Two
parents named Elaine and Jonah goes away
to an isolated house with some relatvies
in the woods for the Christmas holidays
for fun and relaxation.
But one of the family has three kids and
one a teenager who's been grounded for
the holidays named Casey (Hannah Tointon)
who is just being mopey and not seeing
eye to eye with her first younger sister
Miranda (Eva Sayer) and has a younger
brother who hardly says a word named
Paulie (William Howes) who keeps to
himself alot.
When they arrive they are greeted by
Elaine's sistter Chloe (Rachel Shelley)
and her husband Robbie (Jeremy Sheffield)
with their two children Leah (Raffiella
Brooks) and Nicky (Jake Hathaway).
Somehow a virus of some sort has effected
the kids overnight and they don't act
normal at all.
Miranda threw a raging fit during a New
Years dinner at the table so Robbie takes
the other kids outside while Jonah tries
to calm Miranda down but suddenly while
Robbie goes sleigh riding headfirst and
then Nicky brings a cart full of objects
including a sharp garden object as he
passes by and getting in the way causing
Robbie to crash into it and bleeding half
to death but the family can't seem to get
through to a 911 call.
The terror then begins with the kids as
they try to kill their relatives one by
one and it's up to the parents to either
kill them or else they end up getting
killed themselves.
There's a good energetic
scene with everyone getting together for
the holidays as it looked like a
realistic family getting together.
Good shots on the children pounding on his toy xylophone
or Miranda staring
emotionlessly while some sort of activity
is occurring.
There's also a nice moment with the children in their room chatting away
and then suddenly they're disturbed by
something as well as being silent which
looked creepy as well as a good shot on Leah sleeping with a camera closing in on her
pillow showing some virus.
A good camera shot closing in on
both Miranda and Jonah sleeping with Paulie standing there in the dark room staring
at them leaving the direction of the film
a nice spooky feel to the story.
Many good camera takes on
everyone playing in the snow outside as
well as a shot inside a tent with kids playing their games in there along with a
shot on a cat's collar hung which makes
you think "What the hell?" as
well as a nice shot on Miranda showing
a cold expression on her face peeking out
of the tent along with a brief distant
shot on Paulie standing there and
watching her.
A nice shot on Jonah looking at a book with pictures of family
faces with gruesome artwork on it. Then a
nice shot on a sled sliding towards Chloe carrying a tray of drinks
while Paulie is standing and
watching which leaves a good impression
that something bad is going to happen.
Nice tense moments with Jonah spanking Paulie with him crying
which looked believeably dysfunctional.
Then we spot great close up shots on Miranda and Nicky staring at one
another as if they were communicating on
what to do next.
Terrific intense moment with
everyone at the dinner table and Miranda going haywire as well as others crying
hysterically. Plus we spot a good
surprise shot with Leah getting physical towards Chloe and everyone else trying to get the kids
to go outside while Jonah is
dragging Miranda to try and calm
her down which truly makes you cringe.
Great shot on Robbie spinning Leah around
outside. Plus a nice shot on him speeding
along in a sled headfirst while there's a
good close up shot on Nicky carrying a wagon full of supplies along
with a good close up shot on a sharp
garden tool peeking out while there's a
good shot on Robbie closing
in when this happens. There's also good
takes on Jonah holding Miranda down on a bed while she shrieks
hysterically. All of this looked
incredibly shocking and well done.
A perfect moment with Chloe screaming and crying in hysterics finding
out what happened to her husband and Elaine trying to calm her down. This was one of
the best moments in the film.
Another suspenseful direction
with many shots on Elaine trying
to get Paulie to come to her in a
playground on a case of ladders which
keeps you watching and fear that she is
the next one for an accidental death.
There's a nice shot on Elaine lying
on the ground at the playground with her
eyes blinking as well as shots of blood
soaking in the snow.
Many great quick shots on windows
breaking in a green house with both Elaine and Casey inside
it screaming and getting scared as well
as quick shots involving the kids trying to attack them.
There's also good shots on a tent getting
stabbed with a knife drawing down on it
with Chloe in it screaming and
looking frightened.
A nice closing in shot on Miranda looking zombie like in a hallway.
Good shot on Elaine having her back on a door and holding a
sharp equipment from the fireplace
pointing out and sobbing as well as both Nicky and Leah slowly walking
towards her very spookylike along with
terrific energy with Casey on the other end of the door pounding
hysterically.
There's a nice shot on Casey outisde in a forestry area looking at a
snowy ground and crying as well as a nice
quick shot on Miranda charging at
her.
Bottom line: Wow at first this
film seemed to borrow a bit from Children
of the Corn but really it
doesn't when you keep watching it. It's
very original and one of a kind imagining
if your kids were infected and turned
evil trying to kill grown up's as well as
their own parents and it's peer pressure
to the parents wondering if they have to
their their children or get killed by
them.
Lots of intensity throughout this film
looking dysfunctional and then becoming
horrifying wondering what's going to
happen next with the children's evil and
deadly plans.
You kinda wondered how this disease came
to be that effected the children which
remains an unsolved mystery plus a door
was open to a sequel which I hope they
will and maybe it will be explain why the
childrens behavior occurred. A real
struggle with the grown ups and lots of
tragic happenings too. The film will keep
you glued from beginning to end and an
exellent story which can really be
influential too. Finally an original film
and not a remake so let's hope there'll
be more like this since Hollywood is
running out of ideas and if they watch
this UK indie flick then they might just
make better films.
The acting is
incredible as it looks like a realisitc
family and their dysfunctional moments. Eva Birthistle (Elaine) showed terrific emotions as the lead
actress and caring mother and really
knowing how to act confused about what to
do when her kids turn on her. She shows
many interesting characterisitcs and
knowing how to act like a basket case
with all the terrors surrounding her.
Hannah Tointon (Casey) really
brough out the energy and rage in her
character especially when she cries
intensely at a devastating moment and
knew on how to pull off her part. She's
probably the best actress in this flick.
Rachel Shelley (Chloe) does well as a
typical teenager going through a phase by
having a sulky attitude as well as really
knowing on how to act incredibly intense
and going into a screaming rage when she
needed to with the terrors happening.
Eva
Sayer (Miranda) was the best child actress in
the film knowing how to act evilly
menacing as well as showing evil
expressions too. She also was a ball of
energy when it came to her shrieking and
crying rage as well as attacking her
victims too.
William Howes (Paulie) really knew how to act
like a shy and quiet like expressionless
kid as he stood out well showing that he
is so quiet that he's very deadly too. He
was certainly the drawing card to the
plot of the film and really stressed
that.
Raffiella Brooks (Leah) really knew how to
portray an innocent like child that she's
believeably deceiving. She made her part
believeably interesting that she's not to
be trusted even if she tries to come
across that she's harmless.
A head is cut open
A leg is busted up
Many brutal bloody stabbings but they're
quick
A man is bloodied
The music is wonderfully
done by Stephen Hilton knowing
what to use for each scene using some
sharp rusty sounds along with some windy
light piano playing. He also has some
dark creepy tones too. Plus we get alot
of screechy high pitched violin sounds.
Elaine:
Come on now, Daddy's not angry!
Jonah: No, Daddy's very angry!
Miranda:
Bye-bye Mummy.
Elaine: What?
Miranda: Be nice to Leah and Nicky
[grabs her leg splints]
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