Wicked Little Things

A young widow and her two daughters move to a new house in a Pennsylvanian mountain town. Soon, her daughter's imaginary friend starts to let the family know she's just a little too real.

This movie was enjoyable. I liked the characters (especially the older daughter and the neighbor Hanks) and the situations. The atmosphere was perfect and dark, as one would expect from a movie about zombies roaming through the woods. And the pacing was decent, revealing the story in a good speed.

The gore was decent: not over-the-top, but not ignored. Entrails are eaten and heads are smashed in. Sure, it's not as cool as "Necromantic" or "Anthropophagus", but it's alright. (Actually, since most of the film was so blah and standard fare, this Goldilocks level of gore should be no surprise.) Some blood scenes were welcome and I could have used more.

But this film is also riddled with countless clichés. An imaginary friend who might be real. Single mom with daughters moves to new town. Vehicles that won't start. Tripping in the middle of a running scene. I could probably go on.

Some good can be said. Chloe Moretz is really blossoming into a supreme actress, and this early work deserves to be seen. Scout Taylor-Compton is another genre favorite. And the DVD has audio commentary with director J. S. Cardone and actress Lori Heuring (though I haven't listened to it yet), so that's an extra treat for those who do enjoy the film.

I found the movie too "polished": the target seemed to be Hollywood and teenage girls, rather than those who would go to see a film festival called "8 Films to Die For" (which is where I saw this). The dirty, gritty scenes were just too clean. Sure, the movie was dark... but dark in a very sanitary way. (There are better ways to word this, but I don't know what they are.) If you don't see this film, that's fine. More than likely it will fade into the background and within a few years won't even be found on video store shelves. You'll see it on Netflix and be like "what is this?", but don't bother ordering it... for all the film lacks, it will probably lack even more in a few years as it becomes stale (if it hasn't already).

Having spent all of her money caring for her terminally ill spouse, recently widowed Karen Tunny (Lori Heuring) moves with her two daughters Sarah (Scout Taylor-Compton) and Emma (Chloe Moretz) to her late husband's run-down family home in rural Pennsylvania, where local legends speak of zombies who roam the woods at night.

Just seeing the names of this film's writer and director in the opening credits was enough to send shivers up my spine: Boaz Davidson is the 'genius' responsible for penning the scripts for such STV titles as Octopus 1 & 2, Spiders and Crocodile, whilst J.S. Cardone gave us the godawful 'video nasty' The Slayer and dull vampire flick The Forsaken. With such dubious talent responsible, I didn't expect much from Wicked Little things.

And having just finished the film, I'm glad I kept my expectations low.

Although the movie looks good at times, with lovely use of the eerie woodland locale, and the cast give reasonable performances given the clichéd drivel that they are working with, the plot is so laboured, poorly written, and derivative that it's impossible to be enthusiastic about. Most importantly, perhaps, the film's killers, undead children who rise each night from the mine in which they died, aren't in the least bit scary, a smudge of makeup, black contacts and some crappy joke shop scars doing very little to add to the sense of menace. Scout Taylor-Compton and company do their best to look afraid of the tiny terrors, screaming convincingly with every confrontation, but their admirable attempts to instill a sense of fear in the audience is to little avail: the little blighters just ain't got what it takes to chill the blood.

There are a few lacklustre zombie chow scenes in a futile bid to win over gore-hounds, and the final kill, which sees the victim's blood drench both Compton and Heuring, is suitably tasteless, but on the whole, Wicked Little Things (AKA Zombies in the UK) is instantly forgettable trash—just another clunker in the filmographies of Cardone and Davidson.

I really wanted to like this movie. A film with zombie children getting out of a mine to kill people at night really seemed like a great idea for a horror film. Unfortunately, the film was in the bottom 3 of films played at horror fest.

A mother and her two daughters attempt to move on after her husband/father had passed away from an illness that cost their family a lot of money. They have to adapt to their new environment. They end up struggling due to all the surroundings for different reasons.(Crazy Zombie kids go into this category) The film never gives any sentimental attachment for anyone that lives or dies, the film produces no scares or jump worthy moments, the film barely shows the children doing what they're supposed to do...Kill! With a bigger budget and a better cast this film could have hope. Until then, pass on it.

3.5/10 actually.

In 1913, in Carlton Mine, Addytown, Pennsylvania, the cruel owner of a mine uses poor children in the exploration and after an explosion, a group of children is buried alive. On the present days, Karen Tunny (Lori Heuring) has just lost her husband after a long period of terminal disease when the family savings have been spent in the treatment. Without any money, she moves with her daughters Sarah (Scout Taylor-Compton) and Emma (Chloe Moretz) to an old house in the mountains that belonged to her husband. Karen is advised by her neighbors to stay at home in the night, and Sarah hears that there are zombies in the area. When Emma becomes friend of Mary, he mother believes she is an imaginary friend. However, when Sarah's friends are attacked and eaten alive by zombie children and Emma vanishes, Karen and Sarah chase her nearby the mine.

"Wicked Little Things" is not a totally bad movie: the acting is good; the make-up is creepy; and the cinematography and the music score are excellent. However, the story, and consequently the screenplay, are very weak, indeed a bad collection of clichés. The beginning is reasonable, with a widow moving to a house in a remote location because the family spent all their resources with the illness of the patriarch. But when she arrives, coincidently the little zombies attack people without any consequences, for example, families do not search the missing persons. Then the wicked Mr. Carlton comes to the place with the most disgusting attitudes, a typical clichés that he will die in the end. There is no explanation why the children attacked innocent people and why they should stop after killing Mr. Carlton. When Sarah is running away with her mother and says that she is tired and cannot run anymore, it is one the most stupid lines that I have ever seen in a horror movie. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Zombies"

Great camera work. Great set work. Great acting. The story is every cliché from the hard starting engine, the kooky locals, the 4 teenagers in the car hearing a noise outside, on up. But I think if we are honest with ourselves... it is what we want from a horror movie. The cliché haunted house.... the dark woods.

But the zombie kids... they are about as creepy as a bunch of french mimes. Ignore the fact that they look like school children in their Sunday best and not mine digging zombies, enjoy the atmosphere, watch it in the dark, and it is definitely worthwhile.

But don't look for any originality here. I mean none.