The more I watch these creepy kid movies and then go to IMDB afterwards to get my facts straight, I'm starting to realize that a lot of the kids that starred in these movies were one-and-out's. They came, starred, creeped us out, and then said goodbye to movies altogether. Could be lots of reasons for that, but I'm wondering if the kids were so creepy that they creeped themselves right out of a career. We may never know.
Our next creepy kid is a one-and-out too; after 1977's The Child, that was it. Maybe her zombies finally got tired of doing her bidding and turned on her...
The Child is the story of Rosalie, a creepy little girl who has a gang of zombie friends whom she uses to kill people. She feeds them cats, and they kill people to avenge the wrongful death of her mother. We never really find out particulars of their arrangement, but I suppose it doesn't matter as long as it works.
Aside from being creepy, Rosalie is pretty whiny and bratty, like most kids her age. then again she has no friends other than the "things" in the woods, and she spends most of her time hanging around in a graveyard, so I guess it's not fair for us to expect her social graces to be very developed. Still, I'd tell her to shut up and stop her whinin', and get to her chores. If there were no zombies at her command, of course. I'm no fool.
The Master Says- For all of its flaws, The Child is a pretty effective creeper of a movie, due largely in part to its eerie atmosphere. Rosalie is an effective creepy kid because she seems so cute and unassuming, but then does stuff like stare, put stuffed animals in trees, and and sits quietly in a rocking chair.. sure, none of that sounds scary, but it is. Especially when it involves zombies.
