Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

the audience applauded

Good movie but grossly overrated

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It is a real pleasure to watch a clever horror story with striking references to the worse of human history. Sure the portrait of the loving scared wife is kind of caricatured... But other times... Other women. The movie could have gained in mastery if Narciso Ibáñez Serrador had chosen between art-house film and B-movie. Anyway it's a good movie for creepy movie lovers.

In the 10/27/66 episode of "Star Trek," the one entitled "Miri," Capt. Kirk & Co. beam down to a planet on which all the adults have long since expired, and only feral children reign. Well, although taken from a wholly different source, a similar setup can be found in the surprisingly excellent Spanish horror film "Who Can Kill a Child?" (1976). But while a planetwide virus was to blame for the extinction of the adults in the classic "Trek" story, the film gives us an even more sinister explanation. In that film, we meet a young English couple, Tom and Evelyn (Lewis Flander, filling in when Anthony Hopkins' services could not be obtained, and Prunella Ransome), on holiday in the Spanish coastal town of Benavis. Tom is a biologist, while his wife--a beautiful blonde who almost resembles the early '70s Joni Mitchell--is pregnant with their third child. The couple hires a boat and goes to the small island of Almanzora, four hours off the Spanish coast, but when they arrive, they realize that there are no adults around; only dozens of giggly children. And this is only the start of a progressively nightmarish ordeal for the decent British couple....As I watched this film for the first time, the thought struck me that what we have here is an ingenious mash-up of Hitchcock's "The Birds" (1963) and Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), substituting young, fresh-faced moppets for the avian terror and the lurching undead. And in one of the interview extras on this great-looking Dark Sky DVD, the film's cinematographer, Jose Luis Alcaine, voices that same opinion. But whereas no explanation was vouchsafed in the Hitchcock film for the winged attacks (other than that order for a chicken dinner in the luncheonette, perhaps), "WCKAC?" spells things out for the viewer quite plainly. Interspersed throughout the film's opening credits, we see a good 10 minutes' worth of B&W documentary footage from the Auschwitz death camp during WW2, from the India-Pakistan War of 1947- '48, from the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and from Biafra...along with the numbered tallies of children killed in each conflict. Children, it seems, always get the worst of it in these upheavals, and this barrage of newsreel footage will make the viewer wonder why the young ones on planet Earth have not homicidally rebelled against all the adults even sooner!Featuring exceptionally fine acting from its two leads, meticulous direction by Narciso Ibanez Serrador, outstanding photography by Alcaine, and a creepily effective lullaby theme that permeates the film--alternating with the effective and realistic use of silence--"WCKAC?" is a minor horror masterpiece; a real find for the horror fan who thinks he/she has seen it all. The picture edges toward the supernatural as it proceeds, and Evelyn's ultimate fate is one of the most brilliant and shocking sequences in any horror film that I've ever seen (and believe me, I've seen quite a number at this point!). The film builds tension slowly, spaces its shocks wisely, and is not overly dependent on gore to get the job done, although it certainly does not shy away when the time is right. As Alcaine tells us in his interview, the picture was shot not in one island village, but rather, and incredibly, in four locations: in the inland sites of Madrid and Toledo, on the coast at Sitges and on Minorca, in the town of Fornells. Matching the harsh sunlight glare of the inland sites to the hazier light of the Mediterranean locations posed a problem, apparently, but the viewer will never be aware of it. I would have sworn that the film was shot in this one sunbaked island village, and could almost feel the heat rising off my television screen. In case you couldn't tell from my 10-star perfect rating, which I rarely give out, I absolutely love this film, and more than heartily recommend it to the discerning horror fan. Watch it for yourself, and then see if YOU can answer the tough question that the title poses....

Well, this is one of the early efforts in "the evil child" genre, and I really had looked forward to watching this. Unfortunately, this film was neither extreme nor a masterpiece, and it often moved at snail's pace. By all means, it was watchable, but the feeling of being unnerved in any way, was sorely amiss. How sensitivity, constitution and tastes differ. The positive aspects with this "golden" oldie, is the acting, and a fairly decent atmosphere, aside from that, not much to write home about really. Now, on to the power of suggestion. In true masterpieces like the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this works very well, that film has such a nasty, fiendish, corroding atmosphere, that showing the slaughter in gory detail, would surely have devalued the entire experience. I wish I could say the same in this case. But no, this film surely is in dire need of "show, not tell." Literally every murder has already happened, and when the opportunity is there to revel in some sadistic, child's play, like with the woman snatched away from the switchboard, it is not exploited at all, and the camera turns back to the two protagonists. Now, how boring is that? The only extreme aspect of the film is the opening, talk about promising but not delivering. By all means, watch it, but in no shape or form expect something extreme and groundbreaking. I would go for The Children (2008) or Children of the Corn instead. Both are far superior films.

