Customer Reviews

Wicked Little Things - After Dark Horror Fest

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This may be one of the better recent horror movies I have seen. There were so many things I liked about it also!
First off... I've read the other reviews and do not agree with some of the comments. I will agree that the plot is a bit cookie cutter... the plot has been reiterated a number of times so I won't go into that.
But... the good things I liked are: The acting is not overdone... it's right on par. The special effects AREN'T the movie.. they enhance the movie. The plot is easy to follow, direct. All the characters fit into the story... no suprise characters. No special camera effects that took away from the movie.
Simply stated... this is a more traditional scare fest. But I happen to like those.

"Wicked Little Things" was number 7 of the "8 Films 2 Die 4" that made up Horrorfest 2006 (darn, I did not get to use 1, 3, 5, or 9 in that sentence). Without the virtue of actually looking up any information about the films at the official website or any place else I had assumed that there would be a variety of horror films to see over the three days. Indeed, there were your traditional splatter flicks with homicidal killers, ghost stories both foreign and domestic, one with vampires, and one with a restless corpse (cadaver to be more specific). One of the things I was expecting what with the recent success of "28 Days Later," "Shawn of the Dead," and the "Dawn of the Dead" remake was a zombie movie. But when this film began and we saw this mother and her two daughters driving through the forest to a mining town in Pennsylvania I turned to the guys sitting near me and said, "Well, this must not be the zombie movie." Boy, was I wrong.

This is one of those films with a prologue set in the past that sets up the horrible things that are going to happen in the present. In 1913 when the local mine was using children to plant dynamite in small holes to open up new mine shafts there was an accident and children were killed. You do not need to be a fan of horror movies to know that this was a bad thing and that somebody is going to have to pay. Jump to today and Karen Tunny (Lori Heuring), who has recently lost her husband and apparently has no choice but to move with her daughters, teenager Sarah (Scout Taylor-Compton) and younger Emma (Chloe Moretz), to an abandoned house they have inherited in this dying mine town. The house looks rather strange, but that is because the movie was filmed in Bulgaria and not because the house is evil or anything. However, the inside looks pretty wretched and when Karen finds fresh blood smeared on the door you have take everything with a grain of salt that their plight is so wretched they do not choose to just in the car and get out of town as fast as possible.

Good thing that Hank, the crazy old coot played by Ben Cross, continuing his descent from "Chariots of Fire" to roles like this, is around to explain to Karen how what happened over a century earlier is now putting her family at risk. Meanwhile, Sarah has hooked up with a group of local kids her own age, who not only tell her the story of the coal mining kids but also provide the requisite future dead teenagers to become early victims once the killing starts. Then there is little Emma, who says that she has made friends with somebody who used to live in the house and keeps wandering off into the deep woods to play. Finally, we have the guy whose family has owned the mine all these years and who actually is covered by the whole guilt laid out until the seventh son of the seventh son deal.

Ultimately, the cinematic points of reference for "Wicked Little Things" is not the current crop of zombie films but rather movies like "Village of the Damned," because the main selling point here is creepy kids. A whole pack of creepy kids, still dressed out in their mining duds from a century earlier, and when they start moving through the forest after their prey there are some decent moments, but then they catch the prey and things start going downhill. By biggest grip is that this is one of those films where the rules of the game kept bothering me, because over the course of a century these little things should have turned this mining town into a complete dead zone let alone a ghost town. Just do the math based on the body count they rack up in this film and whether you multiply that by a month or a year it would be enough to get everyone's attention. I do not know if Anne Rice was the first to come up with the idea that vampires had to return the blood they took from their victims to create another vampire, but it sure made better geometric sense than having each victim each night become a new vamp. I suppose it is possible these zombie minor miners do not need to eat at all and we are just catching them during a rare feeding frenzy, but I should not be the one having to come up with a logic that makes this film work, which is why I end up rounding down on everything.

