: Who can kill a child? (as illustrated in the title used here - it is one of many other titles such as Island of Death, Death is Child's Play et al). Well, going back to the Brit-tourist invasion, it seems that an Englishman is the only kind that is capable of such a horrific act. Watch out Spain, the Brits are invading!www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Cristiano-A An out of date movie. A kind of mix between The Birds, The Village of the Damned and Verano Azul. However, a pleasant discovery. The director, Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, created a famous TV show (1,2,3) that appeared on television all along Europe. Becoming the children in our society an increasingly scarce good and becoming the same children more selfish each succeeding generation, we can expect that this cycle will tend to escalate in the future something we may also call the generational conflict, but that will have nothing in common with the conflicts that we had known in the past, because the dispute is no longer about values, as happened in May 68, but will be about the well-being of each of the generations estranged.

Paul Andrews Who Can Kill a Child? starts in Spain where British couple Tom (Lewis Flander) & his pregnant wife Evelyn (Prunella Ransome) are on holiday, however with a recent spate of dead bodies being found washed up on the beach & the noisy fiesta fireworks every night Evelyn says she wants some peace & quiet. The couple decide to visit a small island named Almanzora that Tom know's, with a small population of about a hundred people & some beautiful scenery the tranquil Spanish island seems ideal. Tom & Evelyn set out by boat & reach Almanzora but are surprised to find the village almost completely deserted, apart from some random children running & playing in the streets there doesn't seem to be any adults or sign of life anywhere. The true horror of what Tom & Evelyn have stumbled upon becomes clear whey they witness a young girl beat an old man to death, they quickly discover that an unknown madness has turned all the children into killers...Also known under the titles Island of the Damned, Island of Death, Death is Child's Play, Trapped & Would You Kill a Child? the original title of this Spanish production was ¿Quién Puede Matar a un Niño? & it was written & directed by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador based on a Spanish novel called El Juego de los Niños by Juan José Plans, with a strong reputation that precedes it I was really looking forward to seeing Who Can Kill a Child? but now having seen it I feel nothing but disappointment. I keep seeing the words 'horror masterpiece' in comments & reviews but I just don't get the love for this, I really don't. At one hour & fifty two minutes long (uncut) it felt like it went on forever & it really dragged ion places, now I wouldn't mind a slow moving film if the story was engaging or interesting enough to maintain my attention & reward my patience but I never felt Who Can Kill a Child? did. The whole issue surrounding the killer children was left deliberately ambiguous which I didn't mind but why didn't the child attack & kill Tom & Evelyn straight away? Surely there is more than one way to get to the peer & the boats? While the basic question posed by the title is a disturbing & makes for a unsettling premise for a film I don't think Tom had to kill any of the children to escape. Also what happens when the children grow up & become adults? Is there like a cut off age? The day you turn eighteen you will be slaughtered but not before? To me the majority of the film felt like endless hots of a Spanish town without anyone there, the basic mystery element of what happened to the adults is there but it can only take the film so far & when that's all the film has in terms of actual plot I struggle to see how it can be called a masterpiece. Things pick up towards the end but once Evelyn's unborn baby in her womb kills her from the inside credibility starts to go out the window. Personally I don't think Who Can Kill a Child? has anything to say, I don't consider it intelligent or deep & for me it is what it is with no hidden message or profound meaning.While I wasn't impressed with the script & story I did like the look of Who Can Kill a Child? with it's nice Spanish locations, the photography is nice & captures the sun drench heat as well as the isolation quite well. It's certainly a handsome looking film. I suspect the only real horror meant here was purely the fact that children were behind what was going on, there's not much attempt to set up any set-pieces or have any big scares apart from the loudest & most annoying phone suddenly ringing at various points. There's not much blood or gore, an old man is hit with his walking cane & then strung up, a few children are shot & hit with wooden beams at the end but otherwise Who Can Kill a Child is pretty restrained. The opening sequence features about five minutes of real life war footage of children getting caught up in the atrocities & the suffering they endure. I'm not sure why it's there really but it's easily the most horrific & disturbing part of the film.Filmed in Spain the soundtrack is split between Tom & Evelyn who speak English & everyone else who speaks Spanish, it does get quite annoying actually. The scenery is nice & it looks different to most horror films out there but I just didn't enjoy the film overall. The acting is alright, apparently director Narciso Ibáñez Serrador wanted Anthony Hopkins to play the lead of Tom.Who Can Kill a Child? is a film that I have actually wanted to track down & see for years having seen all the glowing reviews & thinking it sounded like a great film but having finally watched it I feel nothing but disappointment for what is a good looking & well made film with a few decent moments that suffers from a poor script & a Snail's pace.

Cujo108 While on vacation, a man and his pregnant wife visit an island that the former knows from his past. They arrive to find that the place is not how he remembered. In fact, it appears to be quite deserted aside from several children. It isn't too long before they come across an adult. Pity the kids get to him first, killing him and stringing his body up for use as a human piñata. You see, adults are no longer welcome on this island. At least not if they're still among the living.For my money, "Who Can Kill a Child?" is a masterpiece of the genre. It makes other killer kid films look like jokes in comparison. Originally seeing it via the "Island of the Damned" cut, it's a very tense and unsettling film with some interesting socio-political subtext as relates to child violence. The likable main characters really struggle here, both physically and morally, in a picture as bleak as they come. It has such an impeccable mood and atmosphere to it. The closest comparison I can make is to that of Werner Herzog's short documentary, "La Soufrière". The isolated, disquieted feel of the island is very predominant.It's unfortunate that director Serrador faded into the land of television after this film. He clearly had a lot to offer the genre.