There's Something Wrong With The Children (2023)

I will admit to going into There’s Something Wrong With The Children with some trepidation. Although I had enjoyed previous films directed by Roxanne Benjamin, trust me when I tell you that she is someone that horror fans should be always looking out for, I wasn’t as familiar with the work of writers T. J. Cimfel and David White. It also didn’t help that the trailer made me think it was just an unofficial remake of The Children. And as for Amanda Crew (aka disobedient younger sister in Final Destination 3) now settling into movie roles that cast her as an onscreen mother, that will just never stop feeling odd to me while she still looks about 20.

Anyway, no need to worry, There’s Something Wrong With The Children is REALLY good. It’s an interesting and fun horror movie, but it also has an underlying message about the pressure that can be put on couples to have children, presenting a pretty compelling case for respecting the decision of those who choose not to have children.

Crew and Carlos Santos are the parents, Ellie and Thomas, spending some time away from the rest of the world with their kids, Lucy (Briella Guiza) and Spencer (David Mattle), and two close, and childless, friends, Margaret (Alisha Wainwright) and Ben (Zach Gilford). Ellie and Thomas obviously need a bit more time to themselves, which leads to Margaret and Ben babysitting for a night, but that doesn’t work out as planned. The kids head off into nearby woods alone and, when they reappear, something has changed. Spending some time messing around with Ben, who is taking medication for ongoing health issues, the kids eventually become more and more overt with their taunting and aggressive behaviour.

While it isn’t the most visually interesting horror movie, and the script allows viewers to stay a step or two ahead of the main characters, what you get here is a brilliant central idea that everyone involved fully commits to. This isn’t your typical “bad seed” movie, although that is the easiest label to put on it, because it sets things up in the first act with that clear and obvious divide between the parents and those without children. While focused on the horror, and on being entertaining, this is also a film that highlights the ridiculousness of a society that, for example, automatically assumes that those without parenting experience know nothing about the behaviour of children. It also pits the maternal/paternal instinct against one of self-preservation.

Benjamin helps herself a lot by assembling the right cast, setting aside the notion that Crew will forever look too young to play a parent (that’s just on me) and that Santos feels a bit underused. Wainwright and Gilford are involved in most of the best scenes, and both do good work, but young Guiza and Mattle have enormous fun being malicious little brats who start to behave more like animals as they establish their new power over adults they want to terrorize. 

I really liked this. It’s both a straightforward horror movie, albeit one with some added weirdness driving the plot, and a deliciously sly commentary on the way society seems to value the views of parents over the views of anyone else in so many different scenarios. I would be happy to hear that someone was currently working on a sequel script entitled “There’s Something Wrong With The Parents”, as long as Benjamin was back in the director’s chair for it.

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

The Purge: Anarchy (2014)

The Purge was an okay movie. It was a decent idea marred by poor execution. Written and directed by James DeMonaco, the central idea was all about an America which allows any crime to be committed on one night of the year. There is no police, no medical assistance, and no way that you want to be caught out of your home, unless you're out to commit crime. It's The Purge.

This sequel, with DeMonaco back at the helm, moves away from the household setting of the first film. It takes viewers on to the dangerous streets. Subsequently, thanks to a nice building of tension and craziness, and a great main role for Frank Grillo, this is a much better film. Yes, it's a sequel that greatly improves on the original film.

The plot is pretty simple. It is, once again, time for the annual purge. One man (Grillo) heads out on a specific mission, but he ends up sidetracked when he spots a mother and daughter (Carmen Ejogo and Zoe Soul, respectively) being manhandled by some soldier types. Allowing them to accompany him for a short while, the three soon become five when they find a young couple, Shane (Zach Gilford) and Liz (Kiele Sanchez), who had some car trouble that left them stranded outside on a night when they really want to be hiding indoors.

Aside from the solid lead performances (and a turn from Grillo that puts me in agreement with everyone else who thinks he should get the next shot at playing The Punisher), The Purge: Anarchy really benefits from two things. First of all, there's a real sense of danger throughout. It's not just danger specifically aimed at the main characters. As DeMonaco shows snapshots of the night unfolding it soon becomes clear that, as cliched as it seems, danger really does lurk around every corner. Second, there's the madness of it all. While watching this movie you may start to feel as if you've been locked inside a lunatic asylum, despite being completely sane (okay, relatively sane,in some cases). Rather than treat the premise as something pretty standard, as the first movie did, this sequel encourages many more questions. The morality of it all was always dubious, of course, but this also mixes in much more commentary regarding the class divive, and the effective use of The Purge as a tool to maintain a balanced society. This aspect was inherent in the first movie, but here it's put to the front and centre, although it never detracts from the sheer entertainment value of the film.

Everyone does well, especially Ejogo and Soul, with a fun, small role for Justina Machado leading to a memorable sequence, but this is Grillo's movie for every moment that he's onscreen. He is, as he's so often been in other roles, a believable badass, and the journey that his character goes on takes one or two interesting turns before the end credits roll.

All credit to DeMonaco, who very possibly had a lot of this planned as he worked on the first movie. He knows that taking the action to the streets creates a huge amount of potential, and he realises a lot of it. Snipers, roving gangs, rapists, rich people arranging their own "safe" purges, family disputes that can turn deadly, boobytraps, and much more. All come together to ensure that this purge is a memorable night indeed.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Purge-Anarchy-Blu-ray-DIGITAL-UltraViolet/dp/B00LWLX99A/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1408177898&sr=1-1&keywords=the+purge+anarchy