However, on the plus ledger, in addition to the pretty Bulgarian scenery doubling for western Pennsylvania there is a valuable lesson to be learned here, namely: do not try to scream and rev a car engine at the same time if you want to be heard. Also, this Horrorfest 2006 movie at least has a character who was willing to drive on their rims rather than get out of the car and try to get away as was the case in "Penny Dreadful" As for the DVD, the only special feature is a commentary track by director J.S. Cardone ("The Forsaken") and actress Heuring, who were reunited on this film having worked togther previously on "The Mummy an' the Armadillo" That 2004 film has Betty Buckley, Clare Kramer, Busy Philipps, Brad Renfro, and way worse reviews than "Wicked Little Things," so I might have to check it out.

i love this movie (not just as a zombie/horror/slasher/blood en guts/ e.t.c fan) but this is a good movie. decent plot...

:plot:
a family moves in to an old cabin in the mountains after a divorce. the little girl starts talking to somewhat a friend who is dead. then comes the story of a century old horde of zombie children who feed at night.

sorry but i'm not the right person to describe these types of things to people. but a good horror movie none the less, i don't know why people gave this movie a poor rating. but it is a good watch to look at ^_^

also recommended titles from the series:
PENNY DREADFUL, REINCARNATION, and GRAVEDANCERS

Pull up a chair, horror fans, and lend an ear (you won't get it back). This film is actually quite good, much better than I expected. It's a movie that hearkens back to those classic horror films of the 70's when movies were about ghosts and mood and awesome scenery, not today's torture/butcher fests by heavy metal wackos posing as directors. Don't listen to the naysayers who are jaded by today's over the top garbage. This film is low-key at just the right times, but also goes for the gross-out when needed. And there's a Classic old-guy-who-knows-too-much performance by Ben (don't call me Barnabas) Cross. It's not a perfect film, but for a dark lonely night on the couch, it's a great little story with creepy little kid/zombie ghosts that now, I swear, I look for in the woods at night, just in case...

I must admit I only watched this because Scout Taylor-Compton who stars in the new Halloween. But then I watched it and I really liked it. The children scared the heck out of me. Dont believe all these bad reviews. check it out for yourslef.

Despite the bad reviews I gave this one a chance and was really disappointed. The plot is contrived...a recently widowed mother of 2 girls moves into a old family home [inherited by her late husband] deep in the mountains and finds her and her kids at the mercy of malevolent forces in the form of vengeful kids [who dies in a mining accident back in 1913]...yes that's basically the plot. A lot of things don't make sense like at the beginning the mom says she was forced to move into the old house as they have no money but contradicts that statement later, she allows her young daughter to go out with strangers on the second night in a strange place...etc etc. The 'wicked little things' themselves don't elicit much horror...the make-up is pretty bad, and there's no explanation as to why these kids have turned into flesh-eating zombies. The acting by the leads was actually ok, but with such a poorly plotted storyline with cheesy effects, there's not much that could help lift this horror flick out of the doldrums.

I guess the filmmakers thought there were still people out in that vast viewing audience of horror addicts who would be terrified by hiring about 20 healthy and strapping young school kids, slapping on gray and white makeup, dark mascara and telling them to act like zombies. When you see them in sihoulette, they resemble a bunch of youngsters heading for the school cafeteria. Even when they're shown in close-up, their well-fed faces and healthy looking bodies do not suggest long-dead zombies. Lucio Fuco gave us some great zombies 20 years ago in his Italian masterpiece, ZOMBIE. That should have been a turning point in zombie movies where future filmmakers could try to outdo the master. Instead, the filmmakers probably hired these kiddie undead creatures during a visit to a school and hired them and instructed them: "Now, I want you to look real scary and don't anybody smile." The result is that all of them look properly solemn and respectful but most suggest they were thinking: "how much longer do I have to wear this gray and white make-up and dark lipstick and mascara." Lucio Fulci, where are you when these young filmmakers need you the most?

Out of the 8 flims that are available in this series of movies this is one of the best. Make sure to add this one to your collection

A recently widowed mother of two moves with her daughters to a remote mountain home she finds a deed for among her late husband's belongings. The home is located near an old mine, where nearly a century ago an accident occured that cost the lives of many children who were working in the mine. This is the extent of the story you will get when you watch this lackluster film. I approach every film I see and every book I read wanting to enjoy the story. I love to be entertained. This is why it is so disappointing when a bad one gets through.

