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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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The Taking of Deborah Logan

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Night of the Reaper

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A college student returns home for the weekend and reluctantly takes a babysitting job after a local babysitter is brutally murdered. When the town’s sheriff receives chilling evidence that the killing wasn’t an isolated incident, a deadly night unfolds as a masked killer sets the stage for another attack.

Silent Night, Deadly Night

Silent Night, Deadly Night

Horror · 2025

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.

Compulsion

Compulsion

Thriller · 2024

Two women—Diana, a flamboyant and ruthless thief, and Evie, a seemingly innocent young woman with a troubled past—become embroiled in a series of horrific murders on the island of Malta.

Friday the 13th Part 2

Friday the 13th Part 2

Horror · 1981

Five years after the horrible bloodbath at Camp Crystal Lake, new counselors roam the area, not sensing the ominous lurking presence that proves that the grisly legend is real.

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.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

Horror · 1988

Ten years after his original massacre, the invalid Michael Myers awakens on Halloween Eve and returns to Haddonfield to kill his seven-year-old niece.

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

Horror · 1998

Two decades after surviving a massacre on October 31, 1978, former baby sitter Laurie Strode finds herself hunted by persistent knife-wielder Michael Myers. Laurie now lives in Northern California under an assumed name, where she works as the headmistress of a private school. But it's not far enough to escape Myers, who soon discovers her whereabouts. As Halloween descends upon Laurie's peaceful community, a feeling of dread weighs upon her -- with good reason.

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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.