Two adults become trapped by a family of seven children looking for new parents to replace their dead ones.
A journalist named Jimmy, who is driving through the backwoods of some small town, picks up a 7-year old wandering on the road to drop him off home. When he gets there, he sees that the home is filled with only 7 children and a mother who is in the kitchen. When Jimmy meets the mother figure Caroline, she writes "help" as an attempt to get his attention to the fact that not all is what is seems here. While they sit for dinner, the kids reveal that both their parents died 5 years ago, and then they begin to call the two adults "ma and pa".
When Jimmy goes to his room for the night, the children lock his door. The other adult female explains to him that they are prisoners there and the guard dogs will attack if they try to run off of the property. The two of them start to humour the kids and play it off like they want to be their parental guardians, including disciplining them when they do things wrong. Can Caroline and Jimmy escape these mischievous children?
All the Kind Strangers is an odd little made for TV thriller which plays a little bit like Children of the Corn meets Little House on the Prairie. I wouldn't say this was all that terrifying, especially considering only one of the seven kids is really evil (the others are unknowing followers). The movie tells the story so fast that it feels a little rushed as well. The minute Jimmy enters the house he's pretty much trapped. The tension is all thrown in at once.
Stacy Keach is wonderful as Jimmy Wheeler, the man trying to escape this nightmare. Samantha Eggar is good as well. The kids do a good job, with Robby Benson and John Savage as standouts. I didn't mind this movie, but it wasn't as good as I thought it might be. Other than the guard dogs, there isn't much danger to be found for our leading characters.
All the Kind Strangers is worth a watch at least once, especially for fans of 70's made-for-TV films. I felt it was an average entry.
5/10
A journalist named Jimmy, who is driving through the backwoods of some small town, picks up a 7-year old wandering on the road to drop him off home. When he gets there, he sees that the home is filled with only 7 children and a mother who is in the kitchen. When Jimmy meets the mother figure Caroline, she writes "help" as an attempt to get his attention to the fact that not all is what is seems here. While they sit for dinner, the kids reveal that both their parents died 5 years ago, and then they begin to call the two adults "ma and pa".
When Jimmy goes to his room for the night, the children lock his door. The other adult female explains to him that they are prisoners there and the guard dogs will attack if they try to run off of the property. The two of them start to humour the kids and play it off like they want to be their parental guardians, including disciplining them when they do things wrong. Can Caroline and Jimmy escape these mischievous children?
All the Kind Strangers is an odd little made for TV thriller which plays a little bit like Children of the Corn meets Little House on the Prairie. I wouldn't say this was all that terrifying, especially considering only one of the seven kids is really evil (the others are unknowing followers). The movie tells the story so fast that it feels a little rushed as well. The minute Jimmy enters the house he's pretty much trapped. The tension is all thrown in at once.
Stacy Keach is wonderful as Jimmy Wheeler, the man trying to escape this nightmare. Samantha Eggar is good as well. The kids do a good job, with Robby Benson and John Savage as standouts. I didn't mind this movie, but it wasn't as good as I thought it might be. Other than the guard dogs, there isn't much danger to be found for our leading characters.
All the Kind Strangers is worth a watch at least once, especially for fans of 70's made-for-TV films. I felt it was an average entry.
5/10