Blu-ray Review: CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT Comes Calling From Artsploitation Films

Of all the monsters in the long history of cinema, no creature has been explored more often or in more detail than the vampire. From his cinematic genesis as a hideous rat-like creature in F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu to his numerous escapades as a romantic from Lugosi forward, the vampire has been explored from nearly every angle possible. As a result, when a film comes along with another look at the vampire myth and is touted as being new and different, I can't help but scoff a bit and prepare for disappointment.

Argentinian filmmaker Ivan Noel may be a newcomer to these pages, but he's been working since 2008 and making some of Argentina's most talked about films. The fact that Children of the Night (original title Limbo) is only the second of his films to find any distribution on US shores is a pity, because now that I've seen it, I want to dig deeper. Children of the Night is, indeed, the mythical film that looks at vampires in a way that I've never seen. By turns horrifying, emotionally compelling, and funny; this movie is one that sneaks up on you and grabs your attention with its unusual approach, solid characters, and novel premise.

The story begins when a reporter looking to get her first big scoop receives an anonymous e-mail from a woman asking her to visit a home for ill children out in the woods. These children are all victims of a rare disease and this woman, their caretaker, wants to show the world that they exist and share their plight. While the details are left intentionally vague, the cub reporter Alicia (Sabrina Ramos) is eager to make a mark and she makes the trek deep into the jungle where things start to get weird.

It turns out that the rare disease mentioned by their portly, elderly caretaker, Erda, is vampirism, and these children are actually vampires that were "made" while they were still young, halting their natural aging process. While one child may look like he is eleven years old, he could be anywhere from eighteen to eighty, or even older. The gimmick is relatively unused in horror films, however, it is what director Noel does with the characters that makes Children of the Night so compelling.

Rather than focusing on the obvious exploitability of child vampires tearing into their victims, or the cherubic juxtaposition of the children's faces with their biological needs to kill, Noel looks at the emotional toll visited upon them. If you'd stopped growing physically as a pre-adolescent, but continue to emotionally mature, how frustrating would it be that the world would never be able to accept you? This concept has been visited in films before, everywhere from titles like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to Birth and beyond, but the particular context at play in Children of the Night is exceptionally engaging because of the way Noel and his characters interact.

The plot of the film, beyond what I've already described, is pretty standard horror movie fare. The creatures face an existential threat and must find a way to come together and preserve their meager existence. However, it is the personal stories that make the biggest impact and allow that cookie cutter plot to carry more weight than it might in a more standard film.

The technical aspects of Children of the Night took me a minute to get accustomed to, however, in the end I was so gripped and emotionally involved with the story that it didn't even matter. While it may not be a classic, Children of the Night is certainly worth viewing for fans of existential horror looking for something a little different.

Artsploitation's Blu-ray disc of Children of the Night appears to honor the filmmaker's intentions accurately. The film was shot on digital and is presented in high definition, but at a video frame rate of 60 FPS, which gives the film a "soap opera" appearance. This is pretty distracting at first, I'm not going to lie, but after a while it becomes clear that it is not that big of an issue, and may enhance the film by shortening the emotional distance between the film and its audience. The audio is a straight-ahead 2.0 audio that also forgoes any fancy stuff to get the job done. Dialogue is clear and the film's somewhat surprisingly indie rock soundtrack works well within this framework.

Also present on the disc are several solid extras including a feature length director's commentary in English from Ivan Noel and a making-of featurette in which Noel discusses all aspects of the film's creation, including his hunt for his child leads among the non-actors in Argentina. It's pretty interesting stuff, and the idea that this film came from a cast of relative newcomers is pretty impressive.

The first time I tried to watch Children of the Night I only got about 15 minutes in before I bailed, however, when I went back and sat through it again, I found myself far more emotionally involved than I'd expected. Definitely worth a watch.