“Poltergeist” (1982)
For years, a debate has raged as to who was actually the director of “Poltergeist.” Was it credited helmer Tobe Hooper or producer and co-writer Steven Spielberg, who reports have been, for over thirty years, onset consistently making the decisions. Whoever it was (and the answer is likely to be ‘some kind of combination of the two’), they turned out a belter, a movie with both the white-knuckle terror that Hooper is known for and a decidedly Spielbergian emotional backbone. The film sees an ordinary suburban California families’ lives turned upside down when youngest daughter Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke) begins having terrifying visions around the house. It’s not as centered on a spooky child as some of these movies — in part because Carol Anne is kidnapped into the spirit world early in the film and sits some of it out — but O’Rourke is arguably the best performer in the film when she is on screen, particularly when delivering the iconic “They’re here” line (sadly, O’Rourke passed away during an operation when she was just twelve). Again, there’s a competent but dull remake, released last year, with a classy cast but little else to recommend it.
“Matilda” (1996)
Not all freakishly endowed children need to be the scary harbingers of some Apocalypse — sometimes they can be goodhearted, lonely kids born into the wrong family, who just need love. Directed by, narrated by and starring Danny DeVito, this beguiling adaptation of Roald Dahl‘s beloved children’s novel is, on the surface, simply a delightful confectionary as child prodigy Matilda (a sweet, sad-faced Mara Wilson) discovers she has telekinetic powers that might enable her to evade the clutches of her horrible family and ex-shot-put-champion headmistress Trunchbull (a gamely grotesque Pam Ferris). But actually, aside from the straightforward wish-fulfillment scenario as an inherently powerless child gains powers beyond the ken of her tormentors, there’s also a very dark center here: a really quite scathing distrust of adults (reflecting Dahl’s own famous misanthropy), with the sole exception of the lovely Miss Honey (Embeth Davidtz). It’s a tonal balance that DeVito and his villainous chorus manages well, leaving it to Wilson and Davidtz to carry the emotion, which they do in such quiet little moments as bonding over a love of Dickens, finally building the film into a manifesto for the gently subversive idea (for a kids film) that family might not always be best.
“The Exorcist” (1973)
Still the ne plus ultra not just of the demonic possession film but of the horror genre in general, William Friedkin‘s terrifying classic is also a never-bettered example of the freaky child subgenre. Part of what makes Regan’s predicament so horrifying is that she is, pea-soup vomit and seeping facial sores notwithstanding, recognizably still a young girl, and the depravity of her corrupted innocence, especially during some of the more overtly sexualized scenes, is almost unwatchable as a result. Unforgettably portrayed by Linda Blair, Regan is such an iconic horror emblem, that it’s probable that most contemporary filmgoers will have seen a parody or an homage or a reference before they’ve seen the real thing — and by rights that should rob the film of a considerable amount of its power. But “The Exorcist” will freak the living daylights out of you no matter how prepared you are, and that is truly the mark of its genius. Because more than a collection of gross-out highlights, the film boasts an utterly compelling atmosphere of revulsion and dread that means that even the non-spewing, non-screaming, non-spitting, non-stabbing moments exert a relentless chokehold on the very, very darkest reaches of our collective imagination.
A few suggestions for further reading if none of the above have convinced you to think twice before cooing over a friend’s newborn or offering to babysit: the U.S. version of the “The Ring” has a young girl as the vengeful, lank-haired ghost responsible for all those deaths ( and the Japanese original of “The Grudge” has a similarly blackeyed ghost boy); zombie classic “Night of the Living Dead” features a memorable child-zombie character; 1960s “Village of the Damned” is a famous example that even had the honor of the standard-issue inferior remake (in 1995 by John Carpenter); in Cronenberg’s “The Brood” the mutant children are scarcely recognisable as such, but do indeed possess psychic abilities in addition to extreme malevolence; Alejandro Amenabar‘s terrific ghost story “The Others” also just about qualifies, though the children are less the focus than in “The Innocents” (above) to which it is indebted; James Wan‘s “Insidious” has taken the theme and spun it into a franchise; while current arthouse horror hit “The Witch,” and last year’s “The Babadook” also feature children whom we can’t be sure are not somehow haunted or possessed.
And then there’s a huge range of middling-to-awful films featuring the same hook suc as: Eddie Murphy’s “The Golden Child” — lackluster but has its moments; yet more Stephen King adaptations in “Pet Sematary” and the really quite dreadful “Children of the Corn“; unintentionally hilarious Renee Zellweger/Bradley Cooper vehicle “Case 39“; and let’s not forget the more mainstream stuff like Nicolas Cage‘s “Knowing” in which… no wait, let’s totally forget about “Knowing.”
Any other freaky kids using their powers for good or ill occur to you? Shout them out in the comments below.
