Beware: Children at Play (1989) User Reviews

What the hell else did you expect- it's Troma.

[ericdetrick2002 · 5/10 · 27 April 2005]

After reading some of the outraged viewer comments I decided to write give my 1 cent. I am a 31 year old b-horror movie obsessed freak that still lives with his parents- so maybe that explains my taste in absolute trash. Over the years I have obtained a collection of dvds, videos, and laserdiscs that puts most video stores to shame (of course that is not saying much these days with Blockbuster and Hollywood video stores horrible horror section). Since I couldn't rent this at the time I bought this, I purchased this after seeing some clips of children being shot in really unrealistic fashion I couldn't resist.

The key is this- very campy. All you "Grudge-Ring-I know What You Did Last Summer with Van Helsing" fans will probably not "get it". What is there to get, you may ask? It's just funny, funny that a movie was put together professionally, shot on 35 mm film, that has scenes where children get shot on screen and they actually use squibs (some of you know what squibs are). Yes, you can see the kids breathing, strings connected arrows, and blood tubes, etc. But that's why I bought it.

So, the film as a whole is not that entertaining, but the death sequences are worth it for you fans of the bottom of the barrel films. Have fun. I'm going to go back to my room before my mom asks me to take the trash out.

90-seconds of hilarity, 60+ min of tedium

[Flak_Magnet · 3/10 · 10 September 2009]

This movie is a total bait and switch. I went into it having some positive expectations, namely, that I'd see a lot of grade school kids murdering their parents in a series of bloodsoaked rituals. However, this kind of stuff never really happens and it isn't until the FINAL 90-SECONDS that the director pulls out the stops, providing us with a hilariously bad "massacre" scene that had my brother and I rolling. The rest of this movie, however, is entirely forgettable and I can't recommend it. That final 90-seconds is awesome, yes, but you have to sit through a lot of boring crap and listen to a lot of bad writing to get there. If you just have to see the funny clip at the end where the kids all get killed, I'd search the web versus wasting a rental slot. Trust me, this movie sucks. A lot. ---|--- Reviews by Flak Magnet

Only for "Tromans" looking to complete a collection

[carlykristen · 5/10 · 10 October 2006]

Beware! Children at Play 1989 (Unrated Version)

The film is introduced by Llyod Kaufman as having a trailer deemed so controversial in it's depiction of children killing adults that it was booed at the Cannes Film Festival and half the audience walked out. That sounds like a bad joke I heard before. What does it take to offend a French person?…Or how many lightbulbs does it take to screw a French person?

The opening of the film is a father/son camping trip gone wrong. The father slowly dies after getting stuck in a bear trap and he tells his son to eat him spawning a cannibalistic cult of little children. And everything after this is screwier. The father was a professor that taught Anglo-Saxon poetry, or as the dimwit town sheriff affectionately refers to as "Angel Accent poetry", and this leads his son to believe that he, Glen Randell, is now "Grendel" from the poem "Beowulf". There are a variety of other bizarre explanations for the children's behavior in the convoluted plot involving the Sacrifice of Abraham's child to God amongst other things. Basically, the children disappear from the town, start a cult, hunt adults, and eat them. Sorry if this is confusing folks, but I watched the film and still don't get it. This is the most I could try to understand without falling asleep.

Unfortunately, as interesting as the premise sounds, the film is quite boring. It tried to be smart and I give it credit for that much. The SFX are good is some parts and bad in others. There are some scenes that try to make the mark, but fall short. One involves the young boy cutting open his father and eating his heart. At least I think that is what it was. The editing was strange and I am pretty sure it was not a real boy doing this for legal reasons. The stomach resembled an empty flap and a hand went in and pulled out a round, brown lump. The only scene that caught my attention for about 3 minutes was the slaughter scene at the end. And for the parents who secretly fantasize about killing their own kids, well here you have it.

There is a strange rape scene thrown in for no apparent reason. It seemed completely unnecessary and pointless. The child leader rapes a mom in front of other children including her own. That falls under the It's Just Wrong Category. And yet they somehow managed to make that boring as well.

The sound quality was okay, but there was goofy 80's boombox beat music at the oddest times. The film quality was decent, but there are problems with the editing and continuity issues. One scene in particular is shot at night and when the camera sings back to an actor talking, it is suddenly broad daylight!

