The Children (2008)

GREAT tagline: "You brought them into this world. They'll take you out."

I'm continuing my month-long series of blog posts, Countdown to Halloween, discussing Halloween-appropriate and Christmas crossover entertainments.  Another horror film set at Christmas time is 2008's The Children written and directed by Tom Shankland.

What could be happier than spending the holidays together with the family?

The story begins in the days between Christmas and New Year's with sisters Chloe and Elaine bringing their husbands and children to a country house (in the UK) in order to celebrate with everyone together.  The house is filled with the excitement and activity of the four young children and four adults--with the single exception of teenager Casey.  She's not happy to be trapped in the middle of nowhere for the New Year's holiday.  Casey would rather be at a party with her friends.

Like every teenager you've ever met, Casey spends her time rolling her eyes back and testing her boundaries.

The family enjoys opening belated Christmas gifts, playing in the snow outside with a snowball fight, building a snowman and sled riding.  The children are also running around the home, screaming and shrieking, demanding their parents' full attention, probably eating too much sugar, being tattle tales and working the adults' last nerves.  As the parents pour themselves another drink, they question why Casey isn't doing a better job looking after the younger ones.

What kind of virus or contagion is growing inside each of the children?

The happiness of the season eventually spirals out of control as one by one the children complain of not feeling well.  The parents assume the children have eaten too much or have come down with a bug, and all of the children's crankiness, irritability and tantrums are dismissed.  A tragic sledding "accident" results in the death of Chloe's husband when he crashes into a sharp garden tool a child places in his path.  Elaine's son pleads with her to rescue him from the top of a piece of climbing playground equipment--from which she is pushed and falls.  She ends up with compound fracture of her leg, leaving her immobile and ...uhm...vulnerable.

The little one lures his mother on top of the climbing equipment crying "Help me, Mommy!"

The adults refuse to see the deadly children for the threat that they've become.

Casey seems to be the only one aware that the children have a sickness.  Overwhelmed with the mounting tragedies, the parents feel guilty and blame themselves for the accidents.  Each of them continues to offer the children sympathy, compassion and protection, unwilling to acknowledge their malicious and deadly behavior.  Teenager Casey is the only one who defends herself from the children who are now obviously attacking the adults.

Let us in!

They've come for Elaine!

A mother to two of these sick babes, Elaine resists harming the children in order to defend herself.  Eventually she and Casey, the only remaining adults alive, make it to the car and drive away from the house--Elaine finally acknowledging the danger all around her.  I won't reveal how it ends--but there are several surprises.

The first time I saw this movie I was laughing, however the tone of this horror film is serious.  I was laughing with the film--not at the film.  You've got to have a sense of humor if you enjoy a movie set at Christmas time with children as the evil enemy.  The holidays are a time people celebrate the innocence of youth while this dark story turns those feelings upside down.

Chloe is played by actress Rachel Shelly who I recognize from TV's The L Word.  She played Helena Peabody on the Showtime series that ran from 2004-09.

Horror film fans may appreciate the rebellious Casey, a teenage girl and the only voice of reason as chaos erupts.   She's the only one to connect the sickness to the children's behavior and the only one willing to defend herself against the murderous attacks.  The first night of the family gathering, we see the parents proudly playing a game of one-upsmanship as Chloe announces they're considering home schooling while Elaine's husband declares he's teaching their daughter Mandarin Chinese.  Chloe even offers to help Elaine's child with a reward from a Good Behavior chart.  Part of the fun of this movie is seeing these pompous parents picked off one by one by their kids.  Is Casey the true innocent in this story?  You'll need to see the end to decide for yourself.  Merry Halloween!




Have you seen this movie before?  Did you like it? 

Wind Chill (2007)

I'm continuing my month-long series of blog posts, Countdown to Halloween, discussing Halloween appropriate and Christmas crossover entertainments.  Have you explored the other blogs involved in the Countdown to Halloween?  Click HERE to go to the list of blogs also participating in Halloween posts. This month I've posted about Bewitched, the movie Bell, Book and Candle and The Ghost & Mrs. Muir.  Now I'm ready to move on to horror films set at Christmas time.

One of the better horror and suspense films set at Christmas of the past five years is 2007's Wind Chill.  This theatrical release movie is directed by Gregory Jacobs and stars Emily Blunt and Ashton Holmes as the Girl and the Guy.  A female college student shares what was meant to be a six-hour car ride from upstate New York to Delaware with a stranger to go home over Christmas break.

