Customer Reviews

Village of the Damned/Children of the Damned

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A cool double-feature DVD from Warner Home Video.

VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED:

As with INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956) before it, 1960's VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is a cold-war allegory that uses extraterrestrial infiltration to represent Western fears of Communist invasion. Even so, this flick is still one of the best SF thrillers ever made, and it has become one of the SF cinema classics.

When a group of albino children born under mysterious circumstances begin to demonstrate superhuman mental prowess, they come to be viewed by their community and the military as a threat to the survival of mankind. Though faithful to the novel on which it is based--THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS by Brit SF author John Wyndham--the film is in many ways more frightening, mainly due to simple but effective special FX and outstanding performances from adult leads George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, and Michael Gwynn and from child actor Martin Stephens. Indeed, the unusually reserved and sympathetic performance from Sanders--well known in England at the time for his over-the-top portrayals of villains or cynical antiheroes--makes the film's climax extremely dramatic and affecting.

Caveat: Avoid John Carpenter's far inferior 1995 remake.

CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED:

1963's CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED was originally marketed and is still often regarded today as the sequel to the 1960 classic VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. However, the second film's script diverges so drastically from the characters and premise of the first that it is not, in actuality, a continuation of or branch-off from the same narrative--super-intelligent children are the only common story element. While cold-war issues are still addressed, sympathies are ultimately directed towards the children rather than the adults or society at large, reflecting the burgeoning shift from conservatism to liberalism that was then occurring in the West (and especially the United States).

A decent SF film in its own right, CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED just isn't as cinematically effective nor as dramatically memorable as its purported progenitor VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. In truth, its greatest merit is the fact that it marks the first solo scriptwriting credit for John Briley, who would later go on to win an Oscar for scripting 1982's GANDHI.

The double-feature DVD from Warner Home Video is well worth the price of admission. Not only does it offer anamorphic widescreen versions of both films, each film also includes its respective trailer and a feature commentary (John Briley does the commentary for the film he scripted). Definitely a five-star disc.

"Village of the Damned" is the 60s sci-fi classic steeped in paranoia and set in England's Midwich. It seems that this picturesque district was visited by aliens who secretly impregnated the town's human women. Suddenly, blonde haired clone like boys and girls begin to pop up all over the countryside. These glowing-eyed humanoids have but one purpose - to use their intellectual superiority as mind-control over the adults in order to conquer the world. Top billed are George Sanders and Barbara Shelley as Gordon and Anthea Zellaby. Gordon is first to recognize that the town's children are not what they seem. But will he be in time and of enough strong will to stop this slow plague of brainwashing? The chilling screenplay by Stirling Siliphant (based on the novel, "The Midwich Cuckoos") and nimble direction by Wolf Rilla builds to a climax of unsettling terror that even today holds audiences spellbound. This classic film comes as a double feature with its sequel "Children of the Damned." Moving the location from countryside to a London school for the gifted, a professor (Alan Badel) assembles high I.Q. moppets from around the world for an intellectual experiment that goes horribly awry. The sequel has its merits but it lacks in the visceral and unsettling terror associated with the original. In 1995 "Village of the Damned" was remade by scare-master, John Carpenter with Kristie Alley and Christopher Reeve - but with decidedly predictable and less than stellar rewards.
Warner's DVD is outstanding. The image is remarkably clean, with a very solid and beautifully rendered gray scale, deep blacks and excellent contrast levels. Fine details are fully realized. There is a total lack of edge effects and other digital anomalies for an exceptionally smooth visual presentation. The audio is mono but with a considerable punch to it. For "Village of the Damned" there is a thoughtful and thorough audio commentary by author, Steve Haberman. On "Children of the Damned" we get a fairly thorough reading by the sequel's screenwriter, John Briley.

Truly this a classic of both science-fiction as well as horror.
Of course the horror is not the traditional bloodletting but rather psychological.It reads like a hitler youths takeover of a
typical english village "while everybody is asleep".these fatherless children all sport blond hair & blue eyes and definite
ideas about how things should run in the now quaranteed village.
They also seem to exhibit no distinct personnalities but more of a "group mind"(hence the fachism analogy)that has no problem crushing all dissidents , even their own parents.

On the technical side I have to again commend Warner for including it's sequel (children of the damned)on the disc , making it a great value.While the sequel suffers in comparison
to the original it's still worth seeing.
We as customers should support Warner & it's "double bill" DVD's
so that other companies might jump on the bandwaggon (so far only
MGM has released some interesting double bills)and increase the circulation of classic films on DVD.

