Customer Reviews

Village of the Damned [VHS]

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

 

 

This movie is fantastic, and, like Psycho, should never have been remade. The entire movie has an eerie feel to it, beginning when everyone in the tiny village of Midwich, suddenly and simultaneously, passes out. Nine months later, several women give birth to platinum blonde children, precocious both mentally and physically. The children also posess an alien power which enables them to hypnotize and control the minds of anyone they please. In addition to that, the kids have no consciences, nor emotions. That was the most chilling part for me: They didn't think twice about what they did, and would stop at nothing to do what they needed to do. The acting is superb, especially David's. If you want to watch Village of the Damned, skip the remake and head for this one - you won't regret it.

The best-known horror movie from 1960 is probably Alfred Hitchcock's `Psycho'. But a number of other very good movies were made that year. One of them is `The Time Machine', and also this one, `The Village of the Damned'. I very much like the opening scenes where everybody falls asleep and the policeman falls to the ground when walking into the village. The sleeping man on the tractor and the phonograph adds to the `spooky' feeling of the movie. The rest of the movie is very good too, but not quite as good as the opening. The ending is a little abrupt and sudden and I would have liked to know a little more of what happened afterwards, maybe. The children look very weird and funny, with their white hair and big, hypnotic eyes and give the movie an eerie feeling.

Overall, this is a very good movie. I gave it a four, but if I could, I would have given it four and a half. I really recommend you to see this movie. It is a classic. Maybe I should read the book and go see the sequel (`Children of the Damned') and John Carpenter's remake now...

John Wyndham is today remembered primarily for his two excellent English Sci-fi classics THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS and THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS. Both were made into enduring Sci-fi films, but VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is by far the better of the two (as well as the better of the two film versions of Wyndham's books). There are several reasons this movie stands out.

First, there is the incredible contrast between the everyday, matter-of-fact attitude of all the village's inhabitants and the rather amazing children who are born to its female residents. The village is so utterly average and unspectacular. The matter-of-factness extends to the visual style of the film as well. Some of the more compelling scenes occur early on when no one is able to enter the village without passing out. There is no milking the scenes for effect, such as when an airplane flies over the village, and slowly plunges to earth, the pilot having apparently fallen into a trance. The way several people experimentally explore the edges of the village serves to intensify the mystery.

A second reason the film stands out are the way in which the children themselves are conceived. They are genuinely creepy, with their vacant expressions, blonde, Nazi-like demeanor, and strikingly clear eyes.

Finally, the movie succeeds because George Sanders does his usual magnificent turn as the lone person the children seem to trust, and the one person who does not seem to fear them. Both his character, and the manner in which he interrelates with the children are crucial the overall success of the film.

Although more Sci-fi was produced in Great Britain in the 1950s and early 1960s than many might realize, this is probably the finest of the bunch. Not merely that, it is one of the finest Sci-fi films of the era.

This movie is a great example of why the 50's and early 60's were the era of great sci-fi films. The story is imaginative and compelling. The look of the children, the way they were conceived, and their mysterious intentions all give this movie that particular weird, creepy sort of feeling that old black and white horror and sci-fi movies convey so well. The ending of this movie is way cool also. The sci-fi movies being cranked out by Hollywood today can not come close to this one. Big budget special effects and computer graphics might impress the masses, but they aren't at all weird or creepy. I'll take a movie like this over one of those flashy but boring and generic new ones any day!

