A bus bound for a mental institution containing a quintet of psychologically unbalanced and murderous children runs off the road and goes tumbling down a cliff, killing the driver in the process (this opening scene is quite jarring and splendidly staged). The deadly brats survive the accident and take refuge at a swanky winter resort run by the mean, irascible, browbeating Papa Doc (a deliciously dour Gene Evans, a longtime favorite of Samuel Fuller who was in Sam Peckinpah's last two Westerns "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" and "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid"). Pretty soon the killer kids go on a rampage: they junk the guests' cars, cut the power lines, and begin to violently off Papa Doc's arrogant, decadent, back-stabbing clientèle (a lady gets set ablaze after being drenched with gasoline, another hapless lass has piranha dumped in her bathtub, that sort of ghastly stuff).
This thoroughly sick and therefor most compelling psycho thriller marked the impressive debut of promising horror movie one shot wonder Sean MacGregor, who proved with this creepy, unique and wickedly warped humdinger that he could make one hell of a fright flick (MacGregor's sole other horror picture credit was writing the story for the eerily offbeat rural Devil worship chiller "The Brotherhood of Satan"). The astonishingly brutal scene where the terrible tykes beat their psychiatrist to death with chains, hammers, knives and even a pitchfork attests to this claim; this excruciatingly elongated sequence makes artful and unforgettably potent use of both grainy black and white still photographs and painfully amplified sound effects. The other murder set pieces aren't nearly as ferocious, but since they're perpetuated by smiling, seemingly harmless and innocent kids they still pack a serious wallop just the same -- and all are punctuated with strangely startling freeze frames.
John Durren's barbed, deeply judgmental script possesses a conspicuously angry and borderline hostile sense of moral outrage. There's a deep-seated disgust for the pervasive amorality, hedonism and narcissism that was a true hallmark of the 70's which in turn gives this feature an additional biting resonance. (Durren also acts in the movie as Ralph, a sweet, guileless, retarded handyman who the other adults mercilessly mock and push around.) The cast deserve appraisal as well, with especially solid work from Sorrell Booke (Boss Hog on "The Dukes of Hazzard") as a meek, peevish physician and Joan ("Act of Veangeance," "Grizzly") McCall as the only decent grown-up. 70's teen idol Leif Garrett is surprisingly good as one of the nefarious little rugrats. Odd, often jolting and extremely twisted, this funky little sleeper stands out as one of the best entries in the always worthwhile and enjoyable killer kid horror sub-genre.
This thoroughly sick and therefor most compelling psycho thriller marked the impressive debut of promising horror movie one shot wonder Sean MacGregor, who proved with this creepy, unique and wickedly warped humdinger that he could make one hell of a fright flick (MacGregor's sole other horror picture credit was writing the story for the eerily offbeat rural Devil worship chiller "The Brotherhood of Satan"). The astonishingly brutal scene where the terrible tykes beat their psychiatrist to death with chains, hammers, knives and even a pitchfork attests to this claim; this excruciatingly elongated sequence makes artful and unforgettably potent use of both grainy black and white still photographs and painfully amplified sound effects. The other murder set pieces aren't nearly as ferocious, but since they're perpetuated by smiling, seemingly harmless and innocent kids they still pack a serious wallop just the same -- and all are punctuated with strangely startling freeze frames.
John Durren's barbed, deeply judgmental script possesses a conspicuously angry and borderline hostile sense of moral outrage. There's a deep-seated disgust for the pervasive amorality, hedonism and narcissism that was a true hallmark of the 70's which in turn gives this feature an additional biting resonance. (Durren also acts in the movie as Ralph, a sweet, guileless, retarded handyman who the other adults mercilessly mock and push around.) The cast deserve appraisal as well, with especially solid work from Sorrell Booke (Boss Hog on "The Dukes of Hazzard") as a meek, peevish physician and Joan ("Act of Veangeance," "Grizzly") McCall as the only decent grown-up. 70's teen idol Leif Garrett is surprisingly good as one of the nefarious little rugrats. Odd, often jolting and extremely twisted, this funky little sleeper stands out as one of the best entries in the always worthwhile and enjoyable killer kid horror sub-genre.