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¿Quién puede matar a un niño? (Who Can Kill a Child?) aka Island of the Damned

(Spain 1976) Dir: Narciso Ibáñez Serrador

Lewis Fiander, Prunella Ransome

“Oh, yes…there are lots of children in the world. Lots of them.”

A year before Stephen King published his short story Children of the Corn in the March 1977 issue of Penthouse magazine, another tale of evil kids on the rampage saw the light of day when this nihilistic euro horror was released into the world,  just as Spain was emerging from over thirty years of fascist dictatorship under the Franco regime.

Although the ‘evil child’ sub genre had proven box office gold in the 1970’s with the likes of THE EXORCIST (1973) and THE OMEN (1976) filling studio coffers, Serrador’s entry was decidedly more low key (and low budget) than either and eschewed the religious angle, indeed the film refuses to provide its antagonists with any clear motivating force other than the history of ill treatment meted out to children throughout history.

The closest the film comes to inferring a motive, as well as foreshadowing what is to come, occurs with its unsparing ‘mondo’ credits montage depicting atrocities and ill treatment meted out to children as a result of the actions or apathy of adults.

Cut to (then) present day Spain and we are introduced to holidaying couple Tom and Evelyn, who are expecting their third child. Venturing out for a day trip to a nearby island, they are surprised and perturbed to find the entire place seemingly deserted, save for the appearance of several children throughout the day. These children appear to act strangely and the couple realise that the island is bereft of adults.

Releasing to their horror that the children have murdered every adult on the island, Tom and Evelyn are forced into a fight for survival, one that will eventually face them with the horrifying moral conundrum presented in the film’s original Spanish title.

As previously mentioned Serrador’s film gives no explanation or origin for the children’s behaviour, and the script deftly infers that they possess some measure of mind control (other ‘normal’ children become imbued with the same murderous rage towards adults when exposed to eye contact), and the children’s behaviour suggests they are all part of a collective ‘hive mind’ similar to the alien kiddywinks in John Wyndham’s novel The Midwich Cuckoos, itself adapted into the classic 1960 chiller VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED.

This culminates in what is arguably the film’s most horrific sequence when the pregnant Evelyn is attacked and killed from the inside by her unborn foetus. It’s difficult to pinpoint whether there is any clear message behind the film, other than ‘don’t mistreat children’, but the depiction of the children can certainly be read as a warning against the evils inherent in collectivism, whether it be political or religious. It’s hard to believe that this wouldn’t have played at least subconsciously on the mind of Serrador (who also wrote the script under a pseudonym, adapting the novel El juego de los niños (The Children’s Game) by Juan José Plans), given that the film was produced at time of great tumult in Spain when the rule of technocratic fascism was breathing its last after the death of the dictator Franco the year before its release.

Someone coming to the film without prior knowledge of this context won’t be denied the enjoyment of its tight plotting, minimalist direction, and show-don’t-tell narrative approach, though. It can be viewed simply as a great example of stripped back euro horror.The film has inevitably been overshadowed by the more bombastic ‘evil child’ entries in the sub genre, becoming something of an unjustly obscure ‘cult’ movie, although it did get a Mexican remake in 2012, titled COME OUT AND PLAY. It can still be found in DVD and Blu-Ray formats if you trawl the likes of Amazon (I caught it on Shudder a couple of years back, though I believe it is no longer available there). It’s high time an outfit like Vinegar Syndrome, Arrow Video, or Scream Factory treated us to a full restoration of this Iberian horror classic.

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This October, GRIMMFEST, Manchester’s International Festival of Fantastic Film celebrated its tenth anniversary with the biggest line-up of film premieres ever, along with audiences to match.

Now the Festival Jury’s votes are all in, and the audience ballots all tallied up, Grimmfest is proud to reveal this year’s award-winners:

Horror Channel Lifetime Achievement Award: BARBARA CRAMPTON (RE-ANIMATOR, YOU’RE NEXT)

Best Feature: TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID

With Special mentions for ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE and PIERCING

Best Director: JOHN MCPHAIL, for ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE

With Special mentions for ISSA LÓPEZ (TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID), and CLAYTON JACOBSON (BROTHERS’ NEST)

Best Screenplay: ISSA LÓPEZ for TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID

With Special mentions for CLAYTON JACOBSON (BROTHERS’ NEST) and ANDY MITTON (THE WITCH IN THE WINDOW)

Best Score: ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE

With Special mentions for PIERCING and SUMMER OF ’84

Best Actor: JUAN RAMÓN LÓPEZ for TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID

With Special mention for AIDAN DEVINE (I’LL TAKE YOUR DEAD)

Best Actress: MIA WASIKOWSKA for PIERCING

With Special mentions for ELLA HUNT (ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE) and ABIGAIL CRUTTENDEN (AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS)

Best SFX: GIRLS WITH BALLS

With Special mentions for AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS and FRAMED

Best Kill: GIRLS WITH BALLS

With Special mentions for PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH, OFFICE UPRISING and SATAN’S SLAVES

Best Scare: THE WITCH IN THE WINDOW

With Special mention for SATAN’S SLAVES

Best Short: WE SUMMONED A DEMON

With Special mentions for CONDUCTOR, DEAD COOL and THE OLD WOMAN WHO HID HER FEAR UNDER THE STAIRS

Finally, as voted for by Grimmfest 2018 attendees:

The Audience Award: TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID

With Special mentions for SUMMER OF ’84, WITCH IN THE WINDOW, ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE, and BROTHERS’ NEST

The Festival Jury Panel consisted of; Actress and Writer Lauren Ashley Carter, Film Sales Agent Caroline Couret-Delegue, Acquisitions Consultant, Festival Programmer and Producer Annick Mahnert, Writer, Actress and Producer Joanne Mitchell, Dread Central Journalist Anya Stanley and Rue Morgue Executive Editor Andrea Subissati. 

