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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "¿Quien puede matar a un nino?" or "Island of the Damned" or "Death is Child's Play" or "Trapped!" )

 

directed by Narciso Ibanez Serrador
Spain 1976

 

Biologist Tom (Lewis Fiander, DR. JEKYLL & SISTER HYDE) and his pregnant wife Evelyn (Prunella Ransome, FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD) arrive in Spain for a planned holiday on the remote island of Almanzora. Unbeknownst to them, a few bodies have washed up on the mainland and the causes of death are unnatural. The couple rent a boat and sail to the mainland, only to discover the village deserted except for the children. Assuming that the adults must be on the other side of the island for some religious ceremony, they make themselves at home in the local inn. It is only when Tom sees a little girl (Marian Salgado) thrashing a helpless old man with his own cane, that he and Evelyn realize that there is something more sinister afoot. Released in the US by American International as ISLAND OF THE DAMNED - minus the disturbing footage under the titles - and then as TRAPPED! (the latter with poster art that echoed VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED), and as DEATH IS CHILD'S PLAY, ISLAND OF DEATH (not to be confused with the Niko Mastorakis film reviewed HERE), and WOULD YOU KILL A CHILD? in the UK, WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? is the second horror film of Spanish director Narcisco Ibanez Serrador (who had previously helmed the AIP pickup THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED/LA RESIDENCIA). Whereas his first film was a period gothic chiller (laced with late sixties gore and - in its export version - nudity), WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? takes its cues from unnatural siege films like THE BIRDS and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, with children as the attackers. Serrador eschews the science fiction explanation of Juan José Plans' source novel "El Juego de los Ninos (The Children's Game)" and leaves his besieged protagonists to ponder various physical, metaphysical, psychological, and philosophical possibilities for the sudden revolt of the children (the French theatrical title was REVOLT OF THE YEAR 2000). Stephen King must have seen the film in its US cut (minus the footage underlining the theme of children as victims of wartime atrocities), and one can't help but wonder if the source story and film of CHILDREN OF THE CORN might have played better had he not offered affirmation of a supernatural cause. The opening credits stock footage of war atrocities with statistics for the total people killed (and separate ones for the children) and a camera shop clerk underlines that it is always the children who suffer the most. The titular question is asked rhetorically in the film's dialogue, and the film builds towards the cinematic transgression powerfully. Waldo de los Rios (who also scored LA RESIDENCIA) contributes a spare score dominated by a child humming a lullaby-like tune. Child actress Marian Salgado previously played the possessed tyke of Amando de Ossorio's EXORCIST cash-in THE POSSESSED/DEMON WITCH CHILD, and Spanish horror favorite Luis Ciges (HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB) shows up briefly as the island's postman.

Eric Cotenas

Posters

Theatrical Release: June 1978 (USA)

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Comparison:

Eureka Video - Region 2 - PAL vs. Dark Sky Films - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Mondo Macabro - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for all the DVD Screen Caps!

1) Eureka Video - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT

2) Dark Sky Films - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Mondo Macabro - Region FREE - Blu-ray  RIGHT

 

Box Covers

 

 

 

  

 

  

 

Distribution

Eureka Video

Region 2 - PAL

Dark Sky Films
Region 1 - NTSC
Mondo Macabro
Region
FREE Blu-ray
Runtime 1:46:12 (4% PAL speedup) 1:51:48 1:51:12.415 / 1:41:51.855
Video

1.81:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 7.46 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1.83:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 6.16 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

Disc Size: 43,942,224,279 bytes

Feature Size: 33,964,977,984 bytes

Bitrate: 34.97 Mbps

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video

Island of Death:

Feature Size: 31,108,158,912 bytes

Bitrate: 34.97 Mbps

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

 

Eureka Video

 

Bitrate:

 

Dark Sky Films

 

Bitrate:

 

Bitrate:

 

Island of Death

Audio English/Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mono

English/Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mono; Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mono

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1105 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1105 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio Spanish 1055 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1055 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1105 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1105 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Island of Death:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1104 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1104 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)

Subtitles English (for Spanish dialogue), English SDH, none English (for Spanish dialogue), English, none

English (for Spanish dialogue),

English, none

Features Release Information:
Studio: Eureka Video

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.81:1

Edition Details:
• Child Director: interview with director Narciso Ibanez Serrador (16:9; 9:10)
• Who Can Shoot a Child: interview with cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine (16:9; 16:02)

DVD Release Date: May 23rd. 2011
Amaray

Chapters 15
 

Release Information:
Studio: Dark Sky Films

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.83:1

Edition Details:
• Who Can Shoot a Child: interview with cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine (16:9; 16:03)
• Child Director: interview with director Narciso Ibanez Serrador (9:12)
• Still Gallery

 

DVD Release Date: June 26th, 2007
Amaray

Chapters 14

Release Information:
Studio:
Mondo Macabro

 

Disc Size: 43,942,224,279 bytes

Feature Size: 33,964,977,984 bytes

Bitrate: 34.97 Mbps

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video

Island of Death:

Feature Size: 31,108,158,912 bytes

Bitrate: 34.97 Mbps

 

Edition Details:
Audio commentary by Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger
Version Española - documentary about the film (46:28)
Interview with cinematographer José Luis Alcaine (16:07)
Interview with director Narciso Ibáñez Serrador (9:13)
Kim Newman on Killer Kids (14:43)
Alternate US audio dub
Hex Massacre Trailer (0:58)
Hex Massacre radio spots (2:59)
Macabro previews (11:11)