Who Can Kill a Child? starts in Spain where British couple Tom (Lewis Flander) & his pregnant wife Evelyn (Prunella Ransome) are on holiday, however with a recent spate of dead bodies being found washed up on the beach & the noisy fiesta fireworks every night Evelyn says she wants some peace & quiet. The couple decide to visit a small island named Almanzora that Tom know's, with a small population of about a hundred people & some beautiful scenery the tranquil Spanish island seems ideal. Tom & Evelyn set out by boat & reach Almanzora but are surprised to find the village almost completely deserted, apart from some random children running & playing in the streets there doesn't seem to be any adults or sign of life anywhere. The true horror of what Tom & Evelyn have stumbled upon becomes clear whey they witness a young girl beat an old man to death, they quickly discover that an unknown madness has turned all the children into killers...Also known under the titles Island of the Damned, Island of Death, Death is Child's Play, Trapped & Would You Kill a Child? the original title of this Spanish production was ¿Quién Puede Matar a un Niño? & it was written & directed by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador based on a Spanish novel called El Juego de los Niños by Juan José Plans, with a strong reputation that precedes it I was really looking forward to seeing Who Can Kill a Child? but now having seen it I feel nothing but disappointment. I keep seeing the words 'horror masterpiece' in comments & reviews but I just don't get the love for this, I really don't. At one hour & fifty two minutes long (uncut) it felt like it went on forever & it really dragged ion places, now I wouldn't mind a slow moving film if the story was engaging or interesting enough to maintain my attention & reward my patience but I never felt Who Can Kill a Child? did. The whole issue surrounding the killer children was left deliberately ambiguous which I didn't mind but why didn't the child attack & kill Tom & Evelyn straight away? Surely there is more than one way to get to the peer & the boats? While the basic question posed by the title is a disturbing & makes for a unsettling premise for a film I don't think Tom had to kill any of the children to escape. Also what happens when the children grow up & become adults? Is there like a cut off age? The day you turn eighteen you will be slaughtered but not before? To me the majority of the film felt like endless hots of a Spanish town without anyone there, the basic mystery element of what happened to the adults is there but it can only take the film so far & when that's all the film has in terms of actual plot I struggle to see how it can be called a masterpiece. Things pick up towards the end but once Evelyn's unborn baby in her womb kills her from the inside credibility starts to go out the window. Personally I don't think Who Can Kill a Child? has anything to say, I don't consider it intelligent or deep & for me it is what it is with no hidden message or profound meaning.While I wasn't impressed with the script & story I did like the look of Who Can Kill a Child? with it's nice Spanish locations, the photography is nice & captures the sun drench heat as well as the isolation quite well. It's certainly a handsome looking film. I suspect the only real horror meant here was purely the fact that children were behind what was going on, there's not much attempt to set up any set-pieces or have any big scares apart from the loudest & most annoying phone suddenly ringing at various points. There's not much blood or gore, an old man is hit with his walking cane & then strung up, a few children are shot & hit with wooden beams at the end but otherwise Who Can Kill a Child is pretty restrained. The opening sequence features about five minutes of real life war footage of children getting caught up in the atrocities & the suffering they endure. I'm not sure why it's there really but it's easily the most horrific & disturbing part of the film.Filmed in Spain the soundtrack is split between Tom & Evelyn who speak English & everyone else who speaks Spanish, it does get quite annoying actually. The scenery is nice & it looks different to most horror films out there but I just didn't enjoy the film overall. The acting is alright, apparently director Narciso Ibáñez Serrador wanted Anthony Hopkins to play the lead of Tom.Who Can Kill a Child? is a film that I have actually wanted to track down & see for years having seen all the glowing reviews & thinking it sounded like a great film but having finally watched it I feel nothing but disappointment for what is a good looking & well made film with a few decent moments that suffers from a poor script & a Snail's pace.