Quien Puede Matar A Un Nino? (aka Who Can Kill A Child?) (1976)

An Englishman (Lewis Fiander) and his pregnant wife (Prunella Ransome) are on vacation in Spain in a seacoast town. They decide to take a boat trip to a small island a few hours away but when they arrive, they find the village seemingly deserted except for the children. It isn't long before they discover the horror of what happened to the adults. This Spanish horror film directed by Narcisco Ibanez Serrador is like THE BIRDS but with children instead. It's a disturbing film on several levels. Serrador opens his film with an under the credits montage of the horrors inflicted upon children during the Holocaust, the Viet Nam conflict, African tribal wars etc. But considering what follows, the footage seems both exploitative and disingenuous. That being said, as far as "killer children" (a disreputable genre to be sure) movies go, this is one of the best and very effective. The children know that the societal anathema towards harming children allows them to act out their pre-pubescent Manson family act. The film brings up a myriad of moral and ethical dilemmas that would take more space than I can spare here but it's fascinating film of its kind.