When it comes to films about creepy little children it is very easy to spook me for long after viewing. Even when I see an awful film sometimes I can still leave the theater with a particular scene that may stick with me. Now director David Gregory is very well known by fans of special features and Severen Films. Personally I like the guy and all he has done up until this point. But Plague Town quickly became one of the worst movies I have seen so far this year.
In the movie a dysfunctional family is taking a trip to the Irish countryside to do a bit of bonding. Unfortunately for the viewer this is the point where you want every single one of the members of the family to just be given a dirt nap. All of the family members are quite simply just annoying and WAY over blown. If you can manage to sit through their whining and complaining for 30 minutes you will get the first look at what is supposed to be the "scary little children". I'm not sure if he was going for some kind of Silent Hill type look or what but it really just did not come together.
Movie magic is something that never makes an appearance in this movie. What I mean by that is when you see some special FX or a scene where someone is supposed to be smacking someone it is obviously fake. They never use any kind of camera tricks to really sell what you are supposed to be seeing. I have come to think that this could possible be because Gregory has no experience in this kind of filmmaking.
The sad thing about this whole film is that I really looked forward to seeing Gregory break out and become a filmmaker. Not only that but I love the whole creepy kid genre and this idea was one that has only been explored a couple times. It is somewhat of a take on Who Could Kill A Child? But in this film the parents are just there to egg the little kids on and then step out of the way.
The special FX in this movie are quite laughable except during one scene. The problem with that scene however is that we have seen this kind of kill before in countless other films that are better in every other aspect as well. The worst effect is by far is when one of the family is getting smacked in the face by a rim. While they are getting repeatedly slammed in the face by it, blood is just squirting out of their mouth. Nothing else is effected and really makes you almost laugh.
