The Children (1980 film)
Encyclopedia
The Children is a 1980
low budget horror film
, written and produced by Carlton J. Albright. The movie is about five children in a small town who, thanks to a yellow toxic cloud, are transformed into bloodless zombie
s with black fingernails who microwave
every living thing they put their hands on. The surviving adults of the town must attempt to put a stop to them.
The film is currently being distributed by Troma Entertainment
.
town of Ravensback. (The state in which the town is located is never mentioned). After a couple of local chemical plant workers named Jim (J.D. Clarke) and Slim (James Klawin) decide to call it a day and head for the bar, a leak in one of the pipes causes a yellow toxic cloud to form.
Meanwhile, a local school bus
is taking children home. After dropping one child off, there are only five children left on the bus: Paul MacKenize (Jeptha Evans), Jenny Freemont (Clara Evans), Ellen Chandler (Sarah Albright), Tommy Button (Nathanael Albright), and Janet Shore (Juile Carrier). As the children are singing road songs, the bus passes through the toxic cloud.
After Billy Hart, the local sheriff (played by Gil Rogers), finds the idling bus abandoned near a cemetery
, and the children's possessions still there, he radios to his deputy Harry Timmons (Tracy Griswold) (who is busy flirting with Suzie MacKenize (Joy Glaccum), Paul's older, but possibly underage sister), and Molly (Shannon Bolin
), an older woman who works at the local general store
and acts as part-time police dispatcher. Reluctantly, deputy Harry Timmons sets up a roadblock at the intersection of the main highway and the lone road leading into town, recruiting a couple of armed locals, believing that the children were possibly kidnapped
.
Meanwhile, Dr. Joyce Gloud (Michelle Le Mothe), Tommy's mother's female lover, goes looking for him and ends up at the cemetery where the bus was abandoned. She finds the bus driver's (Ray Delmolino) badly burned corpse, and soon after Tommy approaches to hug her. When they embrace, Joyce suddenly screams while yellow steam comes from Tommy's hands, and Joyce burns alive before
Tommy finally releases her corroded body and trudges on.
Later, Ellen is sneaking through the woods near a road where John Freemont (Martin Shakar
), father of Jenny, is working on his car. Sheriff Hart gives him a lift home, while Ellen, after watching them unnoticed decides to move along, and finally goes home where she encounters her mother, Rita (Diane Deckard) at the door. She runs out to Ellen's outstretched arms to hug her-- before being incinerated. Her father, Bob (Michael Carrier), then comes to the door and is shocked at the spectacle. Ellen goes to hug him, but he backs away from her into the house while she follows.
Paul MacKenize comes home and startles his sister. Then he starts walking towards her with his arms outstretched while she backs away from him, hitting him in the face, trying to rouse him from his apparent trance. They wind up in a workroom part of the house where, off-camera, he kills her as she screams. Paul's father, Cyrus (Arthur Chase
), is then killed after discovering Paul with her body.
While John and Billy on the road, they encounter Janet Shore standing in the middle of road, pale-faced and apparently stunned. They put her in the car to drive her home. It turns out that Janet has not yet fully transformed into a radioactive zombie, but she gradually changes into one during the ride (as evidenced by her fingernails shown turning black). After they stop, she attacks Sheriff Hart, who is able to dodge her while she flees the vicinity.
Eventually, the zombified Ellen, Tommy, and Paul meet and walk together. They are spotted by Deputy Timmons, who radios the station, but is soon killed. The three children converge in front of the general store where an overjoyed (and misguided) Molly comes outside to hug them-- and is (in typical form) roasted to death.
Meanwhile, John and Billy are checking other homes in the area, finding the occupants dead in much the same way. They go to John's home to meet his pregnant wife, Cathy (Gale Garnett
) and his younger son, Clarkie (Jessie Abrams). They are relieved that Cathy and Clarkie are unharmed. John begins to give orders, but does not divulge any information to Cathy or Clarkie.
