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The Children

Play trailer Poster for The Children R 1980 1h 30m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 2 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Gas leaking from a nuclear-power plant turns children into zombies who burn those they touch.
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The Children

Critics Reviews

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Gary Arnold Washington Post 12/21/2015
The Children is a feeble reminder of an exploitation trend seen at its most ruthless in a picture like It's Alive! Everything considered, it's difficult to resent The Children for being too inept to become equally hateful. Go to Full Review
Michael W. Phillips, Jr. Goatdog's Movies 03/19/2008
4/5
The "scary little kid" subgenre has never been scarier or more nihilistic. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Jamison S Oct 26 Possibly the worst movie I’ve ever seen, not to mention every single character is level 10 annoying. Don’t recommend. See more Joseph D @JRDzencelowcz 01/21/2025 I found this Troma gem by sheer accident. It's pretty simple, & borrows heavily from other works, like the music, but it was an interesting little piece that works well as part of a late night double feature. See more tanya m 10/18/2024 This was a great old school basic horror movie. I just saw it on Tubi. Ending was great See more Jeepers C 07/26/2024 This movie is a guilty pleasure of mine. It's premise is simple, but works none the less. The story begins on the bus ride home from school. The bus drives through some toxic gas and turns the children into radioactive killers. They stalk all the adults in town, looking for adults to hug to death. It's not as crazy as Children of the Corn, but still has that vibe. I am a sucker for old 80's horror movies. The theme to Friday the 13th even makes an appearance. Lol See more 05/02/2020 It was a fun move I just discovered thanks to GLC. See more bill t @Spuzz 04/26/2016 Pretty amazing movie here. This movie about a bus full of kids that meets a cloud of nuclear gas emitted by a power plant. They turn, I guess, into zombies, and start wreaking havok in the town. They've just so many questions about the plot of this film. Apparently that kids can only kill with their hands, why is this? How did this happen? If they hug somebody, that person becomes toast. Like, their whole body starts frying. Again, why is this? And why does it appear that the children, and the children's families, and the sheriff or two, are the only people in the town? I havent Even started. What really fascinates me about this movie is the unexplained character arcs that litter this movie. Let's start with the first woman the children kill. She seemed to have a chip on her shoulder because of something the sheriff did. What was that? We don't know because she's soon killed after that. She's also apparently looking after an invalid. It seemed that the invalid had a connection to the sheriff as well, but that's left hanging. And on it goes, couples are fighting for no reason, ladies are sun tanning in the nude with sweaty bodybuilders, etc. Etc. Etc. Finally, everyone says "Goddamnit" a lot. See more Read all reviews
The Children

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Movie Info

Synopsis Gas leaking from a nuclear-power plant turns children into zombies who burn those they touch.
Director
Max Kalmanowicz
Producer
Max Kalmanowicz
Screenwriter
Carlton J. Albright, Edward Terry
Distributor
Rhino Entertainment Company [us], World Northal, Vestron Pictures
Production Co
Albright Films Inc.
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 13, 1980, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
May 9, 2017
Runtime
1h 30m
Sound Mix
Stereo
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