What we have here is a nasty little slasher where a trio of children go on a killing spree on their 10th birthday due to being born at the same time during a solar eclipse, which blocked Saturn causing them to possess a truly evil streak and become little psychopaths. They seem to revel in killing, maiming and strangling as many people as they can in their home town, including members of their own family, with baseball bats, a skipping rope, a bow & arrow and loaded guns to name a few methods, showing no empathy or remorse for their wrong doing at all.
Clearly inspired by the killer twist in Halloween (1978) this arrives in the slasher boom of the early 1980's and is a little different to the masked stalker trope of these type of horror movies by using children to commit horrific acts of violence and murder which still feels wrong watching this more than 40 years after it was released.
Competently directed by Ed Hunt there's a few uncomfortable sadistic kills, a ridiculous scene where the trio try to run someone over in a car through a junkyard and some prerequisite nudity courtesy of a 25 year old Lori Lethin in one of the films more controversially voyeuristic moments. The chill factor comes from the cold blooded killing committed by the trio of children who show no compunction in what they are doing, giving knowing evil smirks to the camera and working in tandem with one another as if it's their life mission to carry out these murderous acts.
Jose Ferrer and Susan Strasberg provide solid support to the three child leads, with Elizabeth Hoy especially chilling as the psychopathic Debbie who exudes evil right up to the final moments of the film. An enjoyable yet simple slasher that feels a little different from others of it's type from this era so well worth checking out.
Clearly inspired by the killer twist in Halloween (1978) this arrives in the slasher boom of the early 1980's and is a little different to the masked stalker trope of these type of horror movies by using children to commit horrific acts of violence and murder which still feels wrong watching this more than 40 years after it was released.
Competently directed by Ed Hunt there's a few uncomfortable sadistic kills, a ridiculous scene where the trio try to run someone over in a car through a junkyard and some prerequisite nudity courtesy of a 25 year old Lori Lethin in one of the films more controversially voyeuristic moments. The chill factor comes from the cold blooded killing committed by the trio of children who show no compunction in what they are doing, giving knowing evil smirks to the camera and working in tandem with one another as if it's their life mission to carry out these murderous acts.
Jose Ferrer and Susan Strasberg provide solid support to the three child leads, with Elizabeth Hoy especially chilling as the psychopathic Debbie who exudes evil right up to the final moments of the film. An enjoyable yet simple slasher that feels a little different from others of it's type from this era so well worth checking out.