WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? is a very decent stab at a Spanish horror film, full of beautiful locations and a wonderfully eerie atmosphere. Killer kids have been a regular staple of cinema since the 1950s but here they're treated in a curious and slow-burning fashion, similar to how Hitchcock handled THE BIRDS, and the treatment works very well indeed. Lewis Fiander and Prunella Ransome are both very good as a typical pair of English tourists finding themselves in a very dark situation deed, but the real star of this one is the director, who keeps the tension going right up until the shocking climax. WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? is so effective that it's one of the most chilling Spanish films of its era.

A young English couple are vacationing on a Spanish island. Normally, this might be romantic, but in this film, the island is affected by an unexplained curse where the children have all turned murderous, even against their own parents. And there's no stopping them, because as the title asks, who can kill a child? I've run across numerous films of this era taking place on islands with not-so-pleasant happenings. Typically, the islands happen to be Greek ("Antropophagus" or "Island of Death", for example). So, this is a nice variation on a theme. There aren't many inhabitants beyond the children, but there's really no need for them in this story. The children are quite creepy, and were cast well. I am not personally scared of children (pedophobic?) but if I was, this one would give me the willies.

I've heard people say this film anticipates such later successes as "Child's Play", with the idea of child killers and how unnerving it is to have innocence turned against well-intentioned people. I don't see the connection. Far more obvious to me is the link between this and "Village of the Damned", as both clearly focus on children who share similar murderous mindsets and one man who is able to stop them (hopefully). If you liked "Village", you'll like this one.

While probably tame today, there are some scenes that come across as pushing the limits. Can you kill a child on screen? Can you kill several? What about a fetus that has turned evil and wishes to kill its mother, even if it means sacrificing itself? There's something really disturbing about that thought. (For those who are strongly pro-life, would you support abortion if the fetus was maliciously trying to kill the mother?) If I had one complaint, it would be the relatively slow pace of the film, at least at first. For about thirty minutes, I had some difficulty getting into the film. Maybe I'm too accustomed to today's fast-paced slaughter films. But regardless, after that half hour, I was in. And the excitement only escalates. There's no climax and then another twenty minutes of drag, my friend... it builds and builds until the movie ends. You'll be left wanting more, or at least wanting to see it again. This is a winner. (Thank you, Dark Sky Films.)

Tom (a solid and likable performance by Lewis Fiander) and his pregnant Evelyn (an appealing portrayal the fetching Prunella Ransome) find themselves trapped on a remote island off the coast of Spain populated by killer kids with a vehement hatred of adults.

Writer/director Narciso Ibanez Serrador relates the compellingly twisted story at a hypnotically deliberate pace, does an ace job of crafting a supremely creepy atmosphere that positively drips with a potently unsettling sense of isolation, hopelessness, and vulnerability, offers a few startling images (the murderous moppets use a corpse as a macabre piñata!),and gives the rather far-fetched premise a certain grim plausibility by grounding said premise in a convincingly harsh and bleak historical context (the opening chronicle of past atrocities committed against innocent children provides a powerful socio-political sting that suggests the rotten adult world deserves to be destroyed by its own kids). Moreover, the surprise bummer ending packs a devastating park. The eerie score by Waldo de los Rios further enhances the overall uneasy and unnerving mood. Jose Luis Alcaine's sunny cinematography gives this picture a sparkling look that's in striking ironic contrast to the dark and disturbing subject matter. A real nail-biter.