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Robin Lilly, Jamie Krause, Mik Cribbin, Micheal Robinson, Herb Klinger ... see more see more... , Lori Tirgrath , Mark Diekman , Michael Robertson , Rich Hamilton , Sunshine Barrett

In this horror epic from the always-tasteful folks at Troma Team Pictures (creators of The Toxic Avenger), the parents in a small town begin having a serious discipline problem with their children. It... read more read more... seems the kids are being lured into a strange cannibalistic cult and start feeding on the flesh of their families! ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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25% liked it

873 ratings

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Directed by: Mik Cribben, Mik Cribbin

Release Date: June 1, 1995

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DVD Release Date: March 5, 1996

Stats: 78 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (78)

  • matertenebraum
    August 28, 2009
    matertenebraum
    Mike Cribben's cult favourite Beware: Children at Play is one of the most demented films ever to be picked up by Troma. The film deserves praise for fearlessly breaking one of the last taboos in horror and most impressively, doing so in an entertaining manner. Beware: Children at... read more Play really is a taste free zone. For that achievement alone, the film is an absolute must see.

    Lloyd Kaufman's introduction to the film begins with an anecdote recounting how a preview for Beware: Children at Play successfully emptied a theatre at the Cannes film festival. I'm sure the reaction would have been one of rapturous applause if the audience had seen the film in its entirety, because within the context of the "plot", the slaughtering of the demon children really does provide great entertainment. I know that sounds abominable but when a film's plot revolves around wild cannibalistic children who believe they are characters from Beowulf, I would say that just about anything goes.

    The film begins slowly and somewhat painfully due to the extended dialogues about "cleavages" (I didn't even know there was a plural form of the word) and supernatural phenomenon. Before too long, John has joined Ross in his search for a group of missing children. These children really need a visit from Super Nanny because they spend their time cutting people in half with sickles and impaling trespassers on wooden stakes. The fact that children are depicted eating body organs would be tasteless enough for most directors, but to Cribben's credit he raises the bar by throwing a rape scene and a handful of religious fanatics into the mix. The film momentarily goes astray while our incredibly stupid heroes go to the library and read Beowulf, in order to get into the mind of the ringleader, who believes he is the cannibalistic monster, Grendel.

    Thankfully, Beware: Children at Play gets back on track for the infamous child killing marathon. This sequence is remarkable in its complete and utter shamelessness. Kiddies get decapitated, stabbed, shot and killed with pitchforks. It is all so very wrong but when presented in this context, with the campy production values and incredibly unrealistic effects, the scene comes across as a stroke of genius. However, I think the picture gallery of slaughtered children on the Troma DVD is a bit foul even by my degenerate standards. That said, I'm glad that Troma once again has the balls to put this kind of material out on the market.

    Beware: Children at Play is definitely not for everyone. However, fans of Troma and tastelessness in general will have a grand old time watching this shocker. I give this film full marks for having the backbone to completely smash one of cinema's biggest taboos and for being entertaining while doing so.
  • chelano
    September 7, 2011
    chelano
    The whole background to this story is just terrifying. What if a group of children had a group where they killed grown ups and ate them. That would scare me. But the movie was not that scary and could of had a lot of changes. It would of been nice if the children were more sc... read moreary. The only scary thing about them was they would hide in the fields and whisper to each other. It was like watching a wimpier version of "Children of the Corn". Basically a kids dad dies who taught the child strange Anglo-Saxon stories. As a revenge the kid grows up and thinks he is a leader of a group that kills adults. He gets other kids under his belt and forms a killing cult. Some of the acting was ok and some was just horrible. They had a few good gore scenes but then near the end, the gore and killing gets out of hand. I almost felt like I was watching a horror spoof near the end. I can remember two scenes in this film that should of not been in there. They were put in there out of good taste and really had nothing to do with the story line. Also I am not sure if the editor was sleeping, but there were a few scenes with very noticeable errors that should of been fixed or taken out. If you look at the poster for this movie, it will scare you. It comes off as very creepy. But when you finally watch the film, your whole view changes. In fact, I actually liked the film until halfway though. Then it just got silly.
  • seanattle74
    February 19, 2011
    seanattle74
    Bad acting, big glasses, a salesman selling the best goddamn book around, bad acting, an awsome frog puppet named Freddie, a missing daughter, a poorly placed bear trap, a poorly made fence, bad acting...eh,
    i could go on, but it's TROMA. Check it out.
  • jam233
    May 31, 2010
    jam233
    Rather typical Troma horror stuff. As with most of their films, they are campy and deliberately so. It is somewhat entertaining on that level. But, as usual, poorly acted with lots of gore, and a really corny plot and overdone score. This is the kind of movie you have to be in th... read moree mood for to watch.
  • kcddck
    December 5, 2009
    kcddck
    This movie actually started off decent enough, but after the initial scene it took a bad tumble and became a piece of garbage after that. I don't mind Toma movies as they have their place in movie history, because some are very entertaining, but this was just horrible.
  • psychoapeguy
    August 11, 2008
    psychoapeguy
    basically, a kid whose dad was a literary professor, becomes a cannibal and forms a cannibalistic cult in the woods after grendel from the story 'beowulf'. it's got absolutely terrible acting...and a bunch of murderous children. there was a lot of controversy surrounding this fil... read morem 'cause of the ending. it's an ending that'll likely offend a good chunk of folks. but anyway, it's a good flick to pull out and make fun of with friends...and that three-legged dog that appears in the film is awesome.
  • QuietRebel33
    February 21, 2008
    QuietRebel33
    Parents in a small town quickly begin to panic when their children start disappearing ... and returning as cannibals! Uner the control of a ruthlessly demonic leader, the kids turn the town into a bloody nightmare in no time flat, kidnapping kids, and killing the adults. The en... read moreding is a shocker in this campy cult favorite from Troma Studios! Bad acting but greatly enertaining!

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February 23, 2012
Variety

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