Emily Blunt as the Girl and Ashton Holmes as the Guy.  These two characters carry most of the movie which is spent inside the car.

The two students get to know each other on the long drive home.  She's difficult and selfish while he seems boyish and cute but not that trustworthy.  After he takes a scenic detour onto a snow-covered  road through the mountains, they eventually find themselves pushed off the icy road and stranded inside the car as a winter storm intensifies. Periodically throughout the movie, the screen reveals the hours and minutes of a clock as viewers keep track of how much time is passing for the guy and the girl trapped in the cold.  Could they be stuck there overnight?  Will they get frost bite or even die in the frozen car as more and more snow piles on top?

After a few hours, the car stalls due to a gas leak caused by the accident.  Now they have no car heater--and it only gets colder.

Making things worse, they find they are isolated on a stretch of road with a horrifying history of deadly car accidents and ghost encounters. Though the car windows are fogged up, the girl thinks she sees people walking up the road, but they disappear into the woods before she can call out to them.  The guy follows someone into the woods where he discovers the remains of a house the contents of which only raises more questions.  The guy and the girl are very suspicious of one another inside the car, neither trusting the other until the real threat to their lives seems to come from outside the vehicle.

The guy and the girl are at first frightened then relieved when a highway patrolman taps his flashlight on the passenger side window.

Actor Martin Donovan plays the highway patrolman at the window.

However, the highway patrolman isn't there to offer help.  Eventually even a tow truck driver arrives and offers to drive them to a nearby gas station and restaurant.  But the guy and the girl can't seem to escape the supernatural forces, perhaps even a time loop, keeping them on that road.  Could the supernatural characters and forces the girl experiences be explained by her head injury and losing consciousness in the initial accident?  Is she hallucinating as she freezes to death?

Just two strangers trapped in a broken down car for hours--sounds like a nightmare to me!

I've seen this movie twice and I like it more and more.  There is great attention to detail.  The look of the movie has been manipulated with heightened blues and blacks adding a very chilling effect, both literally and figuratively. Look at the photos above--the images all have a blue tint.  The majority of the movie takes place at night and in the snow.  It's a very effective use of color to create the look of the cold temperatures.  The film is also shot using mostly extreme close-ups--these are two people trapped in a car and it feels claustrophobic!  The clever storytelling incorporates reasons for the gal and guy to distrust each other. They are trapped and viewers can FEEL how painful it must be to not be able to escape from the small, tight, uncomfortable space.  When they step outside into the freezing night, they encounter people who offer them no comfort--potentially the people passing by may even harm them.  So the guy and the girl are forced to retreat into the confined, closed space of the cold vehicle that is much like a coffin.

In the darkness of the night, the girl attempts to wipe away some of the fog covering the inside of the car windows.  Her vision is continually obscured.  She also mentions earlier that she's getting corrective eye surgery over Christmas Break.  What does she need to see?

Another detail in this movie is the Christmas music that plays on the radio in the car.  At first the holiday music is used to set the scene--it's Christmas time and the guy and the girl are going home to join their families for holiday break.  But later, a bouncy excited version of Gene Autry's "Here Comes Santa Claus" plays against the paranoia that the girl feels for the guy as she learns that they aren't strangers after all.  She discovers that he planned on luring her to let him drive her to Delaware.  Eventually, the innocuous Christmas standard "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee plays on the radio previous to each encounter with a supernatural, creepy person who approaches the car--despite the engine being turned off!  The juxtaposition of the familiar happy Christmas music with the feeling of impending doom is very effective and another great detail.

Remember the extreme close-up of the cop who approaches Marion Crane's car in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho?  He's frightening too.

Though there's a supernatural explanation for the unusual experiences happening to the guy and the girl on this isolated road, I'm not sure you have to believe it.  That's one of the strengths of this story.  There is more than one explanation for these unusual occurrences.   The final shot is of the girl with  her cell phone (which had no reception in the mountains overnight) and looking at a photo she took of the guy, as if she doesn't know anymore what is real and what isn't real.  She seems to be asking herself, was HE even real?  I love open-ended movies.  What's scariest to me is usually something left to my own imagination--not what someone else defines.   Do you ever fear freezing to death?

Remember when Jack Nicholson freezes to death in The Shining?

Check out the original trailer.  Have you seen Wind Chill yet?

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir Christmas (1969)

I'm continuing my Countdown to Halloween with one more romantic Christmas ghost story.  Do you remember the 1960s family sitcom The Ghost and Mrs. Muir?  The series was based upon the successful 1947 movie of the same title, starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison.  (I LOVE Gene Tierney!)  I first mentioned this Christmas episode in a previous post in 2010 about Charles Nelson Reilly.  Here I've updated it and added photos.