I saw this unsettling little chiller when I was about the age the children are at the end of THE VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. It unnerves me as much now as it did then. A truly frightening idea brilliantly executed here with wonderful work by George Sanders & Martin Stephens(similarly creepy in THE INNOCENTS). For fans of THE SIMPSONS out there, you will remember this film being brilliantly parodied in the episode involving all the children being put under curfew.

Caught this flick by chance on TCM yesterday a.m. and watched it straight through (which was easy, considering it clocked in at a mere 77m). A truly creepy beginning leads to a disturbing middle which then leads to a shocking conclusion. All told a great sci-fi/horror flick without an ounce of blood (why horror? The scene where the kids will a guy to blow his head off with a shotgun is terrifying!). The eyes are creepy, the blonde wigs are creepy, heck, even the clothes the kids wear are creepy. A real great flick from the British school of cinema. Disturbing? You bet. But quite entertaining.

I saw "Village of the Damned" for the first time back in 1965 and had nightmares for a while. On this day, the hairs on the back of my neck still stand up when the eyes on those little alien brats light up! You know a movie is a classic when it makes such an impression after all those years. When I saw that this DVD has the sequel as well, I just couldn't pass it up! This is a great DVD for classic movie buffs (like myself) out there! Definetely get it!

I remember my parents taking me to the village of the Damned when I was 8 or 9 years old and it totally freaked me out!! To make things worse, they took me back to see the sequel!! Spent the whole movie on the floor of the theater (Ha! Ha!)I saw the film recently and it stands up very well (much better than the colorized remake). The kids eyes are truly frightening!! The plot also stands up very well (at least the first of the two films). This film is as high a quality as, and is similar to, original episodes of the twilight zone. NOW: will they get around to releasing DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS on DVD?

In the English village of Midwich, everyone has fallen into a deep sleep for several hours in the middle of the day. Months later, every woman capable of bearing children has been pregnant and given birth and every child looks similar to each other. Same color hair, same penetrating eyes and same idea , which is to kill everyone that gets in their way. Village Of The Damned was a great classic sci/fi horror film from the 60's, the film was quite haunting and suspenseful and the acting and characters were brilliant. The children themselves were very creepy as their eyes glow when they are angered. Martin Stephens as George Sanders boy is particularly good as he looks and speaks with such class and yet has the conscience of a cold-blooded, calculated killer. Sanders is also very good in his role as a man torn between bridging the field of knowledge with the unknown and protecting mankind from alien harm, I found this to be quite an enjoyable film and I felt the inclusion of the other towns around the world with similar incidents and the reports back on how they dealt with it to be quite ingenious. A great British science fiction film and certainly one of the more thought-provoking ones around.

This double feature also comes with the sequel Children Of The Damned, although not quite as good as the original Children of the Damned is still one of the best sequels ever made and comes very close to equaling to original. The sets are absolutely mind blowing, particularly the church scenes and the entire movie is very well shot with outstanding camera movement. The acting is superb as you would expect from a British horror movie, the story was about a Psychologist Tom Llewellyn and geneticist David Neville who have found the smartest child in the world: Paul Looran a British boy. However they soon realize that 5 other children around the world are of the same intelligence and even the same entity. It Seems that these kids have unstoppable psychic abilities so they can read minds. These children are brought to England but when the various governments become worried about losing control of the children, the children band together and take over an abandoned church. The film is basically a sequel in name only and no true history is given of the children, unlike the previous film. The film has too many unanswered questions and shows the kids as merely intelligent pawns who think first and kill later and the ending was a cop out but I still thought it was entertaining and is definitely worth seeing, overall I definitely recommend this awesome double feature for those who like old classic British horror films with a spooky atmosphere and intelligent storyline.

I watched this black and white movie when I was a kid and I always remembered it. There are pretty good special effects for that time period (not over the top) and I liked the setting. There was something clean about it. Although B/W, it took nothing away from the movie. I think this movie holds up as a classic. It wasn't boring either. This is one I was tempted to watch again. You had a clear-cut side that you wanted to win in this movie. It's good to get away from the regular color talkies every now and then. It was way better than the remake with Chris Reeves (God rest his soul).

I have to say i like these kinds of films , and i can't help but be taken back by them.I remember seeing them at the show house , and these are just as clear and sharp as i remember them. The acting is not real good , but if you are into the 60s black and white horror, you will like them.