The five wandering little zombies approach the house once they spot the people inside. Jenny attempts to hug Cathy, but John pulls her away in time. Meanwhile, Paul gets to the upper level of the house and is let through the window by Clarkie (who does not realize that Paul is a zombie). They play a quiet game of tag, and after Clarkie hides in his closet, Paul kills him in typical form.
Billy shoots the zombies with his pistol, but the shots have little effect on them, other than to briefly knock them to the ground. Cathy, still not aware of the children's zombified state, knocks Billy out with a glass object, in order to stop him from shooting them. She then finds Clarkie's roasted remains, and tells John, who runs upstairs and tearfully puts the child's body back to bed.
Paul then attacks the little monsters, while Billy instinctively picks up a replica katana
and chops off both Paul's hands, which kills Paul while the fingernails on his severed hands revert to normal. Ellen then breaks though one of the windows with one hand, which is immediately severed by Billy, causing her to apparently die. Then Billy and John go outside, with sword in hand, to find the rest of the zombies. The remaining three zombies-- Tommy, Janet, and Jenny-- converge at the upper level of the barn on the property, where they are found by John and Billy who, despite Jenny's pleas to John, are promptly dismembered and killed.
While an exhausted John collapses to the ground near the barn, Billy wearily goes to his car to radio for help-- while Ellen suddenly rises from the back seat, grabs Billy by the neck, and roasts him to death. John hears Billy's screaming and approaches with his sword to finish Ellen, after which he flings his sword in disgust, and collapses into a deep sleep next to Billy's corpse.
The next morning, Cathy yells to a still-sleeping John that "it's time", and he wakes up and runs frantically into the house to help her deliver their third child. As they are deliveringthe baby, the camera pans over all of the dead bodies (except Clarkie's) showing Sheriff Hart's corpse, all five of the unfortunate children laying peacefully. After the baby is delivered, John is aghast and wide-eyed as he notices that his newborn child has black fingernails.
theatrically in the United States
by World Northal in 1980. It was subsequently released on VHS
by Vestron Video
.
The film was released on DVD
in a 25th Anniversary edition by Troma Entertainment
in 2005.
1980 in film
- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
low budget horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, written and produced by Carlton J. Albright. The movie is about five children in a small town who, thanks to a yellow toxic cloud, are transformed into bloodless zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s with black fingernails who microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
every living thing they put their hands on. The surviving adults of the town must attempt to put a stop to them.
The film is currently being distributed by Troma Entertainment
Troma Entertainment
Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974.The company produces low-budget independent movies that play on 1950s horror with elements of farce...
.
Plot
The movie is set in the fictional New EnglandNew England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
town of Ravensback. (The state in which the town is located is never mentioned). After a couple of local chemical plant workers named Jim (J.D. Clarke) and Slim (James Klawin) decide to call it a day and head for the bar, a leak in one of the pipes causes a yellow toxic cloud to form.
Meanwhile, a local school bus
School bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
is taking children home. After dropping one child off, there are only five children left on the bus: Paul MacKenize (Jeptha Evans), Jenny Freemont (Clara Evans), Ellen Chandler (Sarah Albright), Tommy Button (Nathanael Albright), and Janet Shore (Juile Carrier). As the children are singing road songs, the bus passes through the toxic cloud.
After Billy Hart, the local sheriff (played by Gil Rogers), finds the idling bus abandoned near a cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
, and the children's possessions still there, he radios to his deputy Harry Timmons (Tracy Griswold) (who is busy flirting with Suzie MacKenize (Joy Glaccum), Paul's older, but possibly underage sister), and Molly (Shannon Bolin
Shannon Bolin
Shannon Bolin is an American actress and singer. She was born in Spencer, South Dakota. Bolin portrayed Meg Boyd in both the stage and screen adaptations of Damn Yankees...
), an older woman who works at the local general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
and acts as part-time police dispatcher. Reluctantly, deputy Harry Timmons sets up a roadblock at the intersection of the main highway and the lone road leading into town, recruiting a couple of armed locals, believing that the children were possibly kidnapped
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
.