Favorite Quote: A Bible salesman describing the Holy Bible he loves so much, "It is the best damn book ever! You don't need any god damn luck. You just say it is the word of God and their pocket book spreads it's cheeks and the long green pops out like puss from a pimple."

DVD Extras: The usual Troma fare: T.I.T. (Troma Intelligence Test), Still Gallery, Multiple Trailers, Commentary, and Bios. One note though, I could not read the menu. The font is illegible, so I just clicked on random colorful blobs I saw and hoped for the best.

Bottom Line: Only for "Tromans" looking to complete a collection.

Rating: 5/10

Molly Celaschi www.HorrorYearbook.com MySpace.com/HorrorYearbook

Cheap, perverse, and surprisingly cruel. For fans of shock-cinema only!

[Cowman · 29 December 2002]

BEWARE: CHILDREN AT PLAY is one of those two-cent Troma pick-ups shot in the late eighties by a small group of unknowns. The plot concerns a series of child abductions in a small town, a string of bizarre (adult) murders in said neighborhood, and a desperate cop who turns to a psychic for answers. The story and dialogue, although not stellar, certainly had had some thought put into them. The film also contained little to no nudity, and the scenes of gore were few and far between. As I watched the story unfold I kept thinking to myself how unusual it was for Troma to distribute a gore-less, titless, humorless, and generally actionless picture like this one. But then I saw the ending.

*** SPOILERS CONTAINED WITHIN NEXT PARAGRAPH! ***

At about 85 minutes into BEWARE, the movie takes a sadistic and truly unexpected turn. Without any warning, it drops from a non-graphic tale of mystery and suspense to a depraved circus of child massacre. The lead protagonist (who is trying to rescue the misled children, by the way) is killed from a gunshot to the head. Various children, roughly aged 4 to 12, are then shot, stabbed, beaten, and impaled, all in graphic (but unrealistic) detail, while upbeat action music toodles on in the background. The murders are all committed by the children's own parents, who are led to believe that their little bundles of joy are actually cannibalistic demons, and this debauchery goes on nonstop for about ten full minutes! Worse yet, a woman is shown being raped and killed right in front of her own daughter during a scene just preceding this one.

After finishing BEWARE, it became clear to me that the real reason the movie was made was to show the gruesome slaughter of little kids, and all the "plot" beforehand was merely filler so that the audience wouldn't feel guilty about rooting for the deaths of dozens of children. After all, at this point in the movie, the children's deaths are supposed to be "justified" since they may have been involved in a murderous cult earlier on in the story. Director Mik Cribben does his best to let the viewers know that they need not feel any remorse for enjoying the portrayals of children dying, and during an interview contained on the DVD, he tries to convince us that showing child murder is no worse than showing murder in general. Uh huh. Nice try, Mik.

It surprises me how little controversy this movie received, especially since it was made the year an extremely controversial video game for the Atari ST was released called "Schoolyard Slaughter". I guess 1989 was a good year to kill children!

Good bad, but soooo bad

[kidlopo-1 · 5/10 · 10 November 2019]

So poorly acted it's comical. What's worse is it wasn't intentional. For a tip on how to chew scenery watch the female reporter's performance

I Wish I Could Give It A Zero

[ictoae · 1/10 · 11 August 2005]

Now, I understand this movie is made for fans of Trama Studio's work and is a cult classic. But this movie is horrible. Cult classic or not, there is no reason you should enjoy a movie made on a budget that's less than many people make in a year. The special effects are the worst ever, there are constant mess-ups and errors, the sound is atrocious, and the video quality is horrible, even for a movie that's over a decade and a half old. The plot is just...unbearable. For unexplained reasons an innocent kid kills his father in the very beginning and eats him. Now, this might be more understandable if the kid was in a satanic cult or they were on Indian Burial Grounds or some other nonsense Trama might use to explain the storyline better, but there isn't. There is no reason at all.

It's been mentioned that many people might take offense at this movie, I didn't. I think it's horrible for other reasons. But there is children being slaughtered, extreme violence and gore, murder, nudity, and even rape. There is no reason or explanation for much of this. This is in my opinion, the worst movie ever and I think the one that we are forced to give it is overly generous. Avoid this movie as well as Trama's other work as much as possible.

Beware! Troma at work.

