Wicked Little Things (2006)

Director:

J.S. Cardone

Writers:

Boaz Davidson (story)
Ben Nedivi (screenplay)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Prey for them

Plot:

Karen, Sarah, and Emma Tunney are all moving to a small town in Pennsylvania where, unknown to them, in 1913, a horrid mine accident trapped dozens of children alive, underground. But there's a problem. They're still alive.

Plot Keywords:

Buried Alive | Zombie | Explosion | Little Girl | Blood

Cast

Lori Heuring	...	Karen Tunny
Scout Taylor-Compton	...	Sarah Tunny
Chloe Moretz	...	Emma Tunny
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Harold Thompson
Ben Cross	...	Aaron Hanks
Craig Vye	...	Tim
Chris Jamba	...	Sean
Julie Rogers	...	Lisa
Martin McDougall	...	William Carlton
Michael McCoy	...	Walter
Velizar Binev	...	Bull Foreman
Helia Grekova	...	Mary
George Zlatarev	...	Explosives Captain
Atanas Srebrev	...	Russel
Vladimir Mihailov	...	Trevor

Also Known As:

The Children (USA) (working title)
Zombies (USA) (working title)
Zombies: Wicked Little Things (UK) (DVD box title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong horror violence and gore, language, and some teen drug and alcohol use.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Australia:MA | Singapore:M18 | Netherlands:16 | Germany:16 | USA:Unrated (DVD rating) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

New Boyana Film Studios, Sofia, Bulgaria

Company:

Millennium Films

Trivia:

Tobe Hooper was initially attached to direct the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the ending sequence, Carlton's gun changes from a GLOCK (at the car) to a Beretta (in Hank's home) and then back to a GLOCK (as he leaves the home).

Quotes:

Sean: Whose little girl are you?

Movie Connections:

References Resident Evil (2002)

Soundtrack:

Streets of Laredo

A Derivative Horror Film: Little Imagination, Little Homage

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.

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).