Zombies, (AKA Wicked Little Things,) 2006

  Opening scene exposition: a small mining town saw a tragedy in 1913 that led to a whole bunch of child-labor mine workers getting killed in a collapse. Fortunately, they’re still around! 

A hundred or so years later, a widowed mother of two young girls moves into the family home left to them by the deceased father/husband.

Of course the house is a dilapidated, rat-strewn wreck of a house, but Mom wants to fix it up, clean it up, sell it fast, and move on.

Meanwhile, older daughter, Sarah, meets up with some peers and is told about the ‘Zombie Miner Children’ legend of the surrounding forest, and younger daughter, Emma, has a new ‘imaginary friend,’ Mary, who just happens to 'live' in the woods.

Well, the whole thing plays out just like a decent ghost story should - the deceased rising at night to wreak revenge on the descendants of those that cost them their lives. Yeah, that old chestnut. However, that is both the good and the bad of it: it is more ghost story than zombie flick.

I mean, the minor-miners ARE dead, and apparently eat the flesh of their victims, but they only come out at night, they kill with pickaxes and shovels, they work together as a team, no transmission of Zombism, or any other of the ‘Rules of Romero apply, (aside from the eating of the flesh.)

In fact, these little blighters are more like ‘Nazi Zombies’ than any other Z-Type. Except, of course, that A) they’re just kids, and B) they died 20 or so years before the Nazis came into being.

As a zombie movie it is different, as a ghost story, not so much. Entertaining, though. The cast does fairly well, and the misty, woodsy, setting is creepy and atmospheric. The Killer Kids, though? Not really scary-looking. Dirty outfits and a little ‘Alice Cooper’ make-up is all. Sorry, ragamuffins.

Graded with the Zombie Movie Rubric for a little objectivity and Zombies, (or Wicked Little Things,) scored a 2.0 out a possible 4.0, which puts it smack-dab in the middle of the pack. An enjoyable little film worthy of a recommendation, but NOT to a zombie movie purist!

YouTube has both the trailer, here: WICKED LITTLE THINGS

Or, the whole film (with commercials,) under the name ZOMBIES

Also, as of this wring, it is included with Amazon Prime.