Children of the Night (1991) User Reviews

A Funny Vampire Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 20 February 2012]

In the quiet town of Allburg, USA, Lucy Barret (Ami Dolenz) and her grandmother Hillary Barret (Shirley Spiegler Jacobs) welcome Lucy's friend Cindy Thompson (Maya McLaughlin), who lives with her mother Karen Thompson (Karen Black) in River Junction and will spend a couple of days with Lucy. Cindy invites Lucy to go to swim in the crypt of the church on the Cherry Street, in River Junction, in a weird ritual. When the teenagers are swimming, an evil creature is revived and attacks Cindy.

Later, in River Junction, Father Frank Alden (Evan MacKenzie) summons his friend and school teacher Mark Gardner (Peter DeLuise) and shows Cindy and Karen locked in a room turned into vampires. Father Alden asks Mark to travel to Allburg to find the source of vampirism.

Mark arrives late night at Hillary's house and he finds that Lucy is trapped in her room since her grandmother has also turned into a vampire. Soon Mark and Lucy learn that the locals of Allburg has turned into vampires by the ancient vampire Czakyr, who is thirsty of the virgin blood of Lucy, and the only chance to save the dwellers is destroying the powerful vampire.

"Children of the Night" is a funny vampire movie, with a weird story that combines horror and comedy and released in Brazil only on VHS. The result is uneven but entertains in many moments with funny situations. Who in the hell would bath in a crypt with corpses like the two teenagers do in the beginning of the story? And the grandma removing her denture and showing rotten vampire canines? I could list many bizarre and hilarious situations but better off watching this flick. I saw for the first time on 15 November 2000 and today I decided to watch it again. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Crianças da Noite" ("Children of the Night")

Note: On 17 December 2021, I saw this film again.

Not all bad.

[Peach-2 · 6/10 · 22 November 1998]

Trust me when I say that I have seen much worse horror films than this one. This film is not too bad and director Tony Randel is getting better all the time. This movie was produced by the horror movie magazine Fangoria. I've read Fangoria for 17 years and you would think that they would come up with something better than this movie. Oh well, maybe they'll make a better one next time. Not a total waste of time however, if you're a horror fan.

poor acting in this vampire flick, but some interesting visuals

[FieCrier · 5/10 · 8 June 2005]

Two young women go swimming in a flooded church (a neat setting, though it recalls Argento's Inferno). The cross necklace one of them wears sinks to the bottom, somehow reviving a vampire. The vampire is in some sort of hibernation, a state in which its lungs and esophagus are outside of its body! Sometime later, a schoolteacher visits a priest friend who has a vampire captive. It, too, keeps its lungs outside its body. The teacher doesn't want to believe in vampires, but as he tries to help other people finds they are very real.

Most of the acting in this film is very, very bad. Perhaps it's intentionally campy, I don't know. However, I did like the flooded church, the weird vampiric hibernation, and a post-feeding scene where a vampire shoots some sort of cocoon out of its mouth that envelopes its body.

Not really recommended, but vampire fans might enjoy some of the original effects.

* * * out of 4.

[brandonsites1981 · 2 June 2002]

A man helps a teenage girl who claims she just escaped from the clutches of her grandmother who was holding her hostage at her own house. Believing the young girl, he tries to help her out, but soon realizes that just about all of the town's citizens are vampires and that the love of his life (Karen Black) is a vampire as well.

Salem's Lot clone still manages to be original and entertaining. The cast turns in performances that surpass expectations, and the effects are rather creative. Atmospheric, funny, and exciting film is highly underrated and definaitely worth a look.

Rated R; Graphic Violence, Sexual Situations, and Profanity.