Meanwhile, Dr. Joyce Gloud (Michelle Le Mothe), Tommy's mother's female lover, goes looking for him and ends up at the cemetery where the bus was abandoned. She finds the bus driver's (Ray Delmolino) badly burned corpse, and soon after Tommy approaches to hug her. When they embrace, Joyce suddenly screams while yellow steam comes from Tommy's hands, and Joyce burns alive before
Tommy finally releases her corroded body and trudges on.
Later, Ellen is sneaking through the woods near a road where John Freemont (Martin Shakar
Martin Shakar
Martin Shakar is an American theatre, film and television actor, born January 1, 1940), in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York....
), father of Jenny, is working on his car. Sheriff Hart gives him a lift home, while Ellen, after watching them unnoticed decides to move along, and finally goes home where she encounters her mother, Rita (Diane Deckard) at the door. She runs out to Ellen's outstretched arms to hug her-- before being incinerated. Her father, Bob (Michael Carrier), then comes to the door and is shocked at the spectacle. Ellen goes to hug him, but he backs away from her into the house while she follows.
Paul MacKenize comes home and startles his sister. Then he starts walking towards her with his arms outstretched while she backs away from him, hitting him in the face, trying to rouse him from his apparent trance. They wind up in a workroom part of the house where, off-camera, he kills her as she screams. Paul's father, Cyrus (Arthur Chase
Arthur Chase
Arthur Chase was the co-founder of Theta Chi Fraternity. He was born in Bellows Falls, Vermont and entered Norwich University in 1852 where he roomed with a young cadet named George Dewey who later became famous as an Admiral. Chase was 20 years old when he assisted his distant cousin Frederick...
), is then killed after discovering Paul with her body.
While John and Billy on the road, they encounter Janet Shore standing in the middle of road, pale-faced and apparently stunned. They put her in the car to drive her home. It turns out that Janet has not yet fully transformed into a radioactive zombie, but she gradually changes into one during the ride (as evidenced by her fingernails shown turning black). After they stop, she attacks Sheriff Hart, who is able to dodge her while she flees the vicinity.
Eventually, the zombified Ellen, Tommy, and Paul meet and walk together. They are spotted by Deputy Timmons, who radios the station, but is soon killed. The three children converge in front of the general store where an overjoyed (and misguided) Molly comes outside to hug them-- and is (in typical form) roasted to death.
Meanwhile, John and Billy are checking other homes in the area, finding the occupants dead in much the same way. They go to John's home to meet his pregnant wife, Cathy (Gale Garnett
Gale Garnett
Gale Zoë Garnett is a New Zealand-born Canadian singer best known in the United States for her Grammy-winning folk hit "We'll Sing in the Sunshine." Garnett has since carved out a career as a writer and actress.-Biography:...
) and his younger son, Clarkie (Jessie Abrams). They are relieved that Cathy and Clarkie are unharmed. John begins to give orders, but does not divulge any information to Cathy or Clarkie.
The five wandering little zombies approach the house once they spot the people inside. Jenny attempts to hug Cathy, but John pulls her away in time. Meanwhile, Paul gets to the upper level of the house and is let through the window by Clarkie (who does not realize that Paul is a zombie). They play a quiet game of tag, and after Clarkie hides in his closet, Paul kills him in typical form.
Billy shoots the zombies with his pistol, but the shots have little effect on them, other than to briefly knock them to the ground. Cathy, still not aware of the children's zombified state, knocks Billy out with a glass object, in order to stop him from shooting them. She then finds Clarkie's roasted remains, and tells John, who runs upstairs and tearfully puts the child's body back to bed.
Paul then attacks the little monsters, while Billy instinctively picks up a replica katana
Katana
A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...
and chops off both Paul's hands, which kills Paul while the fingernails on his severed hands revert to normal. Ellen then breaks though one of the windows with one hand, which is immediately severed by Billy, causing her to apparently die. Then Billy and John go outside, with sword in hand, to find the rest of the zombies. The remaining three zombies-- Tommy, Janet, and Jenny-- converge at the upper level of the barn on the property, where they are found by John and Billy who, despite Jenny's pleas to John, are promptly dismembered and killed.