Grimmfest is even more delighted to announce that the winners of the BEST FILM and BEST DIRECTOR categories will each be awarded £40,000 worth of post-production services by Festival Award Sponsor BCL Finance Group, which can be used against a future film. 

TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID is a Mexican magic realist movie written and directed by Issa López, the film has gained huge festival acclaim and awards around the World. It has been championed by Guillermo del Toro who will be producing Issa’s next film. Issa López said: “It’s an incredible honour to receive so many beautiful awards at a festival with such an incredible slate…Grimmfest is the very image of genre cinema’s credibility and substance, and it means a lot to the entire ‘Tigers’ team to be recognized by the festival’s jury and incredible audiences.” 

ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE is a UK Christmas set Zombie musical directed by John McPhail. Since its debut at Fantastic fest last year, it has been making waves around the festival circuit, winning the audience award at the Edinburgh International film festival. It will be released theatrically in the UK and US in time for the festive season. John McPhail, Director of ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE, said: “I am over the moon to receive this award, to know my peers enjoyed the film… I only started directing 6 years ago, and to receive Best Director award from a film festival like Grimmfest really puts the icing on the cake.” 

BCL have already agreed to partner with the festival next year, when they will again be offering big prizes for BEST FILM and BEST DIRECTOR categories and Grimmfest is also excited to announce the introduction of a new award category WORK IN PROGRESS, in association with BCL. The winning filmmaker will receive access to all-important post production services that will enable the completion of their film.

Michael Laundon, Managing Partner at BCL, adds “All of us at BCL are delighted to be prize sponsors for Grimmfest, as they enter their second decade. BCL was established with a quest to truly help independent movies to not only get made but to be finished. We hope to continue our support of Grimmfest in the years to come.” 

Finally, Grimmfest is thrilled to announce that Barbara Crampton has agreed to become head of the Festival Jury for Grimmfest 2019. 

Grimmfest 2019 will take place in early October in Manchester UK. Film submissions will open December 2018 via Film Freeway. More information about the festival can be found at www.grimmfest.com 

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Horror Express aka Panic on the Trans-Siberian Express (1972) UK/Spain Dir: Eugenio Martín (as Gene Martin) Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Alberto De Mendoza, Telly Savalas

During an expedition to China in 1906, British anthropologist Professor Sir Alexander Saxton (Lee) discovers the frozen corpse of an ape like creature. Believing it to be the Missing Link in human evolution, he has the cadaver packed into a crate aboard the Trans Siberian Express ready for transport back to England. When the ‘corpse’ thaws out the creature springs to life and begins butchering various stock euro actors. Refusing to believe it at first Saxton is spurred into action by the mounting body count, aided by rival scientist Dr Wells (Cushing). Nowadays, this would be the setup for the whole movie, but this being a visually lush bonkers Euro co-production from the early 70’s, matters do not rest here. Soon after offing several of the passengers, the ape creature is seemingly despatched, only for it to be revealed that it was merely the vessel for a malign alien intelligence that arrived on earth millions of years ago. Possessing the body of the Rasputin like priest Father Pujardov (a great scene stealing turn by Alberto de Mendoza), a companion and spiritual advisor to fellow passenger Count Petrovski, a Polish aristo. The alien seeks to utilise the Count’s metallurgical expertise to construct a craft to escape earth in. Of course…

Based very loosely on The Thing from Another World (1951), Horror Express is every bit as crazily wonderful as it sounds, firmly underpinned by the presence of horror generalissimo’s Cushing and Lee playing the whole thing straight (no mean feat given some of the hilariously bad ‘science’ uttered by the actors), de Mendoza’s Grand Guignol performance as the priest pledging allegiance to the alien intelligence believing it to be Satan(!), and a scenery chewing late entrance by Telly Savalas as police officer Captain Kazan, convinced that the whole imbroglio is a revolutionary plot to overthrow the tsar.

A graveyard schedule regular on the BBC in the 80’s and early 90’s, Horror Express exhibits the lush and decadent visuals unique to euro productions of the era, and is one of the last glorious gasps of the stylised old world horror period kicked off by Hammer studios in the late fifties. Produced between more visceral and immediate films like Night of the Living Dead (1968) and auteur horror The Exorcist (1973), it’s strange to think that only a couple of years separate this delightfully old fashioned romp from the likes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974).

A must see for fans of Cushing and Lee and a respectable addition to any horror fan’s collection.