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The Children

The Children

Horror · Mystery · Thriller · 2008

A relaxing Christmas vacation turns into a terrifying fight for survival as the children begin to turn on their parents.

Movie details

The Children

“You brought them into this world. Now ... They will take you out.”

2008 Horror · Mystery · Thriller 1h 24m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.1 / 10

Community rating

A relaxing Christmas vacation turns into a terrifying fight for survival as the children begin to turn on their parents.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Children?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

The Believers

The Believers

Horror · 1987

Mourning the accidental death of his wife and having just moved to New York with his young son, laconic police psychologist Cal Jamison is reluctantly drawn into a series of grisly, ritualistic murders involving the immolation of two youths.

Bone Lake

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Goodnight Mommy

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When twin brothers arrive home to find their mother’s demeanor altered and face covered in surgical bandages, they begin to suspect the woman beneath the gauze might not be their mother.

Silent Night, Deadly Night

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After witnessing his parents' brutal murder on Christmas Eve, Billy transforms into a Killer Santa, delivering a yearly spree of calculated, chilling violence. This year, his blood-soaked mission collides with love, as a young woman challenges him to confront his darkness.

Daddy's Little Girl

Daddy's Little Girl

Horror · 2014

After the police find Derek’s daughter brutally murdered on the beach, he vows to make the culprit suffer for his actions, even if that person is ‘part of the family.’ With careful research into the history of torture, Derek prepares himself and his basement for a week of brutal tactics that will make his daughter’s killer feel the pain that he has inflicted upon so many others. In a time when stranger danger is ever present, a single father learns that it’s the ones you trust most who have to be watched the closest.

Night of the Reaper

Night of the Reaper

Horror · 2025

College student Deena visits home and is roped into babysitting. The local sheriff is mailed a piece of evidence and is led on a scavenger hunt to reveal the killer of another babysitter.

Halloween II

Halloween II

Horror · 1981

After failing to kill stubborn survivor Laurie and taking a bullet or six from former psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis, Michael Myers has followed Laurie to the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, where she's been admitted for Myers' attempt on her life. The institution proves to be particularly suited to serial killers, however, as Myers cuts, stabs and slashes his way through hospital staff to reach his favorite victim.

The Hills Have Eyes

The Hills Have Eyes

Horror · 2006

Based on Wes Craven's 1977 suspenseful cult classic, The Hills Have Eyes is the story of a family road trip that goes terrifyingly awry when the travelers become stranded in a government atomic zone. Miles from nowhere, the Carter family soon realizes the seemingly uninhabited wasteland is actually the breeding ground of a blood-thirsty mutant family...and they are the prey.

Thanksgiving

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Horror · 2023

After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts - the birthplace of the holiday. Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings are soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan.

The Lodge

The Lodge

Horror · 2020

When a father is forced to abruptly depart for work, he leaves his children, Aidan and Mia, at their holiday home in the care of his new girlfriend, Grace. Isolated and alone, a blizzard traps them inside the lodge as terrifying events summon specters from Grace's dark past.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Tom Shankland

Written by

Tom Shankland

Eva Birthistle

Eva Birthistle

Elaine

Hannah Tointon

Hannah Tointon

Casey

Stephen Campbell Moore

Stephen Campbell Moore

Jonah

Rachel Shelley

Rachel Shelley

Chloe

Jeremy Sheffield

Jeremy Sheffield

Robbie

Rafiella Brooks

Rafiella Brooks

Leah

J

Jake Hathaway

Nicky

Court is in session

Put The Children on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.