Movieline's Halloween 25: Which Terrible Children Should You Spend Your Holiday With?

Day two of Movieline's Halloween 25 delves into the ultimate taboo: children. Sure, everyone hates seeing children die, but sometimes they must. Sometimes they are evil. Sometimes your own survival depends on the death of a child! At least that's what horror movies have told us ever since the release of The Bad Seed in 1956. Today's films include mutant babies, talking teddy bears, an island full of murderous children and more! Read on for all of the overlooked gems in the "Terrible Child" sub-genre...

(As always, if I missed your favorite terrible child, feel free to comment.)

· The Innocents (1961)

Based on the Henry James Novella Turn of the Screw, The Innocents is easily one of the finest ghost movies ever made. Starring the late Deborah Kerr as a governess watching over two orphans who becomes convinced that their house is haunted, Jack Clayton's masterpiece gets under the viewer's skin by employing subtle tension, subjectivity and very effective, understated visual scares. That said, there's nothing understated about how creepy the kids get as the movie progresses. Or is it just that all Victorian-era kids are creepy? Watch the clip below and decide for yourself.

· Who Can Kill A Child? (1976)

First we see a group of children frolicking on the beach. It's all fun and games until you notice woman's corpse in the surf. Yep, it's bad news for the vacationing British couple who stumbles upon this island, which seems completely abandoned except for the creepy children. Once the couple realizes that these kids play piñata games with humans and not candy-stuffed toys, they must face the question posed by the film's title. This one is tense, exciting and extremely well-shot, with a doozy of an ending.

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