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 27 September 2015]

Young Glenn Randle (Eric Tonken) and his father (Bernard Hocke), a college professor of medieval and Anglo Saxon English, go on a camping trip into the wilds, where they fish, sing songs based on the Old English poem Beowulf, and play hide and seek (sounds like fun, huh?). It is during one of these games that Professor Randall steps on a bear trap, breaking his leg; unable to move, he lies there for three days, his son by his side, gradually going delirious as the wound becomes infected. Then he carks it. Affected by his dad's final feverish talk of 'gulping blood' and 'gobbling flesh', Glenn slices open his pop's belly and feasts on his entrails.

Ten years later, writer John DeWolfe (Michael Robertson) and his family—hypercritical wife Julia (Lori Romero) and daughter Kara (Jamie Krause)—travel to the same area to visit John's Vietnam buddy Ross Carr (Rich Hamilton), a local sheriff whose daughter Amy is just one of several children to have gone missing over the past few years. No prizes for guessing that crazy cannibal Glenn is responsible, having abducted and brainwashed the kids into believing that he is the mythical monster Grendell from Beowulf, and that they are flesh-eating demons.

Cannibalistic kids sure sound like a whole lot of demented fun, but despite the occasional smattering of bargain basement gore (including a cheezy bodily bisection by scythe, a slashed throat, an impalement on spiked stakes, and a mutilated corpse with a rat on its face), plus a couple of rather twisted sexual moments (Glenn/Grendell's rape of a woman while the killer kids watch on, and jail-bait Amy offering herself to John), Beware: Children at Play is mostly dull talk and uneventful wandering around the woods. The direction is uninspired and the acting is largely wooden, with my 'worst performance' award going to Stephanie Jaworski as irritating psychic Alice Allegari, who calls everyone 'deary' and deservedly has her guts eaten.

Still, this is one of those films where you might just want to hang on in there for the final few minutes (or get busy with the scene advance button), because the film almost redeems itself in the closing moments with a memorable spot of truly outrageous carnage, as the crazed kids are brutally massacred by the locals. Violence against kids is a touchy subject, even in horror films, but director Mik Cribben clearly doesn't care, with one terrible tyke getting a pitchfork through the neck, another having their entire head blown off by a shotgun, and another being forced to take a gun barrel in the mouth, with inevitable splattery results. OK, so all the 'dead' kids can clearly be seen still breathing as the camera surveys the carnage, but at least the film tries to push the boundaries of taste, and for that I'll generously give it a rating of 3/10.

Beware: Idiots At Work

[CitizenCaine · 1/10 · 27 September 2003]

This is easily one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Basically it's a Children Of The Damned wannabee. The acting is very bad, especially the children. The script is boring and relentlessly dull, punctuated by such zingers as, "you moronic Bible thumper" and "show me a warrant otherwise I'm calling the police" (said to a sheriff). One of the children in the movie could have written better lines. The gore is laughable in here. It's obviously so fake. One victim can be seen breathing after being killed. Another is stabbed, obviously, way to his left, like underneath his arm pit. The well hyped ending is ridiculous; it resembles getting together with neighbors and making a home movie and throwing in a bottle of ketchup. The background music is extremely annoying and one of those all-in-one keyboard machines was obviously used, the kind that make drum sounds, synthesizer effects, etc. The music is very typical over-synthesized 80's trash. The producers should have saved their money and bought a can of ravioli for the kids, instead of making this movie. 0 of 4 stars.

Good idea, bad execution

[Blairpac · 2/10 · 17 December 2002]

First off, I have to admit that the story to Beware: Children at Play isn't bad. I mean, some of the plot points are unique, and it's at least nice not to see the same assembly-line horror plot that you'd see in a bigger-budget movie. Yet, the low-budget ultimately ruins the movie. Sure, you'd expect the acting to not be up to par, but in this movie, the thespian work is really bad. It's on the level of skin flicks. Also, the special effects, for the most part, are even worse than what you'd find in a B-movie. It's more like what you'd expect from a recent film-school graduate. As other people have mentioned, the movie does have many boring points. The ending, while nice, isn't good enough to warrant a recommendation on my part. So, I can't say that I'll ask people to see this flick.

not that bad

[zombietackle · 7/10 · 24 February 2011]

sure, it drags at parts, but mostly this is a fun little film, with really good gore. the gore does come far and few in between, but when it shows, it shines. there is a very cool scene in witch a man is cut in half with a scythe, the effect works very well, and at first i did not notice how well it works. also, one thing to watch for is the ending, if you had a bad day, and some little kid is acting like a jerk to you, watch this ending, and you will feel better. the story is well told, but for gore fans, it drags in places, but give it a chance, and you might find it creepy in a way. but the best thing about this film is the ending, witch is one of the best ending put to film, but seeing as the story is built up so much, that the ending really sudden. check it out for all of this that i just talked about, and don't trust kids! my rating: 7/10

