In just two short weeks, the CMDS crew heads to what is by far our favorite event of the year, Fantastic Fest. It’s my favorite week of the year, no contest. Yes, it even beats Christmas. It stomps all over Christmas. Not even a close race. Fantastic Fest IS my Christmas, and Tim League is my Santa Claus.

My only complaint? Too many movies, not enough time. It’s impossible to see everything (believe me, I’ve tried), so I always try to get a few screenings in before the Fest starts, and this year is no exception. I started my pre-fest conditioning with The Children, and it was a good place to start.

The Children is a refreshing change of pace from much of modern horror. Tom Shankland takes us back a few years, to a time when horror was made for adults. A time when directors knew how to build tension, when screenwriters knew how to develop characters beyond a set of one-dimensional stereotypes. Best of all, a time when horror movies were scary – instead of funny or shocking. Shankland never picks up a severed leg and beats you over the head screaming “This is a horror movie”! There’s blood . . . nice deep, rich, red blood . . . but he understands that sometimes the horror is more about what you don’t see, or what you have to wait to see.

You still get intestines. Don’t worry.

So what’s so scary? Killer children. No mutated babies, no mentally ill psychos, no demonically possessed blond tweens living amongst the corn shucks. Just . kids. And that’s where the horror comes in . Kids trying to kill parents. Parents who just can’t bring themselves to believe their own little darlings are doing it. For no apparent reason. It’s creepy and scary and feels so much more real than most any other horror movie you’ll see this year. Parents, you may never look at your little darlings the same way again.

If the story doesn’t get you, the camera work will. The film is simply beautiful, so much so that I’m tempted to watch it again with the sound off just to glory in the cinematography. Blood, snow, and patience make a great combination.

There are a few continuity errors, maybe a time or two where some dramatic license is employed (in my experience, cops come really fast when you say “there’s a dead guy here”), and I think one thing could have been left out at the end – trust me, you’ll know it when you see it – but all in all, I really liked this one. Fantastic Fest-ers – I highly recommend it. Everyone else, put it on your watch list.

The Children was released in the UK in late 2008, and is scheduled for a US release in early October of 2009.