Earlier this week, there was a poll asking about the scariest child in films. Most of you decided on The Ring and I 100% agree with Samara being the creepiest and the scariest. The thought of a dead child crawling from my TV is stuff of nightmares. Children existing within the realm of the supernatural like Samara, Damien in The Omen, or even Regan in The Exorcist is enough to make anyone question reality.
Films like Orphan and The Bad Seed were done well without the added layer of children having a supernatural ability. Children are seen as pure and are typically thought of in a way where they could do no wrong, so watching films where the most vulnerable are put into villainous roles sparks the question of whether or not children are truly as innocent as they seem. I wanted to take a look at the idea of villainous children and why the idea is horrifying.
Disclaimer
This analysis will spoil the plot of a few movies.
I will be talking about:
Pet Sematary
Orphan
Children of the Corn
Pet Sematary is a film made in 1989 and is based off of Stephen King’s book of the same name. The premise follows a family that moves to a somewhat secluded area. The family consists of the parents (Louis and Rachel), their children (Ellie and Gage), and their cat (Church). Church gets hit by a truck after Louis had heard about a place nearby called Pet Sematary. Long story short, Louis buries Church there and Church comes back to life, making its way back to the family home. It is an odd sighting as the reanimated cat looks like roadkill, but is ultimately accepted and the pet is kept even when it begins to showcase odd behaviors.
Fast forward and Gage, their toddler, runs into the street at the wrong time. The family is obviously devastated, but Louis has an idea. Church was able to come back to life, maybe Gage can too. Once Gage is reanimated, he also begins engaging in disturbing behavior, and begins terrorizing the family.
Now remember, Gage is a toddler. It’s a little comical to think of a toddler overtaking a full-grown adult. The idea is terrifying as well, especially when it’s your own child. Gage is very obviously not himself upon his reanimation. He wastes no time in committing the murder of his father’s neighbor and friend, before murdering Rachel. Louis has to witness the death of his “son” for a second time when he realizes that Gage’s survival would be detrimental.
Gage is so young and innocence is written all over him. He hadn’t had the chance to experience life and live through the successes and challenges that it has to offer. Gage didn’t have anything to worry about because he was still at an age where he relied heavily on his parents. His family and the viewer watch this child enjoy life before he meets his unfortunate end, and when Louis makes the choice to bury his son’s body on this tainted ground, it’s met with disbelief (especially because the viewer witnesses how Church returned).
Gage’s sense of innocence is immediately lost after his reanimation and the horrors that awaited anyone he knew were met with surprise. It’s a bit of a shock because of how small he is in comparison to those that he seeks to take out. Teens are more capable of turning against their loved ones because they are bigger, have more coordination, and are able to think more cognitively than a toddler would be able to. Gage was a happy child, and his footsteps were calculated, but after he was reanimated, he was darker in mood and moved with ease. He was sure of himself especially when it came to terrorizing those around him.
Orphan was a wild ride during my first watch-through. It follows a couple, Kate and John, who want to look into adopting a child. They already had two and were wanting a third. They go through a lot to get to this point, but are ultimately allowed to adopt a girl called Esther. She makes a wonderful first impression on the couple and does everything that she can to please them.
But, over the course of some time, Esther begins to engage in concerning behavior. Kate and John’s two children, Max and Daniel, witness Esther commit unthinkable acts for a child such as: killing an injured bird, purposely breaking the leg of a bully, and killing a Nun from the orphanage that she came from (who explained strange happenings that surrounded Esther throughout her past). Esther begins to threaten her new siblings if they decide that they want to tell their parents.
Daniel begins to discover the murder of the Nun and Esther makes an attempt on his life. Kate becomes suspicious of Esther and even feels threatened by her. Daniel’s near death convinces her that Esther needs to be sent away in order to protect her other two children. While Kate is away with Daniel at the hospital, Esther begins making moves on John while he is drinking. John declines her advances and Esther decides that it is time to take out the entire family.
Kate’s still at the hospital and finds out that Esther is actually a 30-something year old who has hypopituitarism, a rare hormonal disorder that stunted her physical growth. Esther’s real name is also Leena and she had murdered at least 7 people in the past.
Leena’s case is interesting because she is not actually a child, but she still falls under this category, especially because she poses as one for most of her life. Leena is also a seemingly sweet girl at first that wants nothing but to be a part of a family. Kate and Jack adopt what they thought was a child and a first-time viewer is in for a shock when the twist is announced. Leena acts on her impulses throughout the film, uncaring of how she is potentially traumatizing her siblings.