Slow Starter...Big Finisher (5 out of 10)

[MrNefarious · 5/10 · 22 November 2003]

I went in expecting low budget thrills and they came, but they just came late in the movie. It was decent for the first three fourths of the movie,but it moved slowly. Once it hit the last quarter of the movie it picked up tremendously. I love the last quarter of the movie. If the whole movie had been like that part I could have given it a much higher score. Still I am proud to have added this Troma classic to my collection. (5 out of 10)

The best child slasher movie ever made!

[oro-2 · 10/10 · 31 August 1999]

FORGET! Medea (1970), El Topo (1971), Non si sevizia un paperino (1972), A Quiet Day in Belfast (1974), Quién puede matar a un niño? (1975), The Godsend (1980), Dead Kids (1981), Sleepaway Camp (1983), Children of the Corn (1984), Witness in the War Zone (1987), Henry V (1989), La corsa dell'innoncente (1992), Screamers (1996), La classe de neige (1998) - and many others. THIS!!! film qualify for the title as the ultimate child-slasher movie (or child-kill film) (have you ever heard this expression before?) ever made. At least I will place it as no. 1 in this "genre". The only other film, I can think of, that can match "Beware: Children at Play" in terms of bloodshed, is probably Paul Morrissey's: Mixed Blood (1985).

Throughout much of the film we are actually more like witnesses to a criminal investigation in child (and adult) disappearances, than we are spectators to a horror movie, but gradually the horror becomes more evident and the total bodycount in the film is something like 27, whereof 2/3 is children - and there are lot of ingenuity in the killings , it's NOT only guns that are used (and furthermore do most of the killings take place in broad daylight. It's not a guess-what-happens-in-the-dark film).

The story is full of biblical references and allusions (we are in the "New Jersey Biblebelt"), but it also centers round the old Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf (or Bjowulf) from which the children apparently have got the ideas for their cultish ceremonys and doings (the probably best descriptions of Grendel, and his doings, is given in line 102-114 & 730-757 in the poem). It's funny to think of, that the only (to my knowledge) surviving Anglo-Saxon poem, that has its story from the time BEFORE the Anglo-Saxon settlements in Britain, actually isn't a story about the Anglo-Saxon peoples but instead a story about the Danes, the Geats and the Frisians - I myself have this poem in all the 3 major Danish translations from this century, but it's the first time I see a film, that refers to Beowulf.

WARNING - DO NOT READ THIS NEXT PARAGRAF, IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE ABOUT REVEALING PLOT POINTS. From the title of the film and from the introduction on the videocover we are to believe, that the children are the villains - and they are - but the prime villain is actually the Bible-crazy character played by the director of the film, and what more is, the guy, we all throughout the film thought to be the "hero", is killed at the end by the director himself - now ain't that funny?!

Actually I'm convinced that everyone, including the children, had a good time making this film, and for most of the 20 children it has so far been an one time experience in movie making to participate in Beware: Children at Play. At least it seems, that only 1 of the children have been involved in movie making since.

But! - Is there anything anoying by this this film? Well some might say, that the religous references is a little to much, others might find the violence and the killings offensive, but the violence in this film is so improbable and unrealistic that you should only be able to see it from a humoristic point of view (but many people unfortunately lack this sense of humor). In comparison, some of the violence in a film like "La classe de neige" is much more disturbing (and for many viewers almost unbearable to watch) because its premisses is, that it could be true - and in some sadly cases is true. In "Funny Games" (1997) the violence is even more brutal, and the message of this film is, that the audience in a sense is responsible for the violence in films, simply because they watch these kind of films. A third kind of violence is, when the violence should be perceived as either a social critic or as some kind of artistic expression, and this type of violence is probably what you experience in a film like "El Topo". Well, if I should point 3 "bad" things about this film out, it would be: 1) the amateurish and annoying background music. 2) The very visible wires at the end of the film. 3) The difficulty of having children to play dead without breathe or swallow. - but this is only minor flaws, and I won't hesitate to give the film a vote of 10 out of 10. And by the way. One child DO survive the atrocities, so a sequel is possible - if anyone dares!!!

"Maggots eat my flesh, sin eats my soul."

