Village of the Damned

 

 

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British science fiction at its absolute best. I agree with another reviewer: there should not have been a remake and I've avoided the remake because this movie is such a great classic.

As you've probably gathered from other reviews, a whole group of fast-growing blonde children with extraordinary powers are born in a British village. The children are a little skittish and a bit unforgiving when given milk (as a baby) that's too hot, or when one of the villagers nearly hits one with an automobile. It's probably not a good idea to engage them in a game of dodgeball, either. Oh well, there are always their academic pursuits, and that's what they're most interested in anyway.

The black and white gives the film that classic creepy feeling and the special effects are appropriate for the time period. I'd like to see a DVD with additional info, perhaps a trailer, and other extras produced. The mono sound works well, but I'd also ask for a psuedo-stereo expanded sound track if possible on a potential DVD.

The film may be too intense for younger children, but the filmmakers had the good taste to not include excessive gore but rather chose to leave such things to the viewer's imagination; a far more effective and discreet technique that Hollywood has thrown completely out the window, in favor of heavy-handed shock value (unfortunately). Such discretion involves the viewer *in* the film, rather than just treating the viewer as a mind-numbed spectator. See "Village of the Damned" to understand what I mean.

Buy, rent or borrow this video, you won't be disappointed if you like classic sci-fi!!!

P.S. I think this film gave the British rock group "Pink Floyd" the idea for "The Wall" album, IMHO. Those familiar with the album will see some interesting parallels.

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.

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.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Cosmic Rape!
Subtly horrifying, this is a science-fiction classic. Eleven-year-old Martin Stephens is very scary as an unhuman child, and Wolf Rilla directs the film with intelligence. Read more

Published on April 30 2003 by Cody

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent film version of THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS
John Wyndham is today remembered primarily for his two excellent English Sci-fi classics THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS and THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS. Read more

Published on Oct 15 2002 by Robert Moore

4.0 out of 5 stars AN ORIGINAL CHILLER.
An incredibly frightening adaptation of the John Wyndham novel about a small English village which becomes the victim of a visit from unfriendly aliens... Read more

Published on Aug 27 2002 by scotsladdie

5.0 out of 5 stars just enough
this film showed just enough stuff to make it scary. It wasn't so out of control including blood, gore, guts, and people broken in half. Read more

Published on Mar 20 2002 by JoAnNe

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic in Sci-Fi.
I first saw this movie in the early 70's and was greatly affected. Forget the re-make. This is the original and it is chilling. Read more

Published on Jan 2 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Classic
Great movie! This is an old black and white classic. If you liked the 1995 version, you'll LOVE this version. Both versions are great. Read more

Published on Nov 16 2001 by perfect_angel88

4.0 out of 5 stars Please think nice thoughts about the children in Midwich
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. Read more

Published on April 3 2001 by Lawrance M. Bernabo

4.0 out of 5 stars 1960, what a movie year!
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. Read more

Published on Mar 2 2001 by Calle

4.0 out of 5 stars a great sci-fi/horror classic
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. Read more

Published on July 31 2000 by horrorpunk

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic horror!
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,... Read more

Published on Dec 1 1999 by rynnfrink

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