Borrowing liberally from classic evil-children horrors, the gruesome deaths are inventive, but this is more about killer set-pieces than a satisfying story. A respectable genre outing.
Comment
12/05/08
The Children (2008)
77
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:13
Fresh:10
Rotten:3
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: Unsettling and spine-chilling low-budget British horror, with effective and disturbing scares.
Rated: 15
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:05-12-2008
Starring: Rachel Shelley, Stephen Campbell Moore, Jeremy Sheffield, Eva Birthistle
Director: Tom Shankland
Reviews for The Children
1 - 13 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Top CriticShankland’s approach is oblique rather than graphic, but these icy chills will send shivers down your spine.
12/05/08
Top CriticWatching The Children is like listening to babies cry. Unsettling and exasperating, you pray for it to stop.
12/05/08
Top CriticThe grown-ups, rather hysterically, blame each others’ parenting skills. The plot promptly disintegrates into a gory struggle for credibility against appalling odds.
12/05/08
Top CriticThe fundamentally disturbing and creepy aspects about such random and unpredictable child-centric mayhem are always present, no matter how ludicrously intense and darkly humorous things get.
12/05/08
Top CriticThis efficient British chiller ticks the right boxes.
12/05/08
Top CriticThe Children could be a blackly comic warning to give kids their MMR jabs, an anti (or pro) abortion metaphor (one male victim looks like they're giving birth and Toynton's character was almost aborted), or simply a bloody, good horror film.
12/05/08
A novel idea that deserves a remake with better effects, better writing and better acting.
12/05/08
The idea of cosseted middle-class tots becoming feral psychopaths has potential, though most of it is squandered by uncertain direction and some unconvincing psychology.
12/05/08
The movie is surprisingly gory and suspenseful: a joyous corrective to the festive cheer.
12/04/08
Watching your kid kill someone is scary, but watching them come after YOU ... yikes.
04/22/09
As killer kid horror movies go, 'The Children' is easily one of the best.
04/02/09
a creepy genre treat that is damn-near perfect in its execution.
11/27/08
1 - 13 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Latest News for The Children
December 05, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Writers Warm to Madagascar 2; UK Critics Liked Lakeview Terrace
With thirteen new releases in the UK cinemas this weekend, let Rotten Tomatoes help you sort the tinsel from the turkeys. We have animals on the loose in Madagascar: Escape 2... More...
November 12, 2008:
update of Village Of The Damned and Would You Kill A Child? to our own virus-obsessed times 
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September 26, 2008:
Exclusive: Brand New The Children Photos and Director Introduction
Writing exclusively for RT, director Tom Shankland presents the first gallery of stills from the set of his twisted child-zombie movie The Children and takes us in to the... More...
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