The Fair-Haired Child Year: 2005 Director: William Malone Written by: Matt Greenberg Threat: Devil Worshippers Weapon of Choice: Van Based upon: none Color/B&W/3D: Colour Language: English Country of Origin: USA IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
Please see the Masters of Horror series page.

The tyranist's thoughts
An overlooked, picked on teenage girl is kidnapped and thrust into an unusual situation. She finds a friend though and perhaps all will be well.
This had a couple things going for it: the teenagers seemed like teenagers and the thing was frightening. More frightening than it looked on the cover. They also handled the flashback sequences unsuually well.
At its core, this is a pretty basic combination of the slasher and devil worshipper type horror flicks. What makes it unique is the great casting and the way the the plot unfolds. It didn't take too long to see into the secrets of the movie, but even then there was always something new to uncover, right up until the very end.
Hmm. I'm burbling a bit. Probably because I'm trying to tell you everything while not giving anything away. Perhaps I should just summarise.
I liked this one. It was visually interesting and well put together. Not the best entry in the series but a very solid entry.
Posted: March 12, 2007

Rish's Reviews
I don't have too many complaints here. It was a pretty good story, and it was pretty well told. I enjoyed the title and the premise. The characters were likable, the creature well-designed and disturbing, and the ending was a good one (even though I have to admit that I didn't get it until we watched the special features. I think tyranist did, though).
I like William Malone, the director. Though I despised his House on Haunted Hill, I thought Fear.com was a surprisingly scary and under-rated film. And he was a friendly and entertaining man when tyranist and I met him. I don't rightly think he should be called a "Master of Horror," but in looking him up, I found he's made some half dozen genre films, which is more than several of the directors on this show can boast. I look forward to his next feature.
As far as Fair-Haired Child went, it certainly didn't suck, but it wasn't great. The use of colour (or lack thereof) was the most remarkable aspect that comes to mind. That notwithstanding, the film probably isn't something I'll feel the need to see again, or even remark upon someday.
Oh, and we laughed when the van struck the girl at the beginning. How sick does that make us?
Best Scare: I like the way the titular Child moves. And his eyes.
Posted: March 29, 2007

Total Skulls: 14

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?