‘… Pray you never meet them!’
The Children – aka The Children of Ravensback – is a 1980 American horror film co-produced and directed by Max Kalmanowicz from a screenplay by co-producer Carlton J. Albright (Luther the Geek) and Edward Terry. Harry Manfredini provided the score, which he subsequently tweaked for his seminal Friday the 13th soundtrack.
The film stars Martin Shakar (Blood Bath; The Dark Secret of Harvest Home), Gil Rogers (Luther the Geek) and Gale Garnett (Mad Monster Party?; Friday’s Curse [TV episode]), Shannon Bolin, Tracy Griswold.
Plot:
Jim and Slim, a couple of workers at a nuclear plant in the fictional New England town of Ravensback, decide to call it a day and head for a bar. Unfortunately, a large buildup of pressure leaks from one of the pipes, forming a yellow toxic cloud that drifts across the ground.
Meanwhile, a school bus is taking children home. Suddenly the bus passes through the toxic cloud…
Reviews:
“The disgusting idea that adults must go out with machetes and cut off the kids’ hands gives this a perverse twist. Producer Max Kalmanowicz directs it like a monster flick of the ’50s.” John Stanley, Creature Features
“Wisely, our filmmakers realized that such an audacious idea deserved not seriousness but camp.The first 20 minutes seem serious, but it gets funnier as it goes, especially in the final third when it purposefully copies Psycho and Jaws in the score.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers
“A cheap but fun take on the killer kids genre, with the producer’s children cast as some of the zombie kids.” Brian Albright, Regional Horror Films, 1958 – 1990
“So if 8-year-old kids with cheap 99-cent Halloween makeup and black fingernails are your thing, then check out The Children and maybe it will give you a creep or two. If you’re more about the modern times though, it wouldn’t hurt to check out the 2008 UK non-remake of the same name.” Dirty Horror
“Like Crash! or some other low budget horror movies, it’s essentially a moebius strip film, where the same two scenes more or less repeat in succession for the bulk of the running time.” Horror Movie a Day
“The Children pretty much mixes up what went down in Village of the Damned with a dash of Night of the Living Dead‘s killer zombie child, but this low-budget offering at least offers up an amusing twist to the standard formula.” The Bloody Pit of Horror
Cast and characters:
- Martin Shakar as John Freemont
- Gil Rogers as Sheriff Billy Hart
- Gale Garnett as Cathy Freemont
- Shannon Bolin as Molly
- Tracy Griswold as Deputy Harry Timmons
- Joy Glaccum as Suzie MacKenzie
- Jeptha Evans as Paul MacKenzie
- Clara Evans as Jenny Freemont
- Sarah Albright as Ellen Chandler
- Nathanael Albright as Tommy Button
- Julie Carrier as Janet Shore
- Michelle Le Mothe as Dr. Joyce Gould
- Edward Terry as Hank
- Peter Maloney as Frank
- Jessie Abrams as Clarkie Freemont
- Rita Montone as Dee Dee Shore
- John P. Codiglia as Jackson Lane
- Martin Brennan as Sanford Butler-Jones
- J.D. Clarke as Jim (hardhat)
- James Klawin as Slim (hardhat)
- Arthur Chase as Cyrus MacKenzie
- Suzanne Barnes as Leslie Button
- Diane Deckard as Rita Chandler
- David Platt as Chauffeur
- Ray Delmolino as Bus driver
- Michael Carrier as Bob Chandler
- X. Ben Fakackt as Newscaster voice
Release:
The film was given a limited release theatrically in the United States by World Northal in 1980. It was subsequently released in the US on VHS by Vestron Video. The film was released on DVD in a 25th Anniversary edition by Troma Entertainment in 2005 and then posted free-to-view online in 2012.
Buy: Amazon.com
Choice dialogue:
Sanford Butler-Jones: “Apparently you’re new here… I’m Sanford Butler-Jones!”
Sheriff: “I’ve never seen anything like it. They were burnt. But mutilated. It, it, was horrible!”
Filming locations:
Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA
TV trailer:
Whole film online:
Wikipedia | IMDb | Image thanks: The Bloody Pit of Horror
Related: Hell of the Living Dead
