Fantastic Fest 2009

You might want to re-think having kids after seeing the British horror film THE CHILDREN directed by Tom Shankland. It is certainly the best advertisement for contraception ever committed to celluloid firmly moving past former reigning champion of the terrorizing toddlers subgenre DEVIL TIMES FIVE (1974) starring Leif Garrett. In fact, it’s a note-perfect and dare say masterful entry into the genre as a whole and one of the clear standouts at this year’s Fantastic Fest. The idyllic Norman Rockwell-esque cabin locale where a group of charming young British families go to spend some quality time together over the Christmas holidays is slowly revealed to be a rouse of sorts as we start to see the relationships of the couples play out on screen. Once their kids begin exhibiting strange behavior, screaming wildly and grabbing the nearest sharp object, the dynamics of the characters play out in an unexpected way as the strangeness suddenly turns to tragedy. This makes it much more believable that the kids are so effective in their exploits. Normally, you would stay with your wife (Eva Birthistle) and her teen daughter (Rachel Shelly) in the midst of such chaos but what if you suspected that your wife killed one of the kids already? Moreover, why wouldn’t you just stomp kick the kids and run away unless you couldn’t bring yourself to do such a despicable thing? These examples of abandonment and powerlessness help keep the proceedings firmly grounded in a reality where you really could envision this happening with such wicked success. Although THE CHILDREN doesn’t feel the need to delve needlessly into the exact cause of why, suddenly, these cute kids turn nuttier than a Corsicana fruitcake its most certainly NOT devil possession. A clue is given in a pool of yellow vomit with a dead frog lying close by. From that, one can certainly deduce that a sinister strand of a virus might have been unleashed by mother nature herself. Is this a form of population control? If the children really are our future it would make sense to kill off the older generation to make way for a new beginning wouldn’t it? Towards the end of the film it is hinted at that this is not an isolated incident so maybe it is feasible that something was in fact unleashed into the atmosphere. Regardless, THE CHILDREN works fine without over thinking the premise. It’s a highly dramatic film, surprisingly given the plot, but eruptions of applause still rained down every time another evil offspring met their gruesome demise. Only at Fantastic Fest is such sheer glee exuded over the death of an adorable kid but audiences everywhere will be sure to get into the spirit guaranteed. THE CHILDREN has been picked up by Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Underground for a US DVD release later this year. Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/DrewBloodNYC

Uwe Boll is pissed. His new film RAMPAGE starring Brendan Fletcher as a joyfully disenfranchised twenty-something named Bill that goes on a city wide killing spree didn’t’ win anything at Fantastic Fest this year. Everyone kept telling him how much they enjoyed the film but sadly it did not even crack the top five once the audience awards were in (the winner incidentally was A TOWN CALLED PANIC). A by-product of the slacker generation, Fletcher’s Bill is 23 but still lives at home to the disappointment of his mother and father (played by Max Headroom himself, Matt Frewer) who just wish he’d show a little enthusiasm and maybe finally apply to community college. Bill has other plans, however, meeting up with friend Evan who seems to be cut from the same lackadaisical cloth as our lead loser to collect suspicious packages that Bill has been sending to Evan’s house as to not attract the suspicious eye of his parents. After going to bed early that night, Bill proceeds to assemble the contents of the shipments into a full body armor suit, two machine guns and a respectable collection of explosives. After blowing up the police station, Bill embarks on a now uninterrupted human shooting gallery on a quest to actively make the world a better place by ridding the world of all those worthless human beings. The reason RAMPAGE didn’t win the Audience Award at Fantastic Fest this year is probably because you don’t know rather to cheer or run for cover once Bill starts unloading his clips. There’s not enough of a sense of fun and it seems that Boll, using a ten page script and improvising the entire film, couldn’t decide in post whether to walk the line between pulp exploitation and social commentary or just go for one or the other. This is Boll’s best film to date (ok granted the bar wasn’t set that high to begin with) and it will be sure to make at least one dollar of profit when its sold overseas which will ensure that we all get to see Bloodrayne 3: Warhammer!