Children of Sorrow

2012 American film

Children of Sorrow

Directed by| Jourdan McClure
Written by| Ryan Finnerty
Produced by| Doug Archibald
Starring| Bill Oberst Jr., Hannah Levien, Whitney Nielsen
Cinematography| Dmitry Koshutin
Edited by| Josh Earl

Production
company

After Dark Films

Distributed by| Lionsgate Home Entertainment

Release date

* October 6, 2012 (2012-10-06) (Sacramento Horror Film Festival)

Running time

| 88 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English

Children of Sorrow is a 2012 horror film directed by Jourdan McClure and part of the After Dark Originals series.[1] The movie had its world release on October 6, 2012 at the Sacramento Horror Film Festival and was released to DVD on March 4, 2014 through Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The film stars Bill Oberst Jr. as a twisted cult leader.[2]

## Synopsis

[edit]

Desperate to discover what has become of her sister Janet, Ellen (Hannah Levien) infiltrates Simon Leach's (Bill Oberst Jr.) cult. All she knows is that her sister was last seen joining his group to find herself, only to go missing after joining. Ellen is welcomed with open arms and although her initial intent is to search for her sister, she finds herself drawn to Simon's magnetic personality and message of love and acceptance. However what she soon discovers is that she, along with all of the cult's companionship-hungry members, is being manipulated to a more sinister and dark end than she could have predicted.[3]

## Cast

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* Bill Oberst Jr. as Simon Leach
* Hannah Levien as Ellen
* Whitney Nielsen as Mary
* Galen Howard as Alan
* Liesel Hanson as Robin
* Peabo Powell as Frank
* Daniel Mentz as Evan
* Jaquelyn Johnson as Tracey
* Rachel Orlikoff as Grace
* Martha Brigham as Veronica
* Nich Kauffman as Ben
* Jefferson Rogers as Brian

## Reception

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Fearnet gave Children of Sorrow a mixed review, praising Oberst as one of the film's highlights while commenting that the film did "sag in the middle".[4] Film School Rejects panned the film overall, remarking that it "reveals the ending in the first few minutes, has a nonsensical screenplay, and is edited like a narrative film thus defeating the purpose of the found footage format".[5] The reviewer also noted that "For what it’s worth, the director of the film claims it isn’t found-footage, so there’s that."[5]

### Awards

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* Best Actor Award at the Shockfest Film Festival (2012, won - Bill Oberst Jr)[6]
* The Shocker Award at the Shockfest Film Festival (2012, won)[6]
* Best Feature at the Sacramento Horror Film Festival (2012, won)
* Best Acting in a Feature at the Sacramento Horror Film Festival (2012, won)

## References

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1. ^ Miller, Ryan. "Children of Sorrow added to After Dark Originals". JoBlo. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
2. ^ Turek, Ryan. "Children of Sorrow Trailer Makes Its Debut". STYD. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
3. ^ Woods, Kevin. "Lionsgate releases new trailer, release date for Children of Sorrow". JoBlo. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
4. ^ Weinberg, Scott. "FEARNET Movie Review: 'Children of Sorrow'". Fearnet. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
5. ^ a b Hunter, Rob. "The Best Blu-ray/DVDs of the Week: 'The Visitor,' '12 Years a Slave,' and 'The Grandmaster'". Film School Rejects. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
6. ^ a b Joy, Mike. "Children of Sorrow kills at Shockfest". HN.n. Retrieved 30 January 2014.

## External links

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* Children of Sorrow at IMDb