In a not so well-known piece of the maker of the singing detective, the group of children that is portrayed slowly yet steadily degress from just a bunch of playful kids into a sadistic bloodthirsty mob. Instead of the supposed innocence of children that Hollywood constantly tries to force on cinema audiences, this pic truly portrays children's fantasy worlds in all its crudeness. The fact that all children's roles are played by adult actors (albeit strange at first) works tremendously well.