Village of the Damned

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Paul C I first watched this film - about identical alien children born to women in an English village - when I was around ten years old, and it had little effect on me. On repeat reviewing, I found it incredibly unnerving; the staring eyes of the children, the creepy setting in black and white.............There are no 'jump-scares', just the uneasy feeling that enters your head and stays there; so much so that I would be reluctant to watch it again now. Unusually for a literary adaptation (it it based on Wyndham's 'The Midwich Cuckoos'), it's far more effective than the book, which lacks tension, and has little build-up towards the end. The atmosphere of the film, made all the more scary for its setting in sleepy rural England, builds to a chilling and very effective climax. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/27/25 Full Review Wayne K Scary children have been a staple of horror media for decades, and I think Village Of The Damned probably has a lot to do with that. What starts as an inexplicable mystery gradually morphs into a sinister plot and, while the endgame is unclear, the fact that the children are so willing and able to carry it out is what makes it so unnerving. The performances of the children, the fact that most of them say nothing, they all dress alike and stand in weird formation makes for some great visuals. If it was made in American, a film like this would likely have been a reflection of the Cold War, with the children serving as stand-ins for the communists they so deeply feared were living among them. But since its a British film, I surmise it was about the fear of extraterrestrials, a fact the film even alludes to once or twice. It’s a story that conspiracy theorists would tout as example of ‘others’ living among us; Lizard people probably. You can look it in those terms, or just take it as a creepy mystery where a village is overtaken by an outside force and torn apart as a result. However you look at it, VOTD is a tight, well-constructed horror thriller that accentuates the fear by placing it in the hands of those we often deem most innocent. If that sounds like something you’d enjoy, I highly recommend giving it a watch. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/19/24 Full Review Blu B A Horror Sci-Fi Classic that's all around really well made. Filled with mood, sharp camerawork, lots of underlying commentary, and doesn't feel too short either. Really the only issues are how did Sanders at the end know how to make a bomb and where did he get it from is a farfetched. Also, while David, Sanders, and the kids in general are super memorable, everyone else while still well acted and super smart sort of just blend in. It does jump around a bit also in the middle individually but we always learn something new and disturbing. It would've been better if it had been like The Thing where there is a lot of characters but majority of the time share the same scene together. This doesn't have that. The kids are amazing villians and are super disturbing and chilling with such a simple effect also. It's really smart and sharp overall. Anyone who is a fan of horror, Sci-Fi, or any actors in this will like this a lot. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 12/07/23 Full Review Mike P Effective chiller about a gang of mysterious blonde children; all born on the same day; who seemingly have supernatural powers; who proceed to terrorize and take over their hometown of Midwhich, England. A resistance to this tyranny grows; led by one child's father; the town professor Gordon Zellaby...With fascinating and terrifying results... The reason this classic sci-fi thriller is so effective is that the director, Rolf Willa, takes a slow-burn approach; letting the story unfold slowly; beat by beat. And that image of those little blonde children, (wearing wigs, black coats and suits, and all marching in complete unison), does get to be quite scarey after awhile. So do the images of all the demonoid children with glowing white eyes... (And that image from this movie has actually become iconic in the horror community...) And so is scarey the leader of the gang, David Zellaby, played by Martin Stephens; talking in his super creepy way...His voice is eerily dubbed by someone else...Which almost presciently predicts the Exorcist 10 years later... The story is also quite powerful but also simple...It stays within it's own internal logic pretty effectively; not straying too far on ridiculous tangents or going to overly-ridiculous extremes...Once it casts it's spell; once it sells you it's central premise... It doesn't require too much extra from the viewer in terms of straining credulity...Which also makes it all the more effective... (It reminds me of Rosemary's Baby that way...Sometimes simpler is better in stories like this...) Anyway...a horror masterwork from England in the early 60s... (Much better than John Carpenter's misguided remake)... This was a important touchstone in the whole evolution of the demon-child genre...And absolutely paved the way for later classics like The Exorcist and The Omen... VERDICT: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 11/15/23 Full Review Aldis H Unquestionably effective, especially for its time, but the exposition could often have been done without dialogue, and with much scarier scenes. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/07/23 Full Review loved this movie!!!!!! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Village of the Damned

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