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 20 February 2012]

I'm going to give screenwriter Fred Scharkey and cinematographer / director Mik Cribben their props for this frequently funny, terrifically tacky 'n' tasteless entry into the "killer kiddie" genre. You're not going to find a "Children of the Corn" derivation with heavy religious overtones, prominent references to the classic tale "Beowulf", and a big deal made of alliteration anywhere else. Hell, when it features a quote as great as the one used for this summary, you know you're in for a good time if you find this sort of thing endearing to begin with. The story begins in the past when a professor gets his luckless self stuck in a bear trap while on a camping trip with his kid, and loses his mind as he slowly dies. Fast forward ten years and a rural cop, Ross Carr (Rich Hamilton), calls upon a friend of his, John DeWolfe (Michael Robertson), a writer who creates sensational books with titles like "Unexpected Detour", to help in the case of children who are going missing. Cribben is someone you may recognize if you've seen the 1981 slasher "Nightmare", as he had a supporting role in that movie, and he also acts here, as the farmer Isac Braun. He and the other cast members take themselves seriously, although it's guaranteed that that's something that the viewer isn't likely to do. Some of the "acting" is just priceless; local loudmouth Josiah (Lee Kayman) can be used as a prime example, and the dialogue is likewise a total inane hoot, as it features gems like "Those guys would make The Odd Couple look like an identical pair.". Not only is Cribben's little movie fully willing to break a taboo, but it treats its cast of characters as all fair game. Some people watching may find the denouement pretty predictable, but it's quite amusing just the same. It's worth sitting through "Beware! Children at Play" just to get to the hysterical climactic action featuring wholesale slaughter. Some of the low rent gore gags are a riot, especially when one victim is hacked right in half, and the music score courtesy of Hershel Dwellingham may provide laughs as well. It's no surprise Troma would distribute this, and anybody who enjoys Troma's own productions should find this a nice little diversion. Seven out of 10.

2 stars for the last 5 minutes

[d_m_s · 2/10 · 6 March 2015]

Pretty disappointing B movie. The story is daft (a kid turns feral after a camping trip in the woods where his dad dies and he is left to fend for himself. Years later, he somehow coaxes children of the near-by town into living with him in the woods and attacking all adults. None of this is explained apart from an extremely tenuous idea that he turned murderous because no one came to help him and his dad - no search party? How he brainwashes all the other kids is not even mentioned).

All in all, a real slow mover with nonsensical script, character actions, plot etc. Terrible acting too.

However, the last 5 minutes are crazy, when a bunch of adults from the town come and slaughter all the wayward kids that have been living in the woods (this includes their own children). It is nonsensical madness but even more than that, I was *slightly* disturbed by the rather perversely graphic killings of the kids in what was a sudden and jarring change of pace and atmosphere. I was particularly surprised at the guy who holds a kid by the hair, puts a gun into his mouth and blows the back of his head out. I don't know why I felt slightly disturbed but I did. Still, the fact that it suddenly became weird, fast paced, gory and a tad more interesting earned it one more star than I would otherwise have given.

A Twisted Masterpiece

[Crap_Connoisseur · 29 June 2006]

Mike Cribben's cult favourite Beware: Children at Play is one of the most demented films ever to be picked up by Troma. The film deserves praise for fearlessly breaking one of the last taboos in horror and most impressively, doing so in an entertaining manner. Beware: Children at Play really is a taste free zone. For that achievement alone, the film is an absolute must see.

Lloyd Kaufman's introduction to the film begins with an anecdote recounting how a preview for Beware: Children at Play successfully emptied a theatre at the Cannes film festival. I'm sure the reaction would have been one of rapturous applause if the audience had seen the film in its entirety, because within the context of the "plot", the slaughtering of the demon children really does provide great entertainment. I know that sounds abominable but when a film's plot revolves around wild cannibalistic children who believe they are characters from Beowulf, I would say that just about anything goes.

The film begins slowly and somewhat painfully due to the extended dialogues about "cleavages" (I didn't even know there was a plural form of the word) and supernatural phenomenon. Before too long, John has joined Ross in his search for a group of missing children. These children really need a visit from Super Nanny because they spend their time cutting people in half with sickles and impaling trespassers on wooden stakes. The fact that children are depicted eating body organs would be tasteless enough for most directors, but to Cribben's credit he raises the bar by throwing a rape scene and a handful of religious fanatics into the mix. The film momentarily goes astray while our incredibly stupid heroes go to the library and read Beowulf, in order to get into the mind of the ringleader, who believes he is the cannibalistic monster, Grendel.

