Village of the Damned/Children of the Damned
by Anton Leader, Wolf Rilla
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Actor: Alan Badel, Barbara Shelley, George Sanders, Ian Hendry, Martin StephensDirector: Anton Leader, Wolf Rilla
Brand: Warner Brothers
Writer: Wolf Rilla
Producer: Ben Arbeid
Writer: John Briley
Writer: John Wyndham
Writer: Ronald Kinnoch
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Mono; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 167 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-08-10
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of Village of the Damned/Children of the Damned
DVD Review: The classic U.K. science fiction chiller and a reimagining on one DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
"Village of the Damned" is a testament to how a simple idea can make for an eerie film. One afternoon in the small village of Midwich every living being collapses. Major Alan Bernard (Michael Gwynn) discovers the situation and the authorities launch an investigation. Just as they learn that the people are not dead but unconscious, the people revive. Then it is discovered that every woman of childbearing age in the town has become pregnant. In time they give birth to blond haired babies with strange eyes and no discernable human emotions. Clearly there is something strange going on in the "Village of the Damned."
This 1960 classic science fiction film is based on the novel "The Midwich Cuckoos" by John Wyndham, and represents as they say on the commentary track the H.G. Wells school of science fiction where you introduce one strange idea into the normal world to tell you story of the fantastic. One of the children is born to scientist Dr. Gordon Zellaby (George Sanders) and his wife, Anthea (Barbara Shelley). Zellaby believes that David (Martin Stephens) and the other children must be taught human morality while the military argues they should be destroyed before it becomes too late. Meanwhile, the children clearly have their own agenda and their own way of dealing with those who they perceive as being a threat to them. What that agenda might be is in dispute, but there is no denying that the children are capable of making people end up dead.
There are so many examples of justifiable paranoia in American science fiction films, the paragon of which would be "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," it is interesting to see an English version. I especially like the opening part of the film where Bernard is just trying to figure out what is going on and the rather logical way they go about it (so often the military types are so stupid in these movies, seeing competence is such a treat). Dr. Sanders is not a mad scientist in the traditional sense, but he is blinded to the facts and the film is also unusual in that he becomes part of the solution (cf. Dr. Carrington in "The Thing from Another World"). Director Wolf Rilla, who never made another theatrical film this good, gets credit for sticking to Wyndham's novel although there are aspects of the story (e.g., virgins giving birth) that would be considered rather taboo at the time.
Once you have seen "Village of the Damned" it is pretty much inevitable that you will check out "Children of the Damned," although you will find it impossible to avoid being less impressed with the sequel. Written by John Briley ("Invasion Quartet" and "Ghandi"), this 1963 film makes more sense if you think of it as a re-imagining of Wyndham's original concept. Instead of all these children being born in one place looking the same, this time we have children born all over the place who look different. They still stare and they still control your minds, but now they are not children from a damned village but children from around the world. But are they the progeny of alien visitors? Apparently not, because although their births cannot be dismissed as mere coincidence, it could just as likely be that they are the result of mutation. At least I could make such a reading based on what happens in the film, which goes for a more of a sense of ambiguity regarding why the children are here: are they evil or our saviors? Good question.
Paul (Clive Powell) is from the United Kingdom, Mi Ling (Yoke-Moon Lee) is from China), Nina (Roberta Rex) is from the Soviet Union, Aga Nagolo (Gerald Delsol) is from an African nation, Rashid (Mahdu Mathen) is from India, and Mark (Frank Summerscale) is from the United States. So while there is East and West tensions here there is also a Third World element to the Cold War sub-text, although really it is each nation for itself because allies do not trust each other. Debating the pros and cons are Dr. David Neville (Alan Badle) and Colonel Tom Lewellin (Ian Hendry) while Paul stares in a manner that is either threatening or unthreatening depending on what you end up thinking about the children. "Children of the Damned" is not even close to being a great science fiction film, but if you could forget the inevitable comparisons to "Village of the Damned" it is at least interesting on its own terms and apparently much more worth watching that John Carpenter's remake of "Village of the Damned" from what I hear. Consequently, having both black & white films on one DVD is not a bad deal.
Description of Village of the Damned/Children of the Damned
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