Top right: Captain Gregg (Edward Mulhare), Carolyn Muir (Hope Lange), her two children, and Claymore Gregg (Charles Nelson Reilly).

The series concerns itself with the widow Carolyn Muir and her two children who have rented a cottage along the New England coast that just happens to be haunted by a dashing but stern nineteenth-century sea captain, Captain Gregg.  The second season of the TV series produced a spirited holiday episode entitled "The Ghost of Christmas Past."

Always business-minded, Claymore is running a Christmas tree lot.

Carolyn's landlord, Claymore Gregg is selling Christmas trees during the holiday but as expected his prices are very high and he refuses to cut a discount even for Carolyn and the children.

Claymore discovers a baby within his car at the tree lot. "Where's your Mommy?" he demands.

At the Christmas tree lot, Claymore discovers that someone has left a foundling in the front seat of his car.  He takes the baby to Gull Cottage where Carolyn and her maid Martha are eager to care for a little one at Christmas time.

Claymore brings the baby to the only person he knows that can care for him.

Standing over the baby's bassinet, Carolyn asks the Captain about his favorite Christmas.

Carolyn casually asks the Captain about his Christmases past and he replies that his favorite is a Christmas that never existed except as a dream.  Later that night, Carolyn has a dream where she is experiencing Christmas a hundred years ago in Gull Cottage.  Her fiancé, the Captain arrives home early from the sea to spend the holiday at home with the family.

In this re-telling of The Christmas Carol, Claymore is most definitely Scrooge and Carolyn plays the part of Bob Cratchit.

Ebenezer Gregg's conscience gets the best of him.

In the Captain's dream, Carolyn works for Claymore, a real Scrooge at the office, who would rather sit at home alone on Christmas day and count his money than be with his family.  After an evening of being haunted by his own inner voice, Ebenezer Gregg arrives early on Christmas morning at Gull Cottage full of the generosity of the holiday spirit. Also in the dream, Carolyn and the Captain share a very passionate kiss.

Though Mrs. Muir and her ghost can never be together, at least in a dream they can kiss!

Listening to Martha describe her dream, Carolyn realizes everyone in the house shared the same dream of a perfect nineteenth-century Christmas spent with the Captain.

Carolyn awakens on Christmas morning to discover it was all a dream. However, it turns out everyone in the house has experienced the same, idyllic nineteenth-century Christmas dream courtesy of the Captain.

Just like the dream, Claymore arrives on Christmas morning with a change of heart--no more Bah Humbug!

And, Claymore arrives at Gull Cottage full of the generosity of the holiday spirit--and the baby’s mother is located.  This episode has a touch of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol but it is handled with loving care in this original story.  Making this Christmas TV episode even more sweet is that Carolyn and the Captain finally get to share a romantic moment--an emotionally satisfying scene since viewers are always hoping these two can get together despite the impossibility of a mortal and a ghost ever transcending their limitations.

On Christmas morning, the Captain sweetly explains to the children Jonathan and Candice that the only gift he could give is the dream of a happy Christmas, though he wishes it were more.

Will this nearly forgotten TV series ever be released on DVD?  I still have my fingers crossed.  Do you remember watching it? 

Bell, Book and Candle (1958)

Directed by Richard Quine, this theatrical release film was released in 1958.

Continuing my countdown to Halloween, I'm focusing on Halloween-appropriate Christmas cross-over entertainments.  1958's Bell, Book and Candle is one such cross-over as this light-hearted romance involves a witch who begins to fall in love on Christmas Eve.

As a witch, Gillian may not be able to fall in love.  But she can get someone to fall in love with her!

A blonde, sexy witch named Gillian Holroyd, played by the very sensuous Kim Novak, is bored with her life as a Primitive Art gallery owner and witch.  Though she knows witches can't fall in love (they can't cry or blush like humans either), she decides to find someone new to fall in love with her.  Enter: Shep Henderson, played by Jimmy Stewart, a book publisher and a new tenant in an upstairs apartment above the gallery.

Gillian and her siamese cat familiar named Pyewacket charm Shep with a love spell.

Shep can't help himself.  "I feel spellbound," he says.

