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Tom Shankland

Tom Shankland Talks The Children

Most people go on vacation to relax. It seems writer/director Tom Shankland went on vacation only to find inspiration for his next horror project. After all, it was while on a holiday with friends that he found some creepy inspiration for his latest film, The Children (review here).

Motion Picture Purgatory: The Children

Is it just me, or has there been a big resurgence in evil kid flicks lately? For my money, one of the best of the bunch is definitely Tom Shankland's The Children (read Andrew's extremely positive review here) although McCannibal had a different opinion following the film's screening at this year's Fantasia (read his review here). Of course that means Trembles has to add his $.02 into the mix!

Children, The (Fantasia 2009)

Reviewed by Paul McCannibal Starring Rachel Shelley, Stephen Campbell Moore, Jeremy Sheffield Directed by Tom Shankland

Clip from The Children

One of the movies we are most excited about here on Dread this year is Tom Shankland's The Children. This could very well be one of the must sees of the year. Ready for a taste?

Children, The (Blu-ray / DVD)

Reviewed by Andrew Kasch Starring Rachel Shelley, Stephen Campbell Moore, Jeremy Sheffield Directed by Tom Shankland Distributed by Lionsgate Home Entertainment

A Dozen New Stills From The Children

Tom Shankland’s The Children has been blowing minds wherever it’s been played; we’ve got two staffers who have seen it (review is coming), and both couldn’t stop raving about it. I was hoping he’d follow up WAZ with something special, but The Children sounds like it's exceeded even those expectations.

Full Trailer for Tom Shankland's The Children!

Just the other day we showed you six teasers for Tom Shankland’s upcoming The Children, but today we can finally show you the entire trailer! The Children opens in UK cinemas on December 5th, 2008.

New Media from Shankland's The Children

We’ve been keeping you in the loop regarding the latest film from Waz (review) director Tom Shankland, The Children, and it seems our diligence has paid off!

Shankland's The Children Site Live

Just the other day we pointed out the first tease for Tom Shankland’s follow-up to Waz, the killer kid flick The Children. Now the updates are coming fast and loose, and there’s even more to tell you guys about!

Shankland's Day Turns to Children, First Trailer

A while back we gave you guys the first word on The Day, Tom Shankland’s follow-up to Waz (released here by Dimension Extreme as The Killing Gene). Well, in the time since that announcement was made a lot has happened with the new film, so let's catch up, shall we?

Killing Gene, The (DVD)

Reviewed by Johnny Butane Starring Melissa George, Stellan Skarsgard, Ashley Walters, Tom Hardy, Selma Blair Directed by Tom Shankland Distributed by Dimension Extreme

Waz Director Enters The Day

I’ve not seen the horror film Waz yet, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about it over the last year or so. Dimension has its hands on it and is hopefully making a plan for its release as we speak.

Trailer Full of wAz!

A mysterious man named "Hunter" dropped us a line this evening to let us know that wAz now has a trailer. What is wAz? Why it's torture porn from director Tom Shankland!

Shankland, Tom (The Children)

Interview by: Heather Wixson Most people go on vacation to relax. It seems writer/director Tom Shankland went on vacation only to find inspiration for his next horror project. After all, it was while on a holiday with friends that he found some creepy inspiration for his latest film, The Children (review here). “I went away with some friends for a trip who brought along their kids,” said Shankland. “I was disturbingly amused by their almost complete inability to have any control over them. That’s when I started thinking up The Children.” Shankland calls The Children a Freudian nightmare, something that should only exist in the nightmares of any parent - what happens when your kids turn into deadly and sadistic monsters? While the idea of working with kids and animals in the snow might be daunting to a lot of directors, for Shankland most of the difficulty came before the first time he ever set foot on set. Shankland said, “I have always been completely passionate about this project; maybe that’s why only after 55 drafts did I feel like the story was ready to shoot. I knew I wanted to direct this film despite having to direct children or animals - that has nothing on trying to dream up compelling dialogue.” Another hard part for Shankland was casting the right kids. After all, when you have a movie centered around a group of youngsters, you better make sure they can deliver throughout an entire film and keep the audience engaged. “The kids casting was really tough,” Shankland explained. “For every 90 terrible kids, we maybe found one or two that we liked. It’s nothing against the young talent we saw either. We needed kids that were not only brilliant but could deliver a very broad emotional range, too.” “In the end, though, what I thought was interesting is how much I learned from working with such young actors. I usually find kids kind of unsettling, but I got a mad, creative energy from this group. They helped me find my Zen in filmmaking,” Shankland added. While Shankland is enjoying the accolades that The Children is stacking up around the horror community, he’s quick to point out that filmmaking is more than just his work. It takes an entire team’s contribution when making a movie. Shankland said, “Hearing the overall response that The Children has been getting is such a treat for me. I always keep a very simple ego when it comes to my films - it’s not just me but an entire cast and crew made up of talented people. But whenever you make a movie and someone beyond your own mother likes it, then it’s a win.” The writer/director is one of the first people to realize that it can be a tall order to ask audiences to root for harming children, but Shankland realizes that it’s the power of storytelling that provides a wicked justification for audiences around. “You have these horrible, malicious children so I think viewers are okay with rooting against such a young group of human beings,” explained Shankland. “In society we’re not supposed to harm children, but in the movie, by the second half, everyone seems to get a little bloodthirsty towards them because of how evil they are.” “I just love that I get such a reaction from the movie. That makes the whole 55 drafts worthwhile,” added Shankland. - Heather Wixson VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON! Got news? Click here to submit it! Use contraceptives in the Dread Central forums!
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