Who Can Kill a Child?

Island of the Damned_720p(480P)

source: Island of the Damned

Trailer—¿Quién puede matar a un niño?

¿Quién puede matar a un niño?

In one of the featurettes on the Dark Sky DVD, director Serrador claims that he should have put the footage about atrocities done to children -- more than seven hard-to-watch opening minutes about concentration camps, children in Vietnam, Korea, Biafra, starved, burned, tortured -- at the end of the movie. Of course he's wrong: It would have spoiled the whole movie, especially after the very last sentence that spins the film in a direction known from a lot of cheap zombie flicks: The script robs itself of its mystery, though it's a minor letdown in an otherwise perfectly crafted, well-shot (by Jose Luis Alecaine, who also worked with Saura, Luna, Faenza, Almodovar, you name it) and relentlessly gripping story that never lets go, until the ultimately bleak and depressing ending -- the only possible conclusion to this unjustly forgotten gem of Spanish 70s genre cinema. If you hate children, this is the film for you; and if you hate adults, too.

This remarkable and unusual horror film contains many powerful sequences, but one in particular stands out in my memory: The young husband, who's just beginning to realize that something about this island is very wrong, is attracted to a doorway by the sound of children's delighted laughter. He peeks through a crack in the door and observes a number of happy youngsters, all looking upward and swinging sticks, pinata-fashion, at something suspended from the ceiling. Then his gaze drifts upward, and we in the audience share his profound shock as he sees what the kids are swinging at. This film hasn't received nearly the public or critical attention it deserves in the U.S. and isn't an easy film to find, except from off-the-beaten-path video companies. It is, however, well worth the patience of any true horror fan. Look for it!

A man and his pregnant wife arrive on the isolated island of Almanzora to find it almost entirely deserted the only visible population seems to be composed of children.When they finally spy an adult,they watch in horror as a little girl beats the man to death with his own walking stick."Who Can Kill a Child?" mixes socio-political themes with extremely eerie atmosphere of isolation and hopelessness.The tension builds slowly until it reaches incredibly horrifying climax.A sequence in which Lewis Fiander and Prunella Ransome walk through the village,gingerly stepping past the children who have gathered to watch them is extremely creepy.The children also do a terrific job-they are truly threatening and chilling.The photography by Jose Luis Alcane is wonderful and the soundtrack by Waldo De Los Rios is fantastic.Still the film is really unsettling,so if you are easily disturbed don't watch it.10 out of 10.