Who Can Kill a Child?
1978 ‘¿Quién puede matar a un niño?’ Directed by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador
Synopsis
Suddenly . . . They were the only adults left alive on the island.
A couple of English tourists arrive on an island where all the children have gone crazy and are murdering the adults.
Cast
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Grim, unremittingly bleak Spanish horror film about a British tourist couple (Lewis Fiander and Prunella Ransome, both excellent) who travel to a remote, picturesque Spanish island, only to discover that for vaguely supernatural reasons that are never fully explained, all the children have murdered all the adults and taken the island over for themselves.
A lot of films that use the "killer kids" plotline embrace the campier aspects of the idea, but not this one. This is a deadly serious film, and as its title suggests, WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? seriously ponders the moral devastation inherent in its premise, and all that is asked of its put-upon heroes. If the only way you could survive is to gun down…
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When a film starts with real footage from various wars in which we see children suffering and dying, you know it's not going to be an 'easy' watch. And it isn't, not by a long shot.
What makes it stand out is not gore or easy scares, it's atmosphere. It evokes a feeling of 'wrongness', caused by the scariest antagonists possible, children. These kids do the most horrible things and therein lies the strength of this film. It's the disconnect between the rational expectations you have when you see a child and the sadistic things they eventually do. This slow realisation is acted out really well by the two leads. Even though I expected it, the inevitable conclusion still shocked me.
There is a lot to admire in this film, it has something to say, the acting is very good, but what I liked most is that it doesn't try to give any easy explanations. -
A man and his pregnant wife vacation in Spain, and sail off to a small island that turns out have been overrun with murderous children. I expected something more over the top and exploitationriffic, but instead is (mostly) a straight up thriller that goes into dark places by the time it gets to its series of payoffs and awesome ending. Worth hunting down.
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This is one of the best film featuring 'creepy children'. Usually those kind of images go right over my head; I don't find them scary and at times it can feel like a lazy image. Let's take the most innocent thing and make it look menacing - easy.
That being said, Who Can Kill a Child uses the children perfectly. After a fairly strange and long opening credit sequence the tension is built well through writing and cinematography. It slowly reels you in and by the midway point you're right with the protagonists as they face whatever happens.
Like I said before, the external child threat has never been so effectively realised. It becomes like trying to escape from an infinite amount of stinging ants. Made of lava.
Totally worth a watch if you're into unsettling and atmospheric horror. -
Ισπανικός τρόμος που ανταλλάσσει τα συνήθη σκοτάδια του genre με τον μεσογειακό ήλιο; Θεώρησέ με φαν.
Πάντα μπορείς να εμπιστεύεσαι τα 70ς για τα πιο unsettling θεάματα, σαν να ανεβαίνει αυτόματα level το Village Of The Damned ή να μετακομίζει ο Hitchcock στην Μεσόγειο αντικαθιστώντας τα ...πουλιά με αιμοδιψή αλλά γλυκύτατα, κατά τα άλλα, παιδάκια.
Επίσης, μια βασικότατη σκηνή (πρωτότυπη θεωρητικά) της Twilight wannabe εποποιίας, ουσιαστικά κοπιάρεται από αυτό το φιλμ, 35 ολόκληρα χρόνια πριν. Εντυπωσιακό.
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Grim, unremittingly bleak Spanish horror film about a British tourist couple (Lewis Fiander and Prunella Ransome, both excellent) who travel to a remote, picturesque Spanish island, only to discover that for vaguely supernatural reasons that are never fully explained, all the children have murdered all the adults and taken the island over for themselves.
A lot of films that use the "killer kids" plotline embrace the campier aspects of the idea, but not this one. This is a deadly serious film, and as its title suggests, WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? seriously ponders the moral devastation inherent in its premise, and all that is asked of its put-upon heroes. If the only way you could survive is to gun down…
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Idea a priori impactante que se queda en eso, solo una idea. Narciso Ibañez Serrador nos presenta una pelicula fea en ejecucion, una fotografia espantosa y unos actores que no son malos, sino lo siguiente (El protagonista es clavadito a Julian Muñoz, por dios!!).
Escenas ridiculas se extienden por la cinta como si de una plaga se tratara. Unos dialogos absurdos dignos de niños de preescolar. Una accion lenta y aburrida que no consigue otra cosa que no sean ganas de parar la cinta y hacer otra cosa que no sea seguir sufriendo con tal desproposito.
No entiendo las buenas criticas mas alla de un planteamiento en el que se debate si podrias matar a un niño o no, sabiendo…
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Little seen and long unavailable outside rare screenings and pirate copies, this is a true undiscovered gem... although calling it a 'gem' seems somewhat inappropriate for this eerie and disturbing film.
The movie opens with a strange pseudo-documentary montage, which may well have viewers wondering if they've got the right disc - but stick with it for the tale told when the story proper begins is a highly memorable cinematic experience.
Now it is fair to say that the actual plot is more a short story than a novel - and some might say would be best suited to an anthology TV show. However that would rob us of the marvelous atmosphere and haunting sun-bleached scenes Serrador conjures.
And I… -
Beginning weirdly, and very grimly, with newsreel footage explaining that children are disproportionately fatally affected by war and famine, the action then switches to sunny Spain, where pregnant Evelyn and her husband Tom (who's a tad ambivalent about bringing a third child into the world) are on holiday. Visiting a peaceful island, Tom's worst fears are realised when they find that the island's kids have slaughtered all the adults, and that they're stuck there until the boat comes some time the next day. If Who Can Kill a Child? isn't as creepy as the similarly-themed Village of the Damned, then it's not for the want of trying. And while there are no great surprises for the bulk of the running…
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Ισπανικός τρόμος που ανταλλάσσει τα συνήθη σκοτάδια του genre με τον μεσογειακό ήλιο; Θεώρησέ με φαν.
Πάντα μπορείς να εμπιστεύεσαι τα 70ς για τα πιο unsettling θεάματα, σαν να ανεβαίνει αυτόματα level το Village Of The Damned ή να μετακομίζει ο Hitchcock στην Μεσόγειο αντικαθιστώντας τα ...πουλιά με αιμοδιψή αλλά γλυκύτατα, κατά τα άλλα, παιδάκια.
Επίσης, μια βασικότατη σκηνή (πρωτότυπη θεωρητικά) της Twilight wannabe εποποιίας, ουσιαστικά κοπιάρεται από αυτό το φιλμ, 35 ολόκληρα χρόνια πριν. Εντυπωσιακό.
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Released in the US as Island of the Damned, this little-seen slice of ‘70s horror deftly combines The Midwich Cuckoos, The Birds and The Wicker Man, to chilling and sometimes shocking effect. An English tourist and his pregnant wife visit a remote Mediterranean island, where all the adults have mysteriously disappeared. Have the island’s sinister, giggling children somehow turned into a murderous cult? Get past the misguided, thick-headed opening credits (a montage of images of real-life child victims of various atrocities) and you'll find an overlooked gem.
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The most beautiful and thoughtful gem of the killer-child genre.
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Asked and answered.
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The children in this are amazingly effective. There are many of them, some just in crowd scenes but others have more individual scenes and they all work to create a very creepy atmosphere. Unfortunately it is one of those films where we are always way ahead of the poor leads who seem to stumble pathetically, much to the viewers frustration. Indeed I felt like the heckler at a very slow Anne Frank theatrical portrayal, who eventually shouted out 'She's in the attic'. The film is extremely well shot and the village with its sun bleached buildings suitable deserted but we just know what is going to happen. I think some back story or parallel event may have helped. I noticed…