By the time the 50's came to an end, Hollywood had unleashed a legion of threats, monsters,and alien invasions on the earth. These films usually involved direct assaults on cities and terrified populations by lumbering beasts (Godzilla) or flying saucers (WAR OF THE WORLDS). Yet, political events of the mid fifties began to suggest that the next threat to humanity might be more insidious, less obvious. VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED was England's reply to the continuing question to the ending posed by THE THING (1951): "Tell the world. Watch the skies." Director Wolf Rilla took the novel by John Wyndham and rephrased it to look within at the least obvious source of danger--our own children. In Midwich, England, an entire populace faints for several hours. No reason or cause is found. The townspeople awaken and life goes on as before. But not quite. Every woman of childbearing age is inexplicably pregnant. The menfolk are understandably puzzled and not a little distrustful of their wives' chastity, while the women are depressed and fearful. All the women give birth to physically perfect children, but regardless of the parents' looks, all the babies are dark eyed blondes. As these Children grow, they show evidence of telepathy, mind control, and a hive gestalt personality. What one knows, the others know. Gordon Zellaby (George Sanders), the father of the Children's leader David (Martin Stephens), is a scientist-philosopher who tries to inculcate a sense of a humanity that he knows is missing in them, even as he denies it for years. His wife Anthea (Barbara Shelley), loves her son but is terrified and helpless when she realizes that the Children are nothing less than a threat to the continuing survival of the human species. David starkly admits to his parents that either he and his fellow Children must rule earth or humanity must kill them. One of the most significant themes of this film is the Right to Survive. Humanity, over the millenia, has obliterated any species that threatened its own survival. Now for the first time, it finds itself on the receiving end of that same threat. What the Children propose seems even more shocking since their words emerge from the lips of a golden-haired angel whose very innocuousness belies the danger of his message. Many critics of this movie have pointed out the similarities of the Children to the Hitler Jugend who resembled them in looks even if not in seeming mildness. Such an interpretation made sense since memories of the Second World War were still fresh in the audience's minds. Yet, in a startling sense of cinematic foresight, director Rilla pictures a hive mentality that is more suggestive of the Borg Collective from Star Trek: "We are the Children. You will be assimilated. Resistance is useless." The Children suggest that world conquest will be gradual with the establishment of other colonies. The Children, in effect, have thrown down the gauntlet to an embattled humanity. Fight or die. Most of humanity chooses to fight. One colony of Children is born to Eskimos, who promptly kill both mothers and children, instinctively recognizing the threat to their own survival. A second colony in Russia is similarly eradicated by a nuclear device. It is only in the third and final colony in England that the rights of the Children to survive are weighed against the right of humanity to survive. Much of THE VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is full of such pontificating. Even when the Children bluntly tell anyone who would listen that earth cannot house two competing species, the English Powers That Be refuse to accept the solution offered by their Eskimo and Russian colleagues. The solution that Zellaby offers as a compromise--to isolate the Children--is ultimately seen as ineffective. What is needed is the Darwinian survival of the fittest: kill the threat or be killed by that threat. Such a politically incorrect message could not now emerge from any Western film center, but in the curiously innocent decades following the depredations of the real Hitler Jugend, the PI message that was truly Darwinian in scope rang clearly then. I am quite sure that the Zellaby solution of "Think of a brick wall" would have been lambasted by those who identified with the scientist from the 1951 THE THING who insisted that the plantman menace in the Arctic had the right to live, even at the cost of humanity's similar right. Zellaby, of course, proved them wrong.

The Village of the Damned represents truly classic horror; the chilling, gut-wrenching horror that comes from an ordinary situation being turned completely up-side-down. The early-day special effects are surprisingly effective, since their impact comes not from computer-generated graphics but from the reactions of the victims to the subtle effects. In the magnificent tradition of "The Uninvited" and "The Haunting" and, more recently, the cult classic "Legend of Hell House", the Village of the Damned will grow on you both in its horror and in its odd believability. Not recommended for expectant mothers, those who don't care to put any thought into their entertainment, or those who are prone to nightmares.

Sorry, Todd, I couldn't disagree with you more. I've seen this movie many times, and it always gives me the creeps; besides which, it's really a marvelous allegory (as all good sci fi is), wherein one man has to face his fears and... well, I don't want to give away the ending. To someone steeped in computerized special effects, the black-and-white simplicity of this old film might seem dull at first; but stay with it, let it work on your imagination, and it will haunt you...Would YOU be able to do what Zellaby does? I've also seen the Chris Reeve remake, and frankly, it's appalling in its sensational gore and melodrama-- the original is far superior for suspense and chilling effect.

