Beware! Children at Play

Plot

The film follows the inhabitants of a small rural town whose children are disappearing at an alarming rate and whose adults are simultaneously being killed in a ritualistic fashion. It is revealed early on that the kids are being inducted into a cannibalistic cult that live in the woods. The title is known mostly because of its brutal depictions of violence against children (multiple child murders).

Reception

The film is one of Troma's most controversial titles due to its gruesome finale, a five-minute sequence where the townspeople brutally murder each of the cannibalistic children using firearms, pitchforks, and other assorted weapons. According to Lloyd Kaufman, when the film's trailer played at the Cannes Film Festival before a screening of Tromeo and Juliet, nearly half of the theatre walked out in protest.