Children are evil, especially at Christmas. Moaning that they wanted the blue bike, not the red one. Opening a mountain of presents and complaining they’re bored thirty minutes later. Or vomiting green slime before murderously turning on the adults in a remote farmhouse.
This underappreciated British gem is directed by Tom Shankland (now helming BBC’s Ripper Street) and written by Paul Andrew Williams (on London To Brighton form, rather than The Cottage).
Liberally borrowing from The Shining, The Brood, plus The Exorcist, The Innocents and The Omen, this still manages to be a fresh shocker. And a Christmas dinner scene, with the little terrors running riot, is absolutely terrifying.