Ultimately just a generic vampire movie with some splashy ideas

[squirrel_burst · 3/10 · 15 November 2014]

"Children of the Night" has some interesting ideas to update/revamp the vampire mythology, but unfortunately none of it really goes anywhere. The special effects are good and some scenes where the vampires go to sleep in their "cocoon" stage is pretty impressive, but in the grand scheme of things, the cocoon stage has no relevance to the plot and it turns into a routine vampire movie. Several plot points come out of nowhere and the film often feels like it's based on a book that it assumes the audience has read so it skips over important details. You never really get to understand why some people turn into vampires and other don't (do you have to die to a vampire bite? does it take a certain number of drainings?) and other than just stopping the vampires, it doesn't really have anything else going on story-wise. These factors make the plot forgettable and while the special effects are pretty good, some of the acting is bad and plants this firmly as "just another vampire movie". If you're a die-hard vampire fan you might be entertained but it's nothing special at all. Other films have taken just one of the multiple ideas in the film (such as a town being overrun by vampires or a wacky group of misfit characters being forced to combat the undead with rag-tag equipment) and made much more satisfying movie experiences and the ideas that haven't been used in other later films don't pay off so there's not much here to recommend. (On VHS, September 14, 2012)

We gotta get out of this place.

[michaelRokeefe · 3/10 · 11 June 2002]

Way below average horror flick, with some fair acting and somewhat better F/X. Most of the make-up is horrid. A young girl breaks away from her grandmother's house where she says she was held captive. The whole town turns out to be full of vampires. If you like your horror predictable and bland, sink your teeth into this vampire tale. Cast includes: Peter DeLuise, Ami Dolenz, Garrett Morris and Karen Black. Not the best; not the worst.

Not great but worth a 3 AM viewing

[Duncan_Idaho64 · 5/10 · 4 January 2006]

This movie is by no means at the top of its genre. In fact the genre may have been better off if this movie hadn't been made. That said it is a fun movie (I should mention that I am one of those people that can enjoy a bad movie all the while knowing it's a horrible film). I first saw it on Sci-Fi channel at 3 AM and then a few months later saw it in the same time slot again. I watched it in its entirety straight through and enjoyed both viewings.

The story is by no means completely hole-free; a lot of the plot involves suspending not only disbelief but also a fair bit of common sense. The acting was definitely B-movie grade but not horrible. The cinematography is also a bit lacking, it feels like the director was trying tell too much of the story with his camera angles and lighting (possibly because of the lack of range of emotions most of the actors seem able to display).

All in all I recommend this movie as certainly better than anything else that you are likely to see in its timeslot. It is worth a look if you really like horror movies no matter how bad, or are in the mood for a fun, bad movie.

This movie is real FUN!

[lestat_de_lioncourt · 6/10 · 20 April 2001]

I can recommend this movie as it is just a classical vampire movie containing nothing new. Thus this movie makes nothing wrong and due to it's predictability you can relax and have fun. Besides: my girl friend was unable to eat while this movie was running :-)

This movie is horrible

[bigham78 · 1/10 · 13 June 2006]

A complete waste of time. Bad story and poor acting and about as much suspense as watching paint dry. Pass on this one. I usually watch most horror pictures as I've been a big horror movie fan all my life. But, this one with the Mother and daughter locked up and Priest blaming himself for the Mother curse and feeding the daughter slugs and the Mother biting her own daughter neck and drinking her blood after she's eaten the slugs. Yuk!!!! I've seen better special effects in most High school play production. The overall movie shows they didn't have much of a budget on this one and I can't believe Peter Deluise wastes his time with this one. Karen Black I can believe as she's done more then her share of turkeys over the years.

These undead creatures of the night were too obscure for the tepid 90's.

[Vomitron_G · 7/10 · 15 August 2010]

After 10 years of trying to hunt down a legit copy of this one, the wait was finally over in 2007. And to me, it was worth it. This is a sadly over-looked vampire-gem from the very early 90's (to my knowledge it never even made it over to our country on VHS or DVD; rather puzzling since pretty much everything has always been available over here on rental VHS until DVD started to change the videostore market).

"Children Of The Night" certainly is an above average (crossbreeding) genre film and I for one got as much enjoyment out of it as I did with movies like "Vamp" and "Fright Night" (to name only 2). Above average, as far as production values, SFX and cool ideas go. Because the screenplay is a muddled mess, the pacing is off and the dialogues aren't exactly quality stuff either. The musical score had a bit of a "Hellraiser" (the original) vibe to it, which does raise the film to a higher, more sinister level at times. The scarce humorous aspects in it took some time to get used to (and seemed out of place first), but a drooling and horny vampire-version of Karen Black chained to a bed sure got me in the right mood. Very decent special-effects and vampire make-up too. And the most remarkable aspect of all: This film establishes a never-before-seen type of vampires. Or at least adds a new type of myth to these beings. You'll have to discover that for yourself, because I'm not going to tell what it is.

