Wicked Little Things is
one of the offerings by After Dark Films through their 8 Films to Die
For promotion.
The story in Wicked Little Things
is formula and the plot follows a typical horror outline. Entertaining?
Yes. Groundbreaking? Hardly.
Written by BHM
Contributor Michael Saunier April 12, 2007
Directed by: J.S. Cardone
Written by: Jace Anderson, Adam Gierasch and Ben Nedivi
Starring:
Lori Heuring as Karen Tunny
Scout Taylor-Compton as Sarah Tunny
Chloe Moretz as Emma Tunny
Geoffrey Lewis as Harold
The After Dark Horrorfest is quite an ambitious project: Take
a whole bunch of horror films and have them played in select theatres
without any wide scale promotion. I happen to live in Pittsburgh, PA
and couldn’t make it to our city’s one limited time
run of the select movies, so I was excited to see they were coming out
for sale on DVD. I immediately bought all of the releases. For all of
you Masters of Horror fans out there, this series is on the same page,
but with more length per film.
The first movie I viewed from the Horrorfest collection was Wicked
Little Things. This movie has a simple, straightforward story
that centers on a recently widowed woman, Karen, and her two girls,
Sarah and Emma. Karen inherited a secluded mountain home and the family
has decided to move there.
When the
trio arrives at their new residence, called The Tunny House, they
quickly realize that they will be faced with some harsh circumstances
– the house is barely standing and is not quite in working
condition. The challenges involved in this new lifestyle bring out the
rebellion in the older teenage daughter, Sarah (played by Scout
Taylor-Compton who is also playing Laurie Strode in the 2007 remake of
Halloween). Beyond that there isn’t much character
development or character history to be had in Wicked Little
Things.
The back-story of Wicked
Little Things goes a little something like this: A group of
local children were killed in the early 20th century while working in
the town mine due to the negligence and disregard or the mining company
in charge. The mining company was owned by a despised family that also
happens to own all of the land that the town and the Tunny house are
built on.
The
ghosts of the dead child miners are not happy with their current state
and rise at night to seek revenge and act on their ghoulish bloodlust.
The town kook, Harold, lives in the mountains near Tunny House and
tries to warn Karen about the town’s past and the children
who roam the woods at night.
Meanwhile a
relative of the evil mining company owners is in town to survey the
land in hopes of building a ski resort on the very spot where the
child-miners lost their lives. Now the ghostly prepubescents are really
mad.
There is also a bit of a sub-plot as the youngest daughter Emma
develops a relationship with one of the ghosts named Mary. This
storyline is not very deep in the plot or character areas, but
it’s there.
Wicked
Little Things follows a very simple outline and
doesn’t offer anything new or unique that grabs the
attention. Some of the images, however, are very creepy such as the
dense fog filtering through the woods at night. The makeup effects for
the ghost children were adequate and helped enhance the fact that
children can be scary in their own right, especially at night. The
music and sound effects were sufficient, but nothing to rave about.
The acting in Wicked Little Things left something
to be desired, but I can’t say it’s the fault of
the actors since it is more than likely the result of less than stellar
writing. I can only hope that Scout Taylor-Compton turns in a better
performance in Rob Zombie’s Halloween.
Overall,
in spite of the weaknesses, I enjoyed watching Wicked Little
Things. This film didn’t break any molds or
redefine the horror genre, but what Wicked Little Things
did do is serve its purpose by presenting a clear and concise horror
movie that is entertaining.
If
you’re looking for something groundbreaking, look elsewhere,
but if you’re looking for a horror movie that is decent and
viewable by a wide audience, then Wicked Little Things
is a good choice. Questions
or comments about Wicked Little Things?
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Wicked
Little Things follows a very simple outline and
doesn’t offer anything new or unique that grabs the
attention. Some of the images, however, are very creepy such as the
dense fog filtering through the woods at night. The makeup effects for
the ghost children were adequate and helped enhance the fact that
children can be scary in their own right, especially at night. The
music and sound effects were sufficient, but nothing to rave about.