Thankfully, Beware: Children at Play gets back on track for the infamous child killing marathon. This sequence is remarkable in its complete and utter shamelessness. Kiddies get decapitated, stabbed, shot and killed with pitchforks. It is all so very wrong but when presented in this context, with the campy production values and incredibly unrealistic effects, the scene comes across as a stroke of genius. However, I think the picture gallery of slaughtered children on the Troma DVD is a bit foul even by my degenerate standards. That said, I'm glad that Troma once again has the balls to put this kind of material out on the market.

Beware: Children at Play is definitely not for everyone. However, fans of Troma and tastelessness in general will have a grand old time watching this shocker. I give this film full marks for having the backbone to completely smash one of cinema's biggest taboos and for being entertaining while doing so.

Low-budget Northern hick-horror will never be a good idea

[Tromafreak · 3/10 · 25 March 2009]

I have yet to see the big-budget Beowulf movie from a couple years ago. Probably never will. I don't care for big-budget movies, I like 'em old and obscure, and sometimes, downright awful. Despite all that, I got a strong feeling Beowulf is probably a decent watch compared to this one. And whatever vague connection these two movies share, really makes no difference to me, because big-budget cinema ain't my cup of tea, and Beware: Children At Play clearly ain't worth a damn.

Yay, it's a camping movie from the 80's. Father and son, playing, and frolicking amongst nature. Awkward little scenes involving the father quoting Beowulf, and father and son singing "Old McDonald". Father chases son a tad too much, and gets his leg stuck in a bear trap. Son sits by dying fathers side for days, listening to him go insane, and obsessively quoting Beowulf, and eating beans. A lot of talk about cannibalism. Father croaks, brain-washed son ditches beans, and mutilates and eats freshly deceased father. Wait a minute, this isn't a camping movie, this is an extremely low-budget, not-so-well-thought-out, non-Kaufman, Troma movie... from the 80's.

Fast forward 10 years. John Dewolfe, along with his irritating little family is driving out to rural New Jersey to help out his old army buddy (sherriff of Rural, New Jersey) and his irritating little family, who are all stressed because his daughter was kidnapped. Actually, a lot of kids from this irritating little town have turned up missing. Is it foul play, or did they simply take off because they were sick of being bored? Well, whatever the case, sci-fi writer, John Dewolfe, Army-buddy-Sheriff, his pal, Dr. Fish, and some psychic should have enough brain power between them to get to the bottom of this.

After the first few scenes involving father and son time, my expectations were already low enough. I had come to terms with exactly how bad of an experience this was going to be. Which, if my naive assumption had been accurate, this movie wouldn't have been all that bad. Enter John Dewolfe and family, and everything goes to Hell. Beware: Children At Play is just plain boring, and there's no way around it. Not the worst I've ever seen, not even remotely the worst from Troma, but this just gives you no reason to welcome it into your collection.

For far more worthwhile non-Kaufman Troma's, check out Decampitated (an actual camping movie), or Redneck Zombies (masterpiece), or Combat Shock (most depressing comedy ever made). Sure, Beware Children At Play does offer head-ache inducing boredom, an unappealing, cheap, keyboard score, zero intentional or unintentional humor, and, pretty much, nothing else, but if you actually make it through this entire movie, you just might look back on your experience in Rural New, Jersey with fond memories. 3/10

Acting Childish - OK killer kids film

[ninjaalexs · 5/10 · 4 May 2022]

This one is in the "killer kids" style of horror film like: Children of the Corn, The Damned series and Who Can Kill A Child?; all better films than this one.

A group of children go missing in a forest and the adults investigate what is going on. They find their leader is a teenager and the children are murderous cannibals.

It doesn't really do anything well. The script is half-baked with corny dialogue and an absurd plot were the humour doesn't land. As with most Troma films the acting is bad, but not the worst I've seen. It tries to merge a few tropes: the gory slasher movie, the supernatural mystery and the backwoods cannibal.

It's not really worth your time despite a good ending. For killer kids films there's loads that do it better; Who Can Kill A Child? Is the pick of the bunch with Mikey, The Damned and The Children also being good choices.

Versions: The Blu-Ray from Vinegar Syndrome has a superb print from 35mm negative. The film is unreleased in the UK, maybe Troma got cold feet due to Child's Play 3 being withdrawn. If it was to be released it would easily pass uncut at 18.