All-in-all, even though I can understand people not really digging this kind of vampire-mixture, "Children Of The Night" turned out a very enjoyable watch for me. The first half has a fair amount of tension and manages to scare on some occasions, the second half is just plain good old vampire slaying fun. Other highlights in director Tony Randel's horror history are "Hellbound: Hellraiser II" and "Ticks" (AKA "Infested"), so you might have a better clue now of what to expect from this movie.

Low grade amateur student film level garbage. Student Film – A. Professional Film – F. Garbage! Not recommended.

[Bababooe · 1/10 · 2 July 2017]

OK, so we have the director for Hellraiser II, which my first viewing was great. Subsequent viewing, it was still good, but tons of plot issues, but not a great movie, however, professional. Then we have a cast of pro actors: Garrett Morris – SNL, Peter DeLuis (Dom's son), Ami Dolenz (Monkee's daughter), Karen Black. So, what went wrong. First, the script is utter garbage, it's all over the place, we have two towns, one is infected by Vampires, the other a house with Black and her daughter imprisoned by a freak Priest. Then we have the dialogue and the actors, true to form amateur acting here. All the actors involved should be on a campaign to eliminate this movie from any human eyes/ears. Morris is just plain sad here as a wino/vampire killer. DeLuis has no charisma and the nonsense that comes out of this man's mouth is just sad. Karen Black vampire makeup and acting is trash. Best acting came from Dolenz but that's not saying much.

The cinematography is just aim and shoot. There's a couple of crane shots, one near the beginning and one at the very end, just simple aim and shoot. Nothing here. Editing is trash. Makeup is stupid.

It looks like they were trying to make a comedy horror. The only comedy here is that the film itself is a joke. You may laugh a few times at the film. There are a few seconds of horror when the girls first jump into the water in the church. Only a few seconds.

So, they had a budget to hire some "pro" actors, and burn a few cars and have some stunt met burning and flying through the air. How about spending some of it on something called a WRITER? Even with bad acting, the story/dialogue/plot could have saved this mess.

The only people that should watch this are film and psychological students. Then read the reviews. Then try to understand how a film fails and not to repeat and find ways to succeed. Then try to understand our modern society and how we got here, where anyone can even enjoy such garbage. Am I being harsh? Yes! Because there are talented people that don't even get a chance because the world is polluted by this nonsense.

Rating F, 1 star. Zero redeeming quality.

funniest vampire horror movie i've ever seen...

[ggglee19 · 8/10 · 30 April 2011]

This movie was pretty hilarious. It wasn't that scary, but was overall pretty enjoyable. It's one of those horror movies that you know are supposed to be scary, but are actually pretty funny. The movie begins with two teenage girls, Cindy and Lucy, deciding to go down to the flooded crypt of the Church (more like a flooded church basement), and deciding to take a swim in there, since that's perfectly normal. While swimming, Lucy's crucifix falls off into the water, waking up the dormant vampire who happened to be sleeping underwater. He rises up and claims Cindy as a vampire, who goes on to infect her mother as well. Lucy escapes. Meanwhile, a schoolteacher arrives in town and tries to help Lucy out, who is now the target of the vampire since she is a virgin. The schoolteacher, Mark, is in town to visit his friend, a priest who is having an affair with Cindy's mother. We find out that the priest has been locking Cindy and her mother up since they became vampires. Now, one strange thing about this movie is the vampires themselves. When they sleep in water, their lungs come out of their mouths and float above the water. It doesn't really make sense, but a lot that happens in this movie makes no sense. Somehow, the majority of the town becomes vampires, except for Lucy, Mark, and a random, drunk, homeless, black man we see throughout the film. The actor's have hilarious ways they say lines, that make you crack up so hard. An example: "For god's sakes! A milk man!" said by the over-dramatic Mark after seeing a vampire milkman. Before I forget, there's also some creepy little boy we see throughout the movie, who says the most random creepy things. At one point this kid starts talking about someone named Mr. Bubbles, and to this day I still don't know who he's talking about. We first see him looking at dirty magazines in the street, and later tells Mark that he has seen everyone in the town naked...this kid was so strange. Towards the end of the movie, the vampire has Lucy, starts to lick her neck, when Mark burst through the door to rescue his underage love. He proceeds to call the vampire a ton of random swear words. The vampire kicks his ass, but never fear! The random homeless black guy burst through the wall in a van, with a crucifix positioned on the hood that goes directly into the vampire's heart, making him die.

