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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
What's scarier than scary kids? Village of the Damned is the definitive scary-kid classic, a truly unsettling film drawn from John Wyndham's novel The Midwich Cuckoos. The brilliant opening sequence depicts the sudden and temporary paralysis of a small English hamlet, which is followed by the town's women becoming mysteriously pregnant. The spawn of this occurrence are a dozen eerie, blond-headed children, who are either gifted, evil, or "the world's new people." A splendid outing, not least in the way it catches parental anxiety about this small new stranger in one's home. (It was remade by John Carpenter in 1995.)
Children of the Damned follows up with a story about six more creepy kids, brought from all over the globe to huddle in a old church in London. An excellent opening half-hour gets bogged down in the movie's global-political ambitions (it's very much a cold war offering), but it has its share of shivery moments--the sight of the six youngsters striding down a London street as though they controlled the world is a chiller. But where's the blond hair? The two films are different in tone; Village feels like a fifties sci-fi offering, with an old-school star (George Sanders) and classical style; Children is a film of the sixties, with hipper techniques, urban setting, and young actors Ian Hendry and Alan Badel. But both have those damned kids. --Robert Horton
Product Description
Innocent-looking children in a small English community prove to be aliens with demonic powers let loose upon the Village of the Damned (George Sanders, Barbara Shelley. 1960/b&w/78 min.), and six psychic, super-smart children from the original Village are pursued by a psychologist and the rest of the inferior" human race in the sequel Children of the Damned (Ian Hendry, Alan Badel. 1964/color/90 min.). NR/widescreen.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
60 of 61 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
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:
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.
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful
By Nix Pix
Format:DVD
"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.
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.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By "marteau"
Format:DVD
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.
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.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Neither disc will play on my DVD player
I realy apprrciate you trying to work with me, by offering to send another DVD andreturn label. i received the new disc yesterday and had the sae problem. Read more
Published 26 days ago by Lyn Reed
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the classic sci fi films
This is one of the top sci fi pictures of all time. George Sanders is a perfect fit in this sci fi almost horror flick.
Published 1 month ago by Alan K. Sumrall
5.0 out of 5 stars
2nd copy ..
Loaned my first copy to a friend who never returned it and I can't contact him to get it back. Bought another one and added his name to my list of "never lend to.."
Published 2 months ago by Kathleen C. Allen
5.0 out of 5 stars
village of the dammes/children of the dammed
loved the movies but really scared me remember it as i was a teenager blonde hair and blue eyes use to unnerve me but wound up marrying a blonde blue eyed man
Published 2 months ago by Jeannie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beware the children
Both of these movies are in my opinion a great example of the kind of sci-fi movies that made you think "what if".
Published 3 months ago by taino52g
4.0 out of 5 stars
Creepy Black & White Sci-Fi-Influenced Horror Film
This film is better than I expected. "Village of the Damned" is a relatively short picture with a running time of 77 minutes. And so nothing is belaboured. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Stephen C. Bird
5.0 out of 5 stars
2 FOR PRICE OF ONE
Well worth the price you will pay. This is classic sci-fi horror at its best. the sequel is also interesting and shows mans' fear of the unknown as always.
Published 3 months ago by Rick Spencer
3.0 out of 5 stars
Original movie was the best
The black and white verions, the original version, was far better then the later one with Reeve's. I think the black and white gave it more sinister viewing.
Published 3 months ago by johnnyphoenix
5.0 out of 5 stars
Both for an Awesome Price
These stories are going to stick with you. Easy to remember, disturbingly hard to forget. Both tales inspire horror, fascination, and paranoia in almost equal doses. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Michael T. Starnes
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!
The product is just like in the pictures. It is well made and seems like it will last a long time. I am very happy with this DVD.
Published 4 months ago by Helen Stout
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