A couple of English tourists rent a boat to visit the fictitious island of Almanzora, just off the southern Spanish coast. When they arrive, they find the town deserted of adults, there’s only children who don’t speak but stare at them with eerie smiles. They soon discover that all the children of the island have been possessed by a mysterious force or madness which they can pass from one to another, and which makes them attack and murder their elders, who can’t defend themselves because nobody dares to kill a child… –IMDb
Spanish actor and director Narciso Ibáñez Serrador is an important figure in Spanish and Argentine television; he has also made a handful of feature films. The son of Spanish-born Argentine theater actors Narciso Ibáñez Menad and Peseta Serrador, Ibáñez Serrador was born in Uruguay but raised in Argentina. He moved to Spain in 1947 and became a theater director by the early ‘50s. Ibáñez Serrador moved back to Argentina in 1958 and established himself as one of the country’s most distinguished television writers and directors. In 1963, he returned to Spain to continue his extraordinary television career with series like El Último Reloj/The Last Clock and specials such as El Asfalto/Asphalt (1966). In 1972, Ibáñez Serrador started one of Spain’s most popular television game shows, Uno Dos, Tres/One, Two, Three. Ibáñez Serrador made his feature-film directorial debut in 1969 with La Residencia/The House That Screamed. —allmovie guide
The Wicker Man meets Village of the Damned meets The Birds meets Rosemary's Baby meets Night of the Living Dead. Referenced in The Boys from Brazil and Alien 3. Also has a great music. ☆☆☆☆☆
An intense, occasionally frightening horror thriller that deserves to be seen by all fans of the genre. The only false note is the opening with real footage from the holocaust which does not fit (despite the film's title)
I must say i really liked it,pretty intense movie this is,was not expecting that.It's one of those rare horror film that lets the mood build up throughout the movie.
Inconsistent but reasonably good. The protracted lead-in to the core of the film works surprisingly well as we get comfortable with the characters who will eventually be endangered. Primarily this movie deserves attention for bursting taboos regarding violence by and toward children in unsettling yet credible ways. I'd rather like to see a remake - a good remake of this could be chilling.