It follows a group of five children in a small New England town when they are transformed into zombies who, after being exposed to waste from a nuclear plant, microwave any living thing they touch.

Jim and Slim, two workers at a chemical plant in the New England town of Ravensback, decide to call it a day and head for the bar.

After Billy Hart, the local sheriff, finds the idling bus abandoned near a cemetery, he radios his deputy and dispatcher.

Billy orders a roadblock at the intersection of the main highway and the lone road leading into town, recruiting a couple of armed locals, believing that the children were possibly kidnapped.

Cathy, who is still not aware of the children's zombified state, knocks Billy out with a glass object in order to stop him from shooting them.

The Children was given a limited release theatrically in the United States by World Northal, opening regionally in Tucson, Arizona on June 6, 1980.

"[5] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette criticized the writing, directing, acting and special effects; the latter slammed for burned bodies looking "exactly like a leftover pepperoni pizza, complete with black olives and anchovies.

[7] Jonathan Stryker from HorrorNews.net gave the film a slightly positive review, calling it "a predictable, by-the-numbers but somewhat entertaining yarn".