Decent but the ending went for shock value rather than offering a proper solution

[Johan_Wondering_on_Waves · 3/10 · 14 January 2015]

It does resemble "The Children (1980)" somehow and is also from Troma. Here there is actually a story behind the children's actions. I was surprised that the movie is from the late eighties as it looked so seventies to me. Character development is still not much to shout about. The killings done by the kids are a bit more inventive. Unfortunately they also kill of good characters. I would have given it a 4 but the ending was so stupid and only went for shock value than actually opt for a proper solution. For those who want to know: The adults kill all the kids in the end because they believe the blabber of some religious moron in a rather graphic way even though they are no longer under control of their devilish leader.

Little Kids....kill

[chelano · 4/10 · 15 October 2010]

The whole background to this story is just terrifying. What if a group of children had a group where they killed grown ups and ate them. That would scare me. But the movie was not that scary and could of had a lot of changes. It would of been nice if the children were more scary. The only scary thing about them was they would hide in the fields and whisper to each other. It was like watching a wimpier version of "Children of the Corn". Basically a kids dad dies who taught the child strange Anglo-Saxon stories. As a revenge the kid grows up and thinks he is a leader of a group that kills adults. He gets other kids under his belt and forms a killing cult. Some of the acting was OK and some was just horrible. They had a few good gore scenes but then near the end, the gore and killing gets out of hand. I almost felt like I was watching a horror spoof near the end. I can remember two scenes in this film that should of not been in there. They were put in there out of good taste and really had nothing to do with the story line. Also I am not sure if the editor was sleeping, but there were a few scenes with very noticeable errors that should of been fixed or taken out. If you look at the poster for this movie, it will scare you. It comes off as very creepy. But when you finally watch the film, your whole view changes. In fact, I actually liked the film until halfway though. Then it just got silly.

amateur hour and a half

[carkent1-1 · 1/10 · 11 December 2022]

Children in your local playground doing make-believe roll-playing are more convincing than the kids and even most of the adults here. Poorly written, laughably directed, amateurishy blocked with an end massacre that is unintentionally hilarious in how perfunctorily it is presented. The leader of the stolen kids has scenes of violence and sex that are embarrassing. Many of the freshly killed seem to forget to stop breathing. The sheer inauthenticity of thedialogue is disconcerting. Almost every line spoken is exposition. Backwoods types sound like they are from Brooklyn. There is no dramatic impact. Children disappear and nothing much is done to find them. The same kids come back looking for pies or people to eat and no one seems to be relieved or scared or whatever a real reaction might be.

If you can tolerate watching the whole mess, you will regret wasting 90 minutes of your life on this.

A Rare Triumph for Troma!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 1 December 2008]

In comparison with the vast majority of junk Troma Studios released over the years, "Beware: Children at Play" is actually very endurable and – do I daresay it – even occasionally imaginative and entertaining junk! Personally I always had a weakness for films revolving on murderous children, so maybe I was a bit more tolerant and open-minded in this case, but you'll also quickly notice that this film is less awful than the usual outings of Lloyd Kaufman's Studio. The subject matter is as ridiculous, over-the-top and offensive as usual, but at least the finished product feels a lot less amateurish. The plot opens with a young boy standing guard over his daddy as he's lying trapped in a bear claw and slowly dying in agony. When he eventually passes away, the bewildered boy rips open his stomach and eats the organs with a devilish smile on his face. Cut to ten years later, with a family of three arriving in the same forestry area and learning that 12 children already went missing and their number increases every two months. Then the children show themselves again, but the parents won't have the chance to embrace them anymore as they've formed an eerie cult of savage and flesh-eating monsters with as their sole mission to annihilate all adults. The concept admittedly sounds totally crazy, but I can't emphasize enough that this is a superior Troma script, even dragging in poetic sub plots and literature references. There also still is loads of splatter and repulsive make-up art to behold, so even the die-hard fans of the lousy Troma stuff won't have to feel entirely disappointed (though it's hard to imagine there are people who feel disappointed upon seeing a film that is actually better than initially anticipated). The acting performances of the whole cast – the children included – are not very good, but definitely Oscar-worthy compared to … well … usual Troma standards. Heck, there even are some admirable attempts to build up suspense and a sinister atmosphere at times, so I feel almost tempted to label "Beware: Children at Play" as a good film! Granted, you'd have to be quite sick in the head to enjoy a story like this – and particularly to sit through the outrageously demented climax – but that's just an extra recommendation to all you raving bloodthirsty movie-maniacs. You know who you are!

