¿Quién puede matar a un niño? (1976)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Narciso Ibáñez Serrador

Writers:

Juan José Plans (novel)
Narciso Ibáñez Serrador (screenplay)

Release Date:

June 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

Suddenly . . . They were the only adults left alive on the island.

Plot:

A couple of English tourists arrive on an island where all the children have gone crazy and are murdering the adults.

Plot Keywords:

Boat | Spain | Fictional War | Husband Wife Relationship | Machine Gun

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Lewis Fiander	...	Tom
Prunella Ransome	...	Evelyn
Antonio Iranzo	...	Father of Crying Girl
Miguel Narros	...	Guardacostas 1
María Luisa Arias		(as Mª Luisa Arias)
Marisa Porcel
Juan Cazalilla
Luis Ciges	...	Enrique Amorós - the Postman
Antonio Canal
Aparicio Rivero
Fabián Conde	...	Camera shop clerk
Andrès Gomez		(as Andrés Gómez)
Maria Druille	...	Child (Crying daughter)
Lourdes De La Camara	...	Child (Lourdes) (as Lourdes de la Cámara)
Roberto Nauta	...	Child

Also Known As:

Death is Child's Play (UK)
Island of Death (UK) (video title)
Island of the Damned (USA)
Lucifer's Curse (USA)
Niños, Los (Spain) (short title)
The Killer's Playground
Trapped (USA)
Who Can Kill a Child? (International: English title)
Would You Kill a Child? (UK)

Runtime:

Argentina:107 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | Australia:90 min | Spain:100 min (approx) | USA:111 min (DVD)

Country:

Spain

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1977) | UK:X (1976) | Argentina:18 (re-rating) (1982) (cut) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:16 (re-rating) (2003) (uncut) | Australia:M | France:-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Spain:18 | Iceland:(Banned) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Almuñécar, Granada, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Penta Films

Trivia:

Several sequences are homages to Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963), for example, the image of all the children in the island's village square ready to attack Tom and Evelyn, and the final escape from the island.

Quotes:

Evelyn: [to Tom] There is something wrong on this island and you're trying to keep it from me. If there is something wrong, then whatever it is, I think we should leave.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Blow Out (1981)

creepy gem

Effective, well played horror that somehow became elusive to fans over the years. The story concerns an expecting couple voyaging to a small island who find the adult population has dropped considerably. The children of the island have gone berserk and killed them off...the couple must escape the island and defend themselves against an army of evil brats...this becomes difficult, because...."who can kill a child"? Well directed, and the location filming has a strangely colorless, parched look that adds greatly to the atmosphere(and recalls somewhat the famous flashback scene at the end of "Suddenly Last Summer"). Strongly recommended. 7.5/10