Plague Town(2008)

I think that old age has accustomed me to DTV slashers and horror films. When I was younger, I never really liked SOV films, and now I can tolerate them(I just watched Sledgehammer for the first time last night). In the mid to late 90's, when the deluge of DTV films hitting DVD every week, was at it's peak, I really hated these films. But now, I will just about check out any horror film within reason. Sometimes this helps me find new treasures, but most of the time, it makes me wish that I had the 90 mins I just wasted back! The advent of Netflix helps this out greatly, you can rent these films, and you don't really lose out on much, especially if you watch them on Instant Watch. This brings me to the film at hand, Plague Town. A pretty effective and creepy little horror story that borrows greatly from many other classics(TCM, The Children, and Grotesque), and offers nothing really original, but is a good, creepy time. And there is nothing wrong with that.
The story centers around a a very dysfunctional family taking a vacation to Ireland to try and resolve some of these issues. It seems that Dad is marrying a younger woman, and they are taking the 2 teenish daughters as an introduction the new familial unit. The older daughter Rosemary, picks up a English guy and brings him along, and pays more attention to him, than the family. The younger daughter, Molly, is the typical Winona Ryder-esque, post-goth, teen angst queen, complete with mental problems. After missing their tour bus back, and abandoned in the countryside, the refuse to take refuge with locals that offer, and end up at the mercy of a gang of deformed children in the woods. The acting is the typical bad overacting stuff that you see in this kind of film, with the exception of the stepmother and the goth girl. But none of this really detracts from the film, and it flows well, and doesn't drag about too bad. Also, it was filmed in Connecticut, and does a good job of passing it of as Ireland.
You will know if this one is for you, if you have thick skin for this kind of stuff, then this will be a joy for you. As I said, if are like me, and watch just about every horror movie that is released and usually are disappointed, check out Plague Town, i'm sure you will find something in it.