This movie was weird, but funny. Not that scary though. The dialogue was hilarious and random. I strongly suggest watching this movie because I can't properly describe how ridiculous and hilarious this movie truly is.

Hilariously entertaining

[zhivago97 · 7/10 · 18 October 2021]

Perfect Friday night popcorn horror flick: campy, gory and suspenseful. I really enjoyed the entire movie. Yes it's a "B movie", but it's intentional which makes all the difference-the crew is in on the joke. Similar feel to the Bruce Campbell / Sam Raimi movies.

Karen Black is awesome as usual, and looks spectacular! Actually the entire caste is great. Lots of great camerawork and atmospheric scenery, like a flooded church basement that kids enjoy swimming in in the dark?!? And not just 3 inches of water, but flooded like 10 feet deep. Apparently the water doesn't get stagnant over the decades and stays full. Anyway, yes it's a little goofy but it adds to the humor and creepy atmosphere if you just go with the flow of the movie.

The Worst Vampire Movie Ever Made!!

[avivafae · 1/10 · 7 March 2008]

I usually love bad movies, but this one is so hideous I want to use voodoo on the writer, director, producer, and any channel-heads who deem this viewable for any hour of the day, late-night or otherwise. The make-up is only semi-passable on two of the vamps and is reminiscent of those on "Buffy." The story itself starts by two girls (one a virgin) sneaking into a flooded crypt to go swimming and wake up the old vamp. The old vamp goes around turning everyone he can find. The redneck, small-town vamps then are controlled by the head vamp and thus become somewhat smarter then their humanselves. All the vampires either spend the day in a self-made, water cocoon or in a tub or crypt filled with water. Those who stay underwater have the benefit of upchucking and reswallowing their lungs every twilight. So, the vampires all come after the virgin because the mere scent of her makes them want to have an orgy and the head vamp wants her himself, of course. So rather than "taking care of business," the handsome hero, a teacher 10 years older than her, tries to keep her from becoming vamp chow. It all ends with a badly created special effect in which the head vamp decomposes into a skeleton with pink slime, a truly non-climatic ending to a film that never should have been made. Do not under any circumstances watch this film, it is not worth wasting the hour and thirty minutes on! The only good this movie can do is as a torture device; and then even P.O.W's would complain of it being cruel and inhuman.

Unique take on the vampire genre!

[bigtony73 · 21 December 2003]

This movie is a typical B movie..but what they do with the "normal" legend of vampires. For one the vampire use water as their coffin instead of an actual one, once under water they spit out their lungs and breaths the water. In one scene this women vamp made her own cocoon to sleep in the special effects are really good in this scene. Its a cheap movie but its fun....its a saturday night kind of flick!!

Children of the Night

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 19 July 2009]

A vampire submerged underwater in an underground crypt, emerges having re-awakened thanks in part to two teenage girls swimming around. The small town of Allburg is soon invaded by the vampire curse as a teacher, 50 miles away, will reluctantly join forces with one of the girls who saw the leader, Czakyr, rise from his watery tomb, and the local drunken bum as they attempt to rid themselves of the evil which threatens their very lives.

