Zombies - La vendetta degli innocenti

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.

If you are looking for a really scary movie, this is not the case. I am always amazed how some directors/producers thinks cliché + dark locations results in good terror movies when it is not so easy.

The plot of this movie is not too much imaginative (working kids of a mining complex in the 1900's are killed in an explosion and seeks revenge against the descendants of the mine's owner. A windows with her two girls goes to the house near the mine and you know the rest of it).

Dialogues are weak, actors are so so, no fx at all, poor characterization and just a little tension all along the movie, none really scary moment and a dull ending.

If you're looking for a light terror movies for watching in a lazy Wednesday night or with friends just for fun of watching a terror movie with your buddies, this is the right choice.

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.

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 thought Wicked Little Things was a really good movie, in my honest opinion. I will say at some parts it seemed really unbelievable, and at others it seemed as if there was just not enough thought put into the actions of the characters, as it became mediocre, but overall it was exciting and entertaining with a nice premise, even though many commenters thought it was boring. I do not understand why so many comments are bashing this movie when other B-movies that are most definitely not better get much more recognition and praise. It's an excellent movie overall, and nothing more or less. Wicked Little Things provides great entertainment and mostly did not have many major flaws at all other than, like I said, being mediocre because of production value.

This is definitely worth a look, because you will not be disappointed with the outcome, regardless of what other comments may have you believe and if you know what you are looking for and getting into. Wicked Little Things is one of the best 1st Annual Afterdark Horrorfest films, and compared to a lot of other films in the 8 Films to Die For series, this is one of the best overall. As a movie, it's a darn good one, even though it's of course no masterpiece. It's just fun, and I am glad I own it.