Leena’s act allows her to infiltrate this family and she manipulates them into doing what she wants. Leena’s crush for John is also horrifying because he thinks that a child is making moves on him, and, rightfully so, pushes back against her advances. No one knew how dangerous she truly was until it felt too late.
Leena’s character has always interested me because while she uses her appearance to manipulate those around her, she must also feel frustrated because she is unable to form meaningful relationships as a 30-something year old. The rejection she faced at the hands of John (again, rightfully so…) was ultimately the tipping point for her to go homicidal.
This movie was also horrifying because of Max and Daniel’s experience with Leena before Kate and John find out about her. Daniel must have felt so helpless and scared because his concerns were ignored until it was too late. The children are put into a horrifying situation because they're subjected to this horror, but are too frightened to speak out against it.
I had to re-watch this Children of the Corn for this post because I really wanted to talk about it. I couldn’t fathom the idea of a cult consisting of killer children. Usually films center on one villainous child, but this film focuses on one child, Isaac, who leads a cult of children. There is also one other child, Malachai, who is seemingly going rogue throughout the course of their story.
Isaac leads these children by using the word of God, seemingly, in ways that suit him. At the end of the film, the viewer and the characters alike, realize that this is all real. At the beginning of the film Isaac watches on as Malachai and the other children murder every single adult residing in their town. The children live in fear under Isaac and Malachai as they take on the role of leading.
A few years later, a couple, Vicki and Burt are on a road trip. Burt hits a child while driving, but notices that the child’s throat was slit. They drive around an empty town in search of help, but run into the cult. They are eventually separated and Vicki is held hostage by Malachai after everyone turns on Isaac. Burt goes to look for her with the help of two siblings (who are too pure for this universe). Long story short, there is some sort of entity that accepts the sacrifices that the children offer up. Throughout the children's search for Burt, Isaac becomes possessed by this entity, He Who Walks Behind The Rows, after everyone sets him up to be sacrificed. Malachai is then killed by a possessed Isaac.
The children are impressed upon from a young age, told to believe everything that Isaac says since God speaks through him. Children have not yet gotten the capability to think for themselves in a way to discern right from wrong. The children in this cult grow up to follow the word of Isaac and do everything that they are told. Maybe they’re afraid of him and Malachai, or maybe they’re afraid of He Who Walks Behind The Rows. A supernatural element blurs the lines between whether or not these children were acting in this way because of Isaac. Either way, they didn’t choose to leave the area and continued to conduct sacrifices.
It’s essentially a cat and mouse game with little story, but I wanted to focus on this movie, not for the story, but more for the fact that there are multiple children seeking this couple out. These children are allowed to live up until they are 19 and then are sacrificed to this entity. So, not only are outsiders unsafe, the children within this cult are still unsafe. Adults seem to be the ultimate victims in this film, but the children also have to fear one another. One villainous child is enough to elicit fear from their victim(s), but being chased down by a horde of children is terrifying and I felt true fear for Vicki when she had been captured, picked up, and carried away by multiple children. Burt was chased down and as we often know, as we become adults, it's harder to keep pace with children as they always seem like they're bursting with energy. Being chased by a crowd is enough, but they truly believed that a group of children could help them.
Children are also typically seen as the more receptive type. They are believed to take in information and act according to what they are seeing. Video games, for example, are a common form of entertainment that people criticize when it comes to children playing them; with games like GTA sparking outrage in adults who are adamant about their dislike for the content for fear that children will see and act out the violence depicted.
The scary thing about children in horror is that they don't often have entertainment to influence their decisions.. We could take a step away from the films mentioned above and look at films like The Bad Seed and The Good Son. Rhoda and Henry are pure evil and are children who murder simply because they don't get their way. Their behavior can’t be explained away by supernatural elements and their characters truly horrified me, because their crimes were unwarranted and only committed because... they simply wanted to commit them.
Children are beings that are reliant on the help from others. Rhoda, Henry (The Good Son), and even innocent children like Sarah and Job (Children of the Corn) could easily get the attention of adults (or other children) based on their actions. People are willing to help a child in need without a second thought and this becomes their ultimate downfall in horror films.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much. I appreciate the time you take to read through some of the crazy things I’m thinking. If you’d like, take a moment to comment your thoughts. And what child comes to mind when you think of this topic?
Have a wonderful weekend and see you next week!
🔪Versa
I want to rewatch all of them, what a great read this was
Sheesh I haven't seen the og Pet Semetary in sooooo long. I did watch Children of the Corn last year and honestly I just couldn't take all those kids seriously. It's tough trying to make it scary and suspenseful when it's 90% child actors.