Who Can Kill a Child?

Narciso Ibáñez Serrador's Who Can Kill a Child?, which was heavily cut for American release in 1976 under the title Island of the Damned, is here presented in its original unexpurgated form. An odd combination of The Birds and Village of the Damned, the plot revolves around a vacationing British man and his pregnant wife, who take a side trip to a small island off the coast of Spain, where they discover—to their horror—that the local children are unaccountably killing all of the adults. After a long first half, which generates considerable tension as the couple gradually come to realize what's up with these apparently ordinary but oddly uncommunicative youngsters, the film turns into an extended chase as the pair try to escape the murderous kids (the wife's pregnancy, of course, complicates things), and—like Hitchcock's avian horror classic—it never explains the unusual behavior. By today's standards, Who Can Kill a Child?'s pacing is very deliberate, and the violence and bloodshed are rather tame, but while it's no classic, Serrador's film is genuinely unsettling. Presented with a good transfer, DVD extras here include interviews with the director and cinematographer, and a photo gallery. Recommended. (F. Swietek)