While an exhausted John collapses to the ground near the barn, Billy wearily goes to his car to radio for help-- while Ellen suddenly rises from the back seat, grabs Billy by the neck, and roasts him to death. John hears Billy's screaming and approaches with his sword to finish Ellen, after which he flings his sword in disgust, and collapses into a deep sleep next to Billy's corpse.
The next morning, Cathy yells to a still-sleeping John that "it's time", and he wakes up and runs frantically into the house to help her deliver their third child. As they are deliveringthe baby, the camera pans over all of the dead bodies (except Clarkie's) showing Sheriff Hart's corpse, all five of the unfortunate children laying peacefully. After the baby is delivered, John is aghast and wide-eyed as he notices that his newborn child has black fingernails.
Cast
- Martin ShakarMartin ShakarMartin Shakar is an American theatre, film and television actor, born January 1, 1940), in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York....
as John Freemont - Gil Rogers as Sheriff Billy Hart
- Gale GarnettGale GarnettGale Zoë Garnett is a New Zealand-born Canadian singer best known in the United States for her Grammy-winning folk hit "We'll Sing in the Sunshine." Garnett has since carved out a career as a writer and actress.-Biography:...
as Cathy Freemont - Shannon BolinShannon BolinShannon Bolin is an American actress and singer. She was born in Spencer, South Dakota. Bolin portrayed Meg Boyd in both the stage and screen adaptations of Damn Yankees...
as Molly - Tracy Griswold as Deputy Harry Timmons
- Joy Glaccum as Suzie MacKenzie
- Jeptha Evans as Paul MacKenzie
- Clara Evans as Jenny Freemont
- Sarah Albright as Ellen Chandler
- Nathanael Albright as Tommy Button
- Julie Carrier as Janet Shore
- Michelle Le Mothe as Dr. Joyce Gould
- Edward TerryEdward TerryEdward A. Terry was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. Following the war, he served several tours of duty at the United States Naval Academy, including a tour in the 1870s as Commandant of Cadets.-Early life and career:Born at Hartford, Connecticut, Terry was...
as Hank - Peter Maloney as Frank
- Jessie Abrams as Clarkie Freemont
- Rita Montone as Dee Dee Shore
- John P. Codiglia as Jackson Lane
- Martin BrennanMartin BrennanMartin Brennan may refer to:*Martin Brennan , Irish medical practitioner and Fianna Fáil politician, TD from 1938–1948*Martin Brennan , computer engineer who worked for Sinclair Research and Atari...
as Sanford Butler-Jones - J.D. Clarke as Jim (hardhat)
- James Klawin as Slim (hardhat)
- Arthur ChaseArthur ChaseArthur Chase was the co-founder of Theta Chi Fraternity. He was born in Bellows Falls, Vermont and entered Norwich University in 1852 where he roomed with a young cadet named George Dewey who later became famous as an Admiral. Chase was 20 years old when he assisted his distant cousin Frederick...
as Cyrus MacKenzie - Suzanne Barnes as Leslie Button
- Diane Deckard as Rita Chandler
- David PlattDavid Platt (director)David Platt is a thrice Emmy-nominated American film and television director. He has directed many episodes of Law & Order and its spin-off Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as an episode of The Wire....
as Chauffeur - Ray Delmolino as Bus driver
- Michael Carrier as Bob Chandler
- X. Ben Fakackt as Newscaster voice
Release
The film was given a limited releaseLimited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
theatrically in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by World Northal in 1980. It was subsequently released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
by Vestron Video
Vestron Video
Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut that was active from 1982 to 1992. It is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market....
.
The film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in a 25th Anniversary edition by Troma Entertainment
Troma Entertainment
Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974.The company produces low-budget independent movies that play on 1950s horror with elements of farce...
in 2005.