Okay high camp vampire tale, plenty of blood and wooden stakes penetrating chests. Karen Black gets top billing as Karen Thompson, but she's mostly confined to a room, chained to her bed by her character's priest lover, Father Alden(Evan MacKenzie)..the one who petitions best friend and confident, Mark(Peter DeLuise) to go to Allburg in search of Lucy Barrett(Ami Dolenz), the teenager who watched Czakyr bloodsuck Karen's daughter Cindy(Maya McLaughlin). Cindy is locked in the room with Karen, mostly feasting on the leeches which Father Aldin supplies..Cindy is Karen's "nutritional source". Karen, however, never ceases to lure Aldin into her clutches, eventually succeeding. Meanwhile, Mark, Lucy and wino Matty(Garrett Morris)must contend and fend off a community of vampire citizenry while also facing the difficult challenge of defeating Czakyr. Lucy will soon partner up with Cindy who wishes to get even with Czakyr for turning her into a vampire.

Unlike other movies, we see that these vampires cocoon(..or, at least Karen does), some sleeping underwater breathing through their lungs which rest on the outside of their bodies! David Sawyer is unrecognizable as the grotesque Czakyr, his pointy ears, dank color, demonic facial features, and long fangs. Black plays her vampire to the hilt, really memorable under her make-up and fangs...quite a costume and she doesn't hold back, that's for sure. Dolenz is adorable as the virginal cutie Czakyr wishes to feast from. Deluise, her "what the hell have I gotten myself into" suitably frightened protector, way out of his league in the "killing vampires" department. Morris steals the film as the hobo who takes matters into his own hands, commandeering a "spread the word" van, blowtorching a light-bulbed cross to the bumper, prepared to impale any bloodsucker in his path.

Some very unusual camera angles and effective use of color, but this vampire flick is nothing spectacular. You get the expected ultra-violence. Director Tony Randel tones the film in a light-hearted way.

Not even Karen Black could save the movie

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 2/10 · 3 February 2004]

I love vampire movies. I mean I really love vampire movies. But this was pathetic. It was so cheesy and too many plot holes. I'll admit that sometimes it's good for gory fun, and don't want a plot. But this was ridicules. There was a lot of ways to improve this film, but I don't want this to be an essay.

2/10

cheesy

[rezahafez · 3/10 · 15 March 2004]

eheheh this movie was so stupid, i kinda like it for that . Don't get me wrong, the movie is still bad..not even nearly half good , but the movie introduces many stupid stupid but funny scenes that i found myself hook to the t.v till the credits roll. Apart from the many many stupid scenes I also find myself drawn to the movie because of this one very annoying character.. i don't remember the name but he was the only boy visible in the movie. God talk about annoying, I've always got this problem with annoying kids in a movie..well this kid is by far the most annoying kid I've ever seen and to see him (spoiler ahead) died in a very stupid and funny manner makes me so happy that I have to add 1 * in my originally 2 * rating for this movie.So I end with saying that the only word to describe this movie is cheesy.If you're into that type of movie watch it, if not stay away 3* out of 10

Black citizen saves town from Vampires

[yelsinnestfort · 7/10 · 24 October 2020]

Being the only Black person in a pulp vampire movie, and you're not hopeless (Godless) then you get my celebration.👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

Derivative and boring nineties vampire flick

[The_Void · 2/10 · 17 October 2006]

Watching practically unknown nineties horror films can be a bit hit and miss - and this one is undoubtedly a huge miss! All I realistically expected from this flick was a fun vampire movie, but all I got was rampant boredom. There's very little inventiveness in this film, and essential elements such as tension and suspense are also severely lacking. Director Tony Randel directed the first Hellraiser sequel a few years before this film, and that really got my hopes up as Hellraiser 2 was everything a sequel to the 1987 horror masterpiece should be; but he had much better material to work with then, and that is the principal reason why Children of the Night fails. The plot begins with the ever-present horror theme of some kids taking part in an old college ritual. It involves them swimming in some lake under a church, and they accidentally end up waking up a vampire. Pretty soon, their town is overrun by bloodsuckers and it's up to a bunch of dreary characters to save the day. Basically, all you need to know about this film is that the acting is terrible, the special effects are laughable and if you've seen more than a few vampire movies, you've seen all that this film has to offer already. Not even the presence of cult scream queen Karen Black can save it! Give it a miss.

