village of the damned

THE FLICKS: Some movie premises are almost foolproof. As in, it would take a real wanker to screw them up. And John Wyndham’s story, “The Midwich Cuckoos,” is one of those perfect building blocks executed with equal aplomb in cinematic form by director Wolf Rilla as Village of the Damned. A classy sci-fi thriller, the film adeptly weaves a real-world feel around its single fantasy element of mysterious children born to a quaint country village all on the same day. After the population of Midwich blacks out for several hours (in a fabulously photographed introduction), all women of child-bearing age are found to be pregnant. After birth, the blonde-haired brood develop at three times the rate of a human child and quickly impose their will against anyone who oppose them (as evidenced by their glowing-grey eyes). Their mental powers are such that no one dares speak out for fear of a horrible retribution. Only professor Gordon Zellaby (George Sanders), himself the “father” of one of the children, attempts to get to the truth of the matter before the military steps in to destroy them all. Village of the Damned’s British pedigree is one of its biggest assets, as the folks across the pond just seem to do well by this type of material. There’s a very “Quatermass”-feel to the production, echoing the previous entries in the Hammer studios series on a smaller, creepier scale. Wolf Rilla’s camera unobtrusively captures the paranoid fear of the general populace as their so-called children take over the town. And the film’s opening moments, as villagers drop to unconsciousness in various moments of everyday life, is a mini-masterpiece of silent terror. Powerfully acted and presented with a no-frills style, Village of the Damned did well enough to earn itself a sequel (and a horrible remake by John Carpenter in 1995). Designed more as a cold war parable rather than a solid shocker like the first film, Children of the Damned maintain the high quality of acting and execution, but loses much of the mystery that made Wyndham’s story so intriguing. Several years later, more children have appeared around the world and are gathered by the United Nations for study. Each country is loath to relinquish control of their pet genius, but the kids break their chains and gather in a decrepit London church. A pair of scientists (played with witty repartee by Alan Bedel and Alfred Burke) are out to intercept the children before the government puts them to work for the military machine. But, as with the cold war, neither side comes away with a true victory. Children of the Damned’s political subtext is so strong is essentially overwhelms the sequel’s sci-fi elements. That’s not all bad, as the serious take on the genre material results in some bravura performances and a chilling sense of impending doom. But making the children pawns in a political game all but erases the homespun horror of the original film’s premise. It’s an interesting, well-directed extension of the story, but not nearly as much fun. THE FEATURES: Besides getting both films on one disc, Warner has included a commentary by respective experts. Author/Screenwriter Steve Haberman (who worked for Mel Brooks) covers Village of the Damned, and does a damn fine job. Well-prepared and well-spoken, Haberman tackles the film one scene at a time, often inserting quotes from the creators about the production. Never boring, this guy has done his homework. On Children of the Damned, original screenwriter John Briley discusses the history of this his first feature script. He starts off strong, discussing the relatively unknown actors involved (in the US, anyway) but then drifts into a few too many personal stories. Still, he captures the fear of the era during which the film was produced and puts things into perspective. Each film’s original trailer is also included.