On Christmas Eve, Gillian has Shep meet her at a local nightclub where she drives a wedge between Shep and his fiancé.  Later that night, the enchanting Gillian casts a spell on Shep to make him fall in love with her and it works!  The two spend most of their time together in the following weeks with Shep growing serious about the relationship eventually proposing marriage.  Gillian accepts his proposal, knowing that it means she'll have to give up her magic. 

What a fascinating family! Gillian's brother Nicky (played by Jack Lemmon) is the bongo player in a jazz quartet.

Meanwhile, Gillian's warlock brother Nicky is co-writing a book, with popular author Sydney Redlitch, about magic and the witchcraft community in New York City, published by her own lover Shep.  Gillian is worried that Shep may discover her true identity as a witch and her relationship would be over.  But when the book is complete, Shep rejects the manuscript arguing that its subject matter is idiotic and unbelievable.

Redlitch, played by funnyman Ernie Kovacs, thinks he's an expert on magic.

Though Gillian's secret identity is eventually revealed to Shep, she's hurt that he doesn't believe in magic--and insists he explain their falling in love.  When Gillian's Aunt Queenie, played by Elsa Lanchester lets it slip that Gillian cast a love spell upon Shep, he seeks out the wisdom and experience of another witch, Mrs. dePasse, who makes him drink a potion that counteracts the initial hex.

Instructed to drink the entire potion, Shep chokes down the concoction that will cancel the love spell.

Witches can't cry!

When Pyewacket turns up in Shep's office in a downtown skyscraper, he decides to return the cat to its owner.

Now free of Gillian's spell, Shep prepares to move on with his life--and away from Gillian who manipulated him.  Meanwhile, Gillian has never been more unhappy and discovers herself crying!  Now that she knows she's no longer a witch, she seeks out Shep to convince him to love her as a human.

Aunt Queenie, Nicky and Gillian opening gifts on Christmas.

Don't you just love classic Hollywood romances?  This magical tale begins on Christmas Eve and the song "Jingle Bells" is heard under the opening credits and title sequence.  Gillian has an elaborate stylized metallic Christmas tree decoration in her gallery space, the streets are covered in snow and wreaths hang in most doorways.  Shep and Gillian spend all night Christmas Eve together falling in love and the Holroyd family can be seen in one scene opening their Christmas gifts together.  However, I've never considered this a Christmas movie.  (If instead this story had culminated and ended at Christmas time, that would be different.)  Despite the opening setting being Christmas, the holiday is not essential to the story and doesn't play much of an important role in the story.  It's still a charming movie (pardon the pun), and its romance is elevated with the magic of the holiday.

Gillian and her pet familiar Pyewacket stand next to the golden stylized Christmas tree in her gallery space.

Yet this witch's love story is enjoyable year round--including Halloween.  Some media critics have cited this 1958 film (and the successful Broadway play it was adapted from) as the inspiration for the TV series Bewitched.  Certainly the bombshell blonde, sexy witch that falls in love with a human carries over into the hit 1960s TV show that starred Elizabeth Montgomery as the witch Samantha Stephens.  However, the TV series focuses on the married life after Sam and Darrin have fallen in love. 

Gillian wears VERY sexy dresses and this reversible leopard cape throughout the movie--va va va vooom!

Do you like classic Hollywood romance films?  What's your favorite?

Bewitched Christmas (1964)

This 1964, first season Christmas episode is in glorious black-and-white.

We all know Samantha Stephens is a good witch.  But I thought I'd start my Countdown to Halloween on a gentle note with this awesome Christmas episode.  Not only is this one of my personal favorite Christmas episodes of all time, it's also one of the few episodes where Samantha appears in her witch's outfit.  This is the perfect introduction to our month-long journey of exploring Halloween and Christmas cross-over entertainments.  Merry Halloween!

Samantha talks with Michael and decides to ignore the warnings that he's a troubled child.

In this first season episode, "A Vision of Sugar Plums" from 1964, the Stephenses and their neighbors the Kravitzes each host an orphan child to share their holiday.  On Christmas Eve, the Kravitzes pick up Tommy while the Stephenses arrive at the orphanage to bring home Michael, played by child actor Billy Mumy.  While still at the orphanage, Tommy and Michael get into a fist fight when Michael makes fun of Tommy for believing in Santa Claus.

Darwood...er, ah, I mean...Darrin plays Santa Claus to help inspire a little Christmas spirit in Michael.

Though the orphanage director, Mrs. Grange, warns Sam and Darrin that Michael may be a troubled little boy and too much to handle at Christmas time, Sam insists that they bring him home.  Sam recognizes that the boy's cynicism is rooted in being repeatedly disappointed in life--an unfortunate reality for this orphan.  Michael's bitterness has kept him from being adopted though twice he's been offered a home and a family.

