117 out of 118 people found the following review helpful:

Dont bother rushing this on to your reserve list!

Nicky O from Glasgow, 7th December, 2008

...because you'll be disappointed way next year when it arrives! As if the storyline wasnt bad enough, the acting and special effects made it hard to sit through. Each time someone dies they walk about, act and talk as if its something that happens every day! (the adults that is). Theres not a single scary moment but loads of tense build ups to what you would expect to be scary... then you get a cut to something random like a vase or a bush! (Sorry if this is a spoiler) The plot was so obvious from the beginning and is so predictable you kind of sit waiting to see if you were right, telling the screen to hurry up! Infected children killing their parents, all bad actors, acting like its just a normal day in the woods!... they only phone an ambulance/police once near the beginning, maybe they should have called again to check it was coming say after another two people had been killed. Overall 2 out of 5 as Im in a good mood BUT be sure to turn up half an hour late (or fast forward the DVD) as youll cringe or fall asleep during the first 30 minutes.

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20 out of 20 people found the following review helpful:

Jumpy

A Customer from Fareham, 11th December, 2008

I quite liked this one, British film with some known actors and some scary kids!! Although some parts are a litlle predictable others are not and are quite shocking! Stars Hannah Tointon who played Katie in Hollyoaks. She suprised me as Hollyoaks is not known for its good acting however she was quite good. Rent this one if you liked, The Invasion, The Omen, Dark Water

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17 out of 19 people found the following review helpful:

Horrible, jumpy but really good

A Customer from Billericay, 13th January, 2009

At the beggining of the Autumn season on ITV1 this year, a three-part series called 'The Children' screened to critical acclaim. This was a grim relationship drama, mostly how adult relationships affective children. This film with the same title is not linked at all to the ITV series, but also notices how children react to the actions of adults. However, here we have another issue to worry about: a virus which can potentially turn children homicidal. And throughout this tension filled British film we see several nasty scenes where the children fight back at their parents, weilding meat knives, glass, hooks and colouring pencils (believe me, the latter form of weapon is the worst). These horrificly violent acts occur when two middle-class families are spending the Christmas holidays together and find their children suddenly taken ill, with sickness and strange behaviour. This strange behaviour goes from haunted looks to flesh tearing slowly but effectively, with the underlying level of hystria bubbling convincingly over into narrative. A chilling horror and a powerful look at the choices of parents in situations that involve truly heart-breaking desicions (do you kill your children if they are trying to kill you?), this BBC film is one of the most well made horror I have seen this year.

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15 out of 16 people found the following review helpful:

very poor

southbankloyal from , 1st April, 2009

sat watching this thinking whens it gonna start. It never really does other than the ending. If you dislike screaming kids, this is def a no no. It was one of them films which ended with me thinking. 'i dont get it'

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*** May contain spoilers ***

28 DAYS MATER (HO HO)

Jezzac from , 28th February, 2010

Effective horror that is a little like what would happen if John Wyndham wrote the opening scenes of a particularly 'strong' episode of 'Casualty'. Whilst the adult characters over emote and seem to pitch their acting awkwardly (sometimes Richard Curtis rom-com sometimes Channel 5's late soap Family Affairs, in style) perhaps this is because acting in a horror film is always awkward to get right (What can a director do? Okay darling, your husband has been killed in a freak sled accident but you are beginning to suspect it may have been your kids who did it, and remember earlier on you were bitten by one of your nieces, okay, have you got the right face? Action!). What makes this a four-star shocker is the winning premise: spooky looking kids slaughtering adults in such inventive ways that somewhere Freddy Krueger is kicking himself and muttering ('death by luge!'). The cinematography and art direction could come across as a little fey but shots of trees and snow on leaves etc. give an iciness to the picture that matches both its premise and the coldness of some of the adult's characters' inter-relationsips. Occasionally, there are the cliched fore-grounded horror props introduced clumsily in close-up or dialogue: a cat; a cat-flap; a zippable play house; no mobile signal; a robot with a penchant for wearing a floaty red cloak (no really), but this is almost the fun of a horror film, and perhaps the intent of the director, who barely puts a foot wrong. Brilliant ending and such a simple idea well executed. Dare I say, without putting off potential viewers, that it almost seems like a mainland-European film rather than a Brit-flick. Consequently, I fully expect to see a US-version set at Thanksgiving and having the killer children knocked unconscious and given an injection that cures them all by the 90th minute? Hollywood: call me! P.S. Hannah Tointon, is an intelligent teen-actor in the 'Skins' tradition, and hopefully this will provide her with much more work, as she is by far and away the most convincingly acted character.

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suprisingly well handled

bananapancakes from , 22nd February, 2010

Really convincing horror film, with a similar feel to the Descent. The slow reactions of the adults to what's happening around them is perfect and the children's acting was incredible - a bit too good!

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Rubbish

A Customer from Cambridgeshire, 22nd February, 2010

What a load of rubbish, don't bother with this one.

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enjoyable

A Customer from London, 12th February, 2010

I thought it would be rubbish was pleasently surprised , creepy and gory without being too blatent. I would reccommend

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