Children Of The Night a horror fan's delight

[Coolestmovies · 7/10 · 12 February 2023]

This review was originally written in 1992, when this movie was a new release on home video, and published in a daily newspaper (where my city desk editor wrote that cheesy headline). And yes, I consciously ripped off Joe Bob Briggs in my final paragraph back in those days.

CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT (Rated R) - Columbia TriStar Home Video: If your idea of a good time, like mine, is watching Academy Award nominee (for Five Easy Pieces in 1970) Karen Black vomit up a slimy, translucent body bag around herself and then fill it up with a rich, bubbly bile, then this is the flick for you!

While Karen's participation has livened up many a drive-in trash flick (like Mirror, Mirror and the upcoming Auntie Lee's Meat Pies), the plot of this particular horror show concerns two teenage girls whose ritual friendship swim in a flooded crypt unleashes an ancient vampire/demon that promptly enslaves the quaint little town of Alburg.

One of the girls (Maya McLaughlin) becomes a "child of the night," but her friend Lucy (Amy Dolenz from Miracle Beach) teams up with a local teacher (Peter DeLuise from 21 Jump Street) and, eventually, the town drunk (Garrett Morris) to take on the big kahuna and his neck-munching minions.

Essentially what we have here is Buffy The Vampire Slayer done right - and for about half the cost. Too bad your local video barn will only have two or three copies on the shelf.

The final score: Nine body count with gross-but-silly gore; no popped tips, although desperate Karen wears a see-through nightie; Maya eats slugs; the vampires sleep with their "breathing apparatus" exposed, lending some truth to that saying "barf up a lung"; slam-bang direction from Tony Randel (Amityville 1992); a brilliant synth-orchestral score by David Licht; Josette DeCarlo as Officer Gates provides great comic relief; classy FX work by the KNB Effects Group; and an irrefutably smashing ending.

A few yucky moments, nothing else

[gridoon · 4/10 · 24 September 2001]

This is not a bad horror film, but it's nothing special, either. Very derivative and ordinary, it produces more yucks (thanks to gruesome special effects) than scares. As for Karen Black, she has come a long way since Hitchcock's "Family Plot", that's for sure! (*1/2)

Funny good

[williejjonesjr · 10/10 · 29 June 2019]

Me and my big brother favorite part was "SHUT UUUUPPP FRAAANNNKKKK" Lol it was a great story line but man it's so cringe now

She's not crazy, she's a vampire!

[lastliberal · 6/10 · 16 August 2009]

Nominated along with Child's Play 3 and others as the best horror film of 1991 by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, it was beaten by a recognized film of excellence, The Silence of the Lambs. To be in such company is an honor, and indicates this film is worth the time to view.

Father frank (Evan MacKenzie) confesses his sins to Mark (Peter DeLuise), but his secret in his brother's house is far more interesting. He has Karen (Karen Black) and Cindy (Maya McLaughlin) locked i a room because they are vampires. he begs Mark to help him find the source.

Mark, Lucy (Ami Dolenz), and Matty (Garrett Morris) end up together fighting the vampire infestation. There is a lot of good effects that make this adventure enjoyable. It's a campy flick, not the usual vampire horror, and it is very funny at times. You will enjoy it, I'm sure.

How can we show how two teenagers infected the town without spending much money?

[puggmick · 4/10 · 12 June 2001]

I really do love vampire movies. I think I have seen most of all the vampire movies. Karen Black is an excellent actor. However, you can only do so much for a movie with cheesy make-up. Karen Black's was the cheesiest make-up job I have ever seen. To sum up the movie, I have to say this was one of the worst vampire movies I have ever witnessed. Under the circumstances of bad writing, the acting job this cast turned in was actually pretty good. I could not figure out how one of the girls gets vamped, takes it home to her mother, then her mother proceeds to feed off of her. Shouldn't that be the other way around? A bit confusing, but Garrett Morris did a superb job in trying to explain stuff. Amy Dolenz was enjoyable as the token virgin. Cannot recommend the movie unless you only get one station on your television and you have no other choice.