Basically, Wicked Little Things is like a made for Sci-fi Channel movie with slightly better effects but huge story gaps. At night, the ghosts of the children killed in the mine haunt the woods, killing anything straying into their path. But when they kill their victim, they proceed to eat the remains. I guess this means they are zombie ghosts. Another flaw is people die and no one comes around looking for them. There is supposed to be a town nearby but you never see it. Most of these films at least have a sheriff but I guess there wasn't enough in the budget. The locals seem to consist of a crazy old hermit (played by Ben Cross) who knows the local yore, a local handyman (Geoffrey Lewis), a trans-am filled with teenagers, and the clerk at the local store (who I couldn't figure out if he was supposed to be semi-retarded or a closet child molester due to the creepy way he seemed to dwell on the youngest daughter).

The make-up effects for the zombie kids was pretty good but special effects do not make a movie (unless its directed by Michael Bay). The most frightening thing about the film is the fact the DVD is an Unrated Director's Cut. This usually means things were added to the film since the theatrical release. I can't believe the movie I watched actually had added footage. All I can say is I feel worse for the people who saw this film in the theaters. Then again, maybe not. At least their version was shorter.

Part of the After Dark Horrorfest, "Wicked Little Things" is a haunting tale of the rural Pennsylvania hill country that has always been rife with legends and tales of ghosts and hauntings. A brief prologue set in 1913 finds a group of very young children forced to work deep in a coal mine. When the owner of the mind demands that a new shaft be blown up, the children are left inside to be buried alive.

Now in the present day, recently widowed Karen Tunny moves to this rural area of Carrolton with her daughters, teenager Sarah, and young Emma. She inherited the house when she found the deed in her husband's personal belongings after his death. The house was owned by his family and has been empty for many years. The Tunnys move there sight unseen, perhaps a bit of a stretch, but there are strong hints that there were serious financial issues and that they had nowhere else to go.

Wicked Little Things is filled with a load of horror film trappings and clichés. There's the weird storeowner who warns them to stay inside after dark, and the crazy neighbor who warns them of the same thing. The plumber assuredly states he wants to be done fixing her pipes before the sun sets...and then does just the opposite and I suppose you can guess his fate. And of course the young daughter seems to have a bit of a rapport with the spirits who haunt the area. It turns out the ghosts of those children buried in the mines prey on whatever they find after dark. Actually ghosts might not be the best word as they feed on their victims, making them more zombies I suppose but not the George Romero type...

The Crazy neighbor, Hanks, is actually protecting the Tunnys by smearing his blood on their front door at night as it seems they won't attack their own blood and Hanks is one of the children's ancestors. The area is suitably creepy, an old, almost primeval forest, protecting its deep, dark secrets. The ghosts/zombies are also fairly creepy with their pale complexions and dark eyes and lips, often smeared with blood.

The plot is fairly straightforward and predictable but then again, most horror films are predictable and part of the fun is the ride towards the end. The main weakness for me were the performances which were all stock horror film specials...vulnerable widow, rebellious teenage daughter, over curious young daughter, etc...Lori Heuring as the Mom just wasn't believable enough nor a strong enough lead to carry the film. She simply looks too young to have a teenaged daughter and just to pretty to play a beaten down widow. Ben Cross plays Hanks and again, he's playing the "Dr. Loomis" role and offers little in any way of an original performance. Interestingly, Scout Taylor-Compton who plays teenaged Sarah has been selected to play the role of Laurie Strode in Rob Zombie's remake of "Halloween."

The DVD extras are very slight. You get only a commentary with the Director J.S. Cardone and Lori Heuring. While the acting is mundane the overall atmosphere of the haunted woods and the creepiness of the ghostly kids lifts "Wicked Little Things" above the ordinary. Not a great film but definitely worth a view on a dark night.

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON