This movie is a total bait and switch. I went into it having some positive expectations, namely, that I'd see a lot of grade school kids murdering their parents in a series of bloodsoaked rituals. However, this kind of stuff never really happens and it isn't until the FINAL 90-SECONDS that the director pulls out the stops, providing us with a hilariously bad "massacre" scene that had my brother and I rolling. The rest of this movie, however, is entirely forgettable and I can't recommend it. That final 90-seconds is awesome, yes, but you have to sit through a lot of boring crap and listen to a lot of bad writing to get there. If you just have to see the funny clip at the end where the kids all get killed, I'd search the web versus wasting a rental slot. Trust me, this movie sucks. A lot. ---|--- Reviews by Flak Magnet

After reading some of the outraged viewer comments I decided to write give my 1 cent. I am a 31 year old b-horror movie obsessed freak that still lives with his parents- so maybe that explains my taste in absolute trash. Over the years I have obtained a collection of dvds, videos, and laserdiscs that puts most video stores to shame (of course that is not saying much these days with Blockbuster and Hollywood video stores horrible horror section). Since I couldn't rent this at the time I bought this, I purchased this after seeing some clips of children being shot in really unrealistic fashion I couldn't resist.

The key is this- very campy. All you "Grudge-Ring-I know What You Did Last Summer with Van Helsing" fans will probably not "get it". What is there to get, you may ask? It's just funny, funny that a movie was put together professionally, shot on 35 mm film, that has scenes where children get shot on screen and they actually use squibs (some of you know what squibs are). Yes, you can see the kids breathing, strings connected arrows, and blood tubes, etc. But that's why I bought it.

So, the film as a whole is not that entertaining, but the death sequences are worth it for you fans of the bottom of the barrel films. Have fun. I'm going to go back to my room before my mom asks me to take the trash out.

Beware! Children at Play 1989 (Unrated Version)

The film is introduced by Llyod Kaufman as having a trailer deemed so controversial in it's depiction of children killing adults that it was booed at the Cannes Film Festival and half the audience walked out. That sounds like a bad joke I heard before. What does it take to offend a French person?…Or how many lightbulbs does it take to screw a French person?

The opening of the film is a father/son camping trip gone wrong. The father slowly dies after getting stuck in a bear trap and he tells his son to eat him spawning a cannibalistic cult of little children. And everything after this is screwier. The father was a professor that taught Anglo-Saxon poetry, or as the dimwit town sheriff affectionately refers to as "Angel Accent poetry", and this leads his son to believe that he, Glen Randell, is now "Grendel" from the poem "Beowulf". There are a variety of other bizarre explanations for the children's behavior in the convoluted plot involving the Sacrifice of Abraham's child to God amongst other things. Basically, the children disappear from the town, start a cult, hunt adults, and eat them. Sorry if this is confusing folks, but I watched the film and still don't get it. This is the most I could try to understand without falling asleep.

Unfortunately, as interesting as the premise sounds, the film is quite boring. It tried to be smart and I give it credit for that much. The SFX are good is some parts and bad in others. There are some scenes that try to make the mark, but fall short. One involves the young boy cutting open his father and eating his heart. At least I think that is what it was. The editing was strange and I am pretty sure it was not a real boy doing this for legal reasons. The stomach resembled an empty flap and a hand went in and pulled out a round, brown lump. The only scene that caught my attention for about 3 minutes was the slaughter scene at the end. And for the parents who secretly fantasize about killing their own kids, well here you have it.

There is a strange rape scene thrown in for no apparent reason. It seemed completely unnecessary and pointless. The child leader rapes a mom in front of other children including her own. That falls under the It's Just Wrong Category. And yet they somehow managed to make that boring as well.

The sound quality was okay, but there was goofy 80's boombox beat music at the oddest times. The film quality was decent, but there are problems with the editing and continuity issues. One scene in particular is shot at night and when the camera sings back to an actor talking, it is suddenly broad daylight!

Favorite Quote: A Bible salesman describing the Holy Bible he loves so much, "It is the best damn book ever! You don't need any god damn luck. You just say it is the word of God and their pocket book spreads it's cheeks and the long green pops out like puss from a pimple."

DVD Extras: The usual Troma fare: T.I.T. (Troma Intelligence Test),Still Gallery, Multiple Trailers, Commentary, and Bios. One note though, I could not read the menu. The font is illegible, so I just clicked on random colorful blobs I saw and hoped for the best.

Bottom Line: Only for "Tromans" looking to complete a collection.

Rating: 5/10

Molly Celaschi www.HorrorYearbook.com MySpace.com/HorrorYearbook