Wanting to show him a little holiday spirit, Darrin dresses as Santa Claus and is caught placing gifts under the Christmas tree.  But Michael refuses to play along and is unimpressed with their effort.

Cynical young Michael knows it's Mr. Stephens inside the costume--because there is no Santa Claus.

Sam decides she needs to take drastic action to help Michael.  Revealing her true witch identity, Sam offers to fly Michael to the North Pole in order to meet her old friend, Santa Claus.  Sam invites Darrin along on their journey when he too is skeptical about meeting the real Santa Claus.

Samantha reveals her true nature as a witch to Michael.

In flight upon Samantha's broom, the three travelers are spotted by the nosy neighbor, Gladys Kravitz--though her husband Abner insists that she must be seeing flying reindeer in the skies above their home.

Santa is glad to see his old friend Sam and her guests--but he's in a hurry!  This is his busiest night of the year.

At the North Pole, Santa Claus is happy to see his friend Samantha and welcomes her into his workshop.  He and the elves are busy getting ready to deliver the toys tonight.  But Santa Claus is glad to spend a few minutes talking with Michael, restoring not only his faith in Christmas but his trust in other people--something that doesn't come easily for this young orphan.

Santa, played by Cecil Kellaway, encourages Michael to believe not only what he sees but what his heart feels.

The next morning, Mrs. Grange comes to the Stephens' home to pick up Michael and introduce him to a couple, the Johnsons, who are once again interested in adopting this little boy.  Renewed with hope, Michael puts his best foot forward not only embracing the Christmas spirit but expressing his desire to accept their kindness.

Mr. Johnson, played by actor Bill Daily, accepts Michael's Christmas gift--a tool set they can use together.

This Christmas TV episode hits the right spot each time I watch it.  It's not too saccharin--though my description here of "an adorable orphan who discovers the true meaning of Christmas" may make it seem so.  It's heart-warming and magical, perhaps the perfect mix in a Christmas story.  When I watched this episode as a child, I think I connected more with the little boy who gets an opportunity to meet the real Santa Claus, but as an adult, I appreciate the hope Michael embraces after learning how important it is to keep his heart and mind open.

Who wouldn't want to adopt this little boy?

This Christmas episode is one of my personal favorites for a couple of reasons.  I just love the cast:  the difficult young boy Michael is played by child actor Billy Mumy--who was everywhere on TV when I was young.  From Lost in Space to the Twilight Zone, Mumy was so commonplace on TV that he seems like a friend from my childhood.  Because of this familiarity, I still feel a special emotional connection to the episodes he appears in.  And, actor Bill Daily arrives in the end wanting to adopt this poor orphan!  Daily seems like a super star to me--playing Roger Healey on I Dream of Jeannie and Howard Borden on The Bob Newhart Show.  These are two of my favorite TV shows.  It always pleases me to see these two guest stars together on this heart-warming Christmas episode.

Gladys Kravitz spies on Tommy and Michael talking.

Another reason this episode is a favorite is because it's satisfying to see the peeping, interfering neighbor Mrs. Kravitz once again given her due.  At the end of the episode, she sees Michael give a gift to Tommy for Christmas--a toy truck he brought back from Santa's workshop at the North Pole.  (How sweet is that?)  Mrs. Kravitz hears Michael describe how he flew to the North Pole with the witch Samantha on her broomstick--and now Gladys thinks she has finally caught Samantha!  Gladys rushes to find Abner so he can hear the conversation between Michael and Tommy.

Thank goodness no one ever believes Gladys when she insists her neighbor Samantha is actually a witch!

But when Abner asks Tommy what Michael had shared with him, Tommy won't repeat Michael's secret!  And, once again Gladys is left looking like an idiot--or worse, she fears she's going crazy!

Sam's Christmas tree conveniently fits inside her purse!

Besides flying to the North Pole, Samantha demonstrates a little more Christmas magic.  In order to save herself a $5 delivery charge, she shrinks a tree she buys at a Christmas tree lot, carries it home inside her purse--and we see her zap it to normal height at home.

One of the most powerful reasons that this episode is one of my personal favorites is that I remember watching it as a child.  Though I've seen nearly every Christmas episode ever made, I'm still like most other people and my favorites are the ones I watched when I was young and continue to watch each year because they still bring me joy.  Which childhood favorites do you still watch every year?  Merry Halloween!