Once upon a time, a strange cloud descended upon the quaint little village of Midwich in England. All the people fell asleep while the military fretted about. After a while the people woke up and then they discovered that every woman of child bearing age was going to have a baby. Nine months later the babies are born and they all have golden hair with blue eyes. They also grow up very quickly and like to go around the village in packs. Oh, and it also turns out they can read the minds of the adults, so that whenever the adults do or think anything the children do not like, the children need to teach the adults the error of their ways. It also turns out they have telekentic powers.

Based on John Wyndhanm's "The Midwich Cuckoos," the "Village of the Damned" is an unsettling horror film whose climax suffers mainly because there probably is not any payoff that would really be good enough. George Sanders plays the voice of reason that is not listened to until it is way too late. There have been many films that have presented children as monsters, but few manage to stick with you as thoroughly as "Village of the Damned." The only thing that comes close for me is the "A Good Life" episode of "The Twilight Zone." Director Wolf Rilla achieves all of his chills and thrills with the simplest of specific effects: shots of children staring at the camera.

Wolf Rilla's 1960 production of "Village of the Damned" was a cinematic jewel from a bygone era. A combination of a well conceived plot, a professional cast and creative direction was sufficient to evoke fear and terror without the use of special effects and buckets of stage blood.

Based on the novel "The Midwich Cuckoos" by John Wyndham the film depicted a strange phenomenom that befell the English countryside town of Midwich. An inexplicable and undetectable force caused every living creature within an area surrounding the town to be rendered unconscious. While only lasting a few hours this bizarre occurrence had the local military at its highest alert trying to ascertain what happened.

There weren't any major catastrophes as a result of this event just minor bumps and bruises. In a short while however it was discovered that every woman in Midwich capable of bearing a child was pregnant. The pregnancies appeared normal but the babies that were born had similar distinguishing characteristics. They were all highly intelligent, blonde haired, grew at an alarmingly rapid rate and had arresting eyes that glowed at times of intense concentration. As they matured, they all were capable of controlling the minds of the local villagers or anyone that they desired. These 12 children always travelled in groups and evoked fear from the citizens of Midwich.

George Sanders playing professor Gordon Zellaby was empowered with educating the children in a wait and see posture mandated by the government. Sander's wife Anthea played by British queen of the horror flick, the fetching Barbara Shelley had born one of the children, the apparent leader of the group, David. It soon became apparent after several inhabitants of the town who posed a threat to the children, were killed using mind control, they they had to be dealt with. Sanders took it upon himself to devise a plot to thwart the group's ambition to spread out among the society and take total control.

Having seen this film as a child, I remember that it scared the dickens out of me. After 45 years, while the film is obviously dated, it still holds up remarkably well today. Wyndham's creative mind provided a worthy framework for a well produced flick.

Don't even think about watching John Carpenter's ill-advised 1995 remake of this brilliant science fiction film. The 1960 original is subtle, tightly scripted, and superbly plotted.

In the lead role of Gordon Zellaby, George Sanders is, though a bit stuffy, mostly well cast, as is Barbara Shelley as his wife. She, and every other female of child-bearing age in the small, obscure village of Midwich, England, gives birth to a baby who grows far more quickly than is normal. In addition, these births all happen on the same day, a couple of days after a very strange blackout period lasting several hours when all residents of the village lapse into unconsciousness, and then just as suddenly pull out of it (shades of unknown viruses lurking everywhere).

This blackout period is, in my estimation, one of the very best sequences in any science fiction film of any era. It is completely strange, completely unknown as far as origin goes, and completely unexplained. The word "alien" is never used in the course of the entire film, nor is there any overt reference to visitors from other planets, although there is an indirect reference or two to this possibility, but only in one scene. The remarkable subtlety that underlies the film's tone is what makes it so resonant.

The babies demonstrate unnaturally high intelligence at a very early age and mature frighteningly quickly. All have golden blond hair and eyes that usually appear normal, but which change color when the group of children--who live and move together at all times--are disturbed enough to direct their unified powers against the one(s) who have disturbed them. This hive mentality pre-dates the Borg from Star Trek by two or three decades and is terrifically done, a tribute to both the writer (John Wyndham) of the original novel on which the film was based, and the director, Wolf Rilla.

One of the premier science fiction films of not only the 1960s, but of the 20th century, this more than deserves a DVD release. Very highly recommended.