Yeah, I remember that.  I was pretty surprised, cause it was a long time ago.  John Carpenter's first flick?

I don't believe in any of these rules. The only crime is bad writing. If the story is supposed to have a child dying then the child should die.

By the sounds of it, you are going for a serious drama, there's nothing you can't do in serious drama as long as you have respect for the subjects you are dealing with.

You can be deliberately offensive and inflammatory if you want. That's your privilege as a writer.

Will it affect your chances with a studio? Almost certainly. Children dying in a closet hardly sounds like the summer blockbsuter does it?

Does that mean it couldn't be turned into a hard hitting low budget film that performs well on the festival circuit and gets you noticed or simply be good enough to move agents to sign you up?  No, definitely not.

Quoted from Dreamscale And what about Eden Lake?  An awesome movie!

Oh yes. A great little film. Michael Fassbender showing his range. The child on child killing was especially chilling. It was racially charged, and his England football jersey made it all the more upsetting - a simple, yet very effective summary of some of England's unfortunate race issues.

Andrew

Chilren killing other children, adults killing the killer children, and then the parents of the killer children, killing teh adult who killed the killer children!  Lots of killing.

I thought this was a fantastic movie.  One of the more powerful andviscous flicks I've seen in awhile.  LOVED IT!!!!

Quoted from Dreamscale Chilren killing other children, adults killing the killer children, and then the parents of the killer children, killing teh adult who killed the killer children!  Lots of killing. I thought this was a fantastic movie.  One of the more powerful andviscous flicks I've seen in awhile.  LOVED IT!!!!

Haha!

The ending is perfect for the film, too. Such a good film - truly deserves a wider audience.

I may just go and watch it with all this talk!

I dunno... everyone killing everyone... I'd avoid it. *eek*

Children were pretty much all that were killed in "Don't Torture A Duckling" ... Strange movie. Not one of Fulci's best, but decent none the less. There is also a disturbing scene where an older woman is on the verge of molesting a young boy in it too.  Very crazy flick. "City of the living Dead" Couple kids die in it.  Another fulci movie, as do we see a child lay with its guts strewn about and mutilated in the basement of the Freudstien house in another Fulci classic "House by the cemetery"

So, yeah... in horror I think it's alright.

Quoted from Baltis. So, yeah... in horror I think it's alright.

As most of today's horror is simply gore and shock, the creators must raise their bar to ridiculous levels.


Phil

Kids die a lot of times in movies. I think the question was "can the protagonist kill a child even if by accident and the audience still relate to him/her"?.

Unless, I misunderstood...

Quoted from me (pia) I think the question was "can the protagonist kill a child even if by accident and the audience still relate to him/her"?.

Two simple words:  Keyser Soze

Well, maybe not simple words as it's a pretty foreign name, and it's supposed to have those little dots above the 'o' in 'Soze', but it's Kevin Spacey's role in 'The Usual Suspects'.

He shoots his own children and wife (on film, mind you).  But by the end, the audience (and people I've seen the film with since) cheered when he walked out of the police station and lost his limp and got away.  He killed his own kids and still got sympathy and cheers from the audience at the end of the film, eventhough he still remained a criminal.

Quoted from grademan Follow your heart. Write a script which challenges you and us.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films If the story is supposed to have a child dying then the child should die. By the sounds of it, you are going for a serious drama, there's nothing you can't do in serious drama as long as you have respect for the subjects you are dealing with. You can be deliberately offensive and inflammatory if you want. That's your privilege as a writer.

I think they're hitting the nail on the head.  It's your story.  If you feel it's necessary, then you do what you have to do to get it on paper.  People will like it and people will despise it.  Be prepared for that.  Overall...  tell the story you want to tell.

- Mark

That's true about Soze, however I think people cheered him on because we had sort of thought of him as an underdog throughout the film. When it's revealed he master minded the whole thing, I don't think the killing of his kids popped up as a moral question of his character. It didn't to me at least.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films The only crime is bad writing.

That sounds about right. There's been a handful of films mentioned here that are generally well respected and recognized for being good and not for killing kids (namely 1900 and The Usual Suspects). I'll also throw in A History of Violence. A little girl gets shot within the first ten minutes. It seems senseless taken completely at face value but the film goes on to ask a lot of questions about violence and I think the scene is neccesary to set up for the way the viewer takes in later scenes.

Bottom line, if killing a child or animal is done for the sake of shock value alone, the audience can usually see through it. If it's done for more, they accept it. I think anyone writing this sorta thing just needs to consider their motives before they put anything on paper.