Blu-ray  Release Date: July 10th, 2018
Standard Blu-ray case

Chapters: 12

 

 

 

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Mondo Macabro give us a "Brand new 4k transfer from film negative" on a dual-layered Blu-ray disc of Who Can Kill a Child? (aka ¿Quién puede matar a un niño?) in ist full 1 hour 51-minute version. It offers the option of the English version which has some sections in Spanish that can be optionally subtitles in English and The Spanish language version with optional English subtitles, the "Alternate English version where most of the film is DUB'ed in English with short sections still in Spanish (with optional subtitles for those sections) plus the 10-minute shorter "Island of Death" version. Now, the first three are all the same film version with different audio where Island of Death is seamlessly-branched removing the 10-minutes. So HD quality of all four is the same. It compares very well to the DVDs maintaining a closer appearance in color scheme to the Eureka with the same framing as the Dark Sky. Both versions on the Blu-ray are 1.85:1. Detail advances - as does contrast - it can be a bit muted, flesh tones seem to warm but as a direct comparison the higher resolution offers a significantly improved video presentation. It looks fabulous in-motion - even better than the stills below might indicate.

The audio offers the same DTS-HD Master mono track encodes in the optional of English or Spanish for Who Can Kill a Child? (and subtitles as referenced above), English-only for Island of Death - and 24-bit for all included tracks. There are some jarring effects - the phone as one example. The score is by Waldo de los Ríos (The House that Screamed, Bad Man's River, A Town Called Hell) and I found it very creepy and effective in supporting the film's mystery and horror elements. It has some resonance and sounds excellent in the lossless. The Mondo Macabro Blu-ray is Region FREE, playable worldwide.

Extras offer and excellent new audio commentary by Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger covering extensive details and themes - the uncomfortable black and white sequence in the opening and much more including a distant links to Giallo. For a 1/4 hour we also get Kim Newman on Killer Kids and he is always informative about details of the narrative and horror fiction. We also get Version Española the 46-minute documentary about the film with a kind of roundtable with director Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, DoP José Luis Alcaine and José Luis Romero, one of the child actors in the film. There are also interviews with cinematographer José Luis Alcaine - also found on both DVD editions as is the separate 10-minute piece with director Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, some trailers, Radio spots and the, always cool, Macabro previews.

Yes, there is a heavy vibe of Children of the Damned, Children of the Corn and vague evocation of The Bad Seed. It's a wonderful setting and impressive horror. A genuine masterwork of Spanish horror from the 70s. It's a fabulous choice to bring to Region FREE Blu-ray and the commentary, Newman interview and other extras give this immense value. Very strongly recommended!

***

ON THE DVDs: The 2007 Dark Sky and 2011 Eureka Video releases appear to come from different masters. The Eureka transfer is slightly zoomed in on all four sides and exhibits less damage in a panning shot late in the film. While I can't be sure how much of the yellowish sun-scorched haze in the Dark Sky transfer is intentional, detail in the Eureka edition is overall superior. The Eureka release drops the Spanish dub, but you're really not missing out as the English track features a lot of Spanish dialogue (with English subtitles). Serrador was reportedly dissatisfied with the Spanish DUB because it translated everything into Spanish which undercut scenes where (notably the scenes with the German tourist begging for help over the telephone and Tom unable to understand). The Eureka disc also features white subtitles while the Dark Sky disc features smaller yellow ones (white would have been better given the yellowish haze on the Dark Sky). The Eureka disc loses the Dark Sky 'Stills gallery', but retains the two Dark Sky-produced interviews with director Serrador and cinematographer Alcane.

There also exist German and French DVD editions. Both editions port over the two Dark Sky interviews and the German disc also features the English track (in addition to the Spanish and German dubs), as well as a bonus CD soundtrack. The French disc includes the French and Spanish dubs and adds a half-hour featurette on Serrador with input from Guillermo del Toro, Juan Antonio Bayona (THE ORPHANAGE), Jaume Balageuro (FRAGILE), and Paco Plaza (REC) as well as a half-hour French language documentary on Spanish genre cinema. A non-anamorphic Spanish DVD was released (and was the source for an early gray market composite), but is now out of print.

 - Eric Cotenas


DVD Menus
(
Eureka Video - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Dark Sky Films - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)
 

 
 

 

Mondo Macabro - Region FREE - Blu-ray

 

 


 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

1) Eureka Video - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Dark Sky Films - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Mondo Macabro - Region FREE - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

Subtitle sample


1) Eureka Video - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Dark Sky Films - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Mondo Macabro - Region FREE - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

 


1) Eureka Video - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Dark Sky Films - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Mondo Macabro - Region FREE - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

 


1) Eureka Video - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Dark Sky Films - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Mondo Macabro - Region FREE - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

 


1) Eureka Video - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Dark Sky Films - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Mondo Macabro - Region FREE - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

 


1) Eureka Video - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Dark Sky Films - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Mondo Macabro - Region FREE - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

 


1) Eureka Video - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Dark Sky Films - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Mondo Macabro - Region FREE - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

 

More Mondo Macabro - Region FREE - Blu-ray Captures


 

Report Card:

 

Image:

Blu-ray

Sound:

Blu-ray

Extras: Blu-ray
 
Box Covers

 

 

 

  

 

  

 

Distribution

Eureka Video

Region 2 - PAL

Dark Sky Films
Region 1 - NTSC
Mondo Macabro
Region
FREE Blu-ray



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