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Overall Rating : 4/10
Directed By : J.S. Cardone
Lori Heuring (8MM 2)
Scout Taylor-Compton (Halloween (2007) )
Chloe Moretz (The Amityville Horror (2005) )
Geoffrey Lewis (The Devil's Rejects)
Supplied By : Lionsgate Films
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Mar. 15, 2007
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| PLOT Recently widowed Karen Tunny and her two daughters, Sarah and Emma, move to a remote mountain home which Karen has inherited from the family of her late husband. However, she is unaware that the home is situated near an old mine, the site of an early 20th century tragedy in which many children were buried alive... |
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| THE REVIEW In WICKED LITTLE THINGS, having recently lost her husband Lori moves along with her children Sarah and Emma to a house that they inherited that belongs to her deceased husbands family for years. What Lori and the kids don't know is that in or around the early 1900 hundreds some child workers whom worked in the local mine were killed in a freak accident when they were buried alive - it just so happens that the children who died are relatives of Lori's late husband. Ever since their deaths people have been afraid of the house in which the children once lived and the woods that surround it saying that the children, now zombies, roam the woods attacking those in their path and around their home. When the the last know relative of the owner of the mine in which the fateful accident happened comes to town and plans to take over all of the land(including the Tunny house), the now zombie children come out of hiding to claim their families possession. Lori fearing for her life as well as her children's' must find a way out but it proves to be that much harder when her youngest daughter Emma becomes friends with the youngest female member of the flesh eating children named Mary. Well before seeing WICKED LITTLE THINGS I saw the trailer and read the plot, and like many other people I am assuming, I was really excited about this one. That excitement stems from me absolutely loving films in which children are superior to adults - take CHILDREN OF THE CORN, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED(both versions) and BLOODY BIRTHDAY for instance, especially John Carpenter's 1995 version of VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED, as I am a huge fan of that one. Well as far as this film goes, as in WICKED LITTLE THINGS the children play a big part in the plot....well they're basically all of it, but the execution is stale and lifeless the children have no real presence on screen and no identity one would deem memorable. Sure the kids are dressed in old 1900's clothing and carry pick axes and know how to "swing them" per say, but when they do actually strike, the deaths aren't exactly visible to the viewers eye... either it's too dark to see what actually happened to the victim or the camera decides to cut away....what's supposed to be the films entertainment, is actually very hum-drum. Since the children that the film is based around only come out when the sun goes down, that is when all of the films action takes place....leaving many scenes that are tired and boring to watch such as the water in the house not working for Lori and family, to the older daughter Sarah hooking up with a few local teens from the next town over and going out at night - really none of these scenes have nothing relative to the plot at all, making us wonder why they even exist. In meeting the new friends, Sarah takes a liking to one of the two males, and they seem to like each other, but that notion is not at all explored on, making all that happens nothing more than just filler material to pad out the runtime. As far as the acting in the film the only thing redeeming about it to me is Scout Taylor-Compton. Taylor-Compton is a talented young actress, with an upcoming future that looks ultra bright at this point, it doesn't hurt that she is cute/very hot, either - she is officially 18 now so it is safe for me to say that! Scout is also in the new HALLOWEEN film, helmed by Rob Zombie as the new Laurie Strode - so it's nice to see her in a Horror film prior to her role that could very well turn out to be the defining point of her acting career - I mean the Laurie Strode character is already legendary....I think now, after seeing her in this film, she was the best choice for the coveted role of Strode HALLOWEEN remake. I can't go on without mentioning Chloe Moretz either, she is a great child actress whom has the capability to play more diverse roles, however they are just not given to her. She has been in films like THE AMITYVILLE HORROR remake, ROOM 6, and now this one and to me the roles are not too distant from one another, she is put in roles where she becomes friends with ghosts or she's a ghost herself - give the girl a decent chance at something different, if the Fannings can do it, so can Moretz. Here on the site, I have so far only reviewed one other film by WICKED LITTLE THINGS Director J.S. Cardone and that was THE FORSAKEN, and even I rated that film higher, which is a shame - because I really expected more from this film. Overall WICKED LITTLE THINGS is like CHILDREN OF THE CORN, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED and THE WOODS wrapped into one but unfortunately it's not wrapped tightly with a nice bow attached, but more like a present that's been carefully unwrapped and re-wrapped by a curious mind before christmas....who obviously don't have a clue how to wrap... it just doesn't feel or look genuine. |
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| GORE
METER 4.5/10 we get dead animals, and various impalements with mining instruments, I didn't see the gore as being executed well though - as it was really hard to see the kills. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 4.5/10 The score is decent, and good for the atmosphere it provides, especially in scenes involving the woods. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM In the end WICKED LITTLE THINGS, ended up not being as good as I hoped and thought it would be - at one point I thought that this would be the best film out of the lot belonging to the Horrorfest collection....but how I was disappointed when I saw this. To me this film ended up being merely a Xerox copy of a story that already existed but unlike the other films it sort of of references from - it has no meat in the center of the story just a lot of "dead air" shall we say. In this film Mary serves as WICKED LITTLE THINGS' "Mara" from Carpenter's VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED(even the names are strikingly similar....coincidence?), unfortunately Mary here has no inner character, no personality, nothing to remember and is easily forgettable..... I don't ever see anyone beating Mara is the "badass, evil little bitch" category anytime soon..... The After Dark Horrorfest set (available individually, or as a boxed set) will be released on March 27, 2007 |
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