God Save Us!

[frankwhat · 1/10 · 22 November 2004]

I've seen low-budget horror movies before and they provide that so bad it's funny feel to them and this was no exception. However this was the worst yet! I swear the actors must've been reading off of cue cards because they put absolutely no emotion into it whatsoever, it was like they were all monotones. To get a scary effect in the background a scene would consist of a tree shaking and unfortunately they did this multiple times. I was just so bored with it I wanted to cry. I did laugh at a lot of the death scenes though since they were done so poorly. Oh and the ending is hysterical since there's no reason or justification for it whatsoever. When one kid gets shot at his head just pops, I think they used a balloon as a prop...no kidding! The guns were like Revolutionary War muskets and I got a kick out of that as well. The dialog was retarded and whoever wrote a script this bad should be shunned from the film industry for the rest of their natural born-lives!!! Only watch if you want a good chuckle and for an ending that you won't find anywhere else.

Final Cry:

Movies: If this made it into theaters I was the first President of the U.S.

DVD Purchase: That'd be a no!

Rental: Only in extreme situations!

A gloriously sick, twisted and disturbing little pip

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 5 February 2007]

The children of a sticksville Pine Barrens, New Jersey hamlet venture off into the surrounding woods and become members of a crazed cannibal cult which turns the little buggers into feral, fiendish, flesh-eating freaks. The nasty nippers attack adults and devour their corpses. When the scared devoutly religious townspeople find out what's happening they form into a dangerously hysterical and heavily armed mob who go storming into the forest with the specific intention of killing their own kids. Boy, is this jaw-dropping wackoid wonder one really creepy, disturbing and seriously sick movie! Director Mik Cribben, who also shot and edited the picture and portrays the deranged ringleader of the insane posse (Cribben's other credits include second unit work on "Annie" and "The Eyes of Laura Mars," plus various behind-the-scenes contributions to such horror films as "Squirm," "Nightmare," and "The Deadly Spawn"), effectively creates a spooky and mysterious tone, elicits sound performances from a game no-name cast, keeps the pace chugging along at a slow, yet steady clip, and, most importantly, pours on the graphic carnage by the nauseating bucketful. WARNING: Possible *SPOILERS* ahead. Lots of tykes get messily offed in copious volume in the truly jolting climax: one tot's head goes boom into a dozen bloody bits by a pump shotgun blast, another child's brains get splattered when a pistol is jammed in his mouth, and a third moppet winds up impaled on a pitchfork that's rammed through his neck. Furthermore, we even get a pertinent message about the hazards of hardcore religious dogma and the equally lethal lynch mob mentality. A beautifully bent, batty and berserk bloodthirsty barn burner.

Circle of dead children.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 6/10 · 30 March 2011]

"Beware:Children at Play" tells the shocking story of small town in New Jersey called Pine Barrens.Every month one child is missing from it and some adults are mysteriously butchered and cannibalized.It's up to Sheriff Carr and paperback writer John DeWolfe to solve the mystery...Mik Cribben's "Beware:Children at Play" is an amateurish and surprisingly nasty "Children of the Corn" knock-off.The acting is poor and the gore effects are gleefully cheap for example a salesman gets sliced clean in half but still attempts to crawl away with his entrails hanging out.The chanting of murderous children is pretty creepy.The final showdown is an insane and bloody massacre of children which is poorly executed at the same time.6 dead children out of 10.

Yikes!

[robsea32 · 1/10 · 4 October 2008]

I've seen a lot of trashy horror films, but this film is maybe the worst picture I've ever seen. The movie makes absolutely no sense at all and has the production values of a home movie. The worst part is when the main characters daughter participates in the killing of a woman freely, but is apprehensive about consuming her flesh. One of the other children remarks "but it's good try it" and she's like "okay" and dives right in. That sentence makes it sound almost comical, and maybe in the right disgusting, deplorable film it might be, but there is no entertainment value to be found in this picture. The movie manages to cram many adult deaths, a rape scene, and the slaughter of all of the children into the movie into 90 minutes, with not even one moment of it actually being scary or terrifying. For those that walked out the theater, I'm sure it was because of boredom and a general disgust at the subject matter over feeling truly disturbed at any of the hokey stuff that goes on in this garbage movie.