Cheap Village of the Damned (1960) (Video) (Wolf Rilla) Price

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Customer Reviews of Village of the Damned (1960)

Seminal British sci-fi thriller
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. <
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>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. <
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>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. <
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>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. <
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>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. <
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Village of the Damned ~ Wolf Rilla
I was lying and watching tcm one evening and this movie came on. I was skeptical since many horror movies have bad plots, no character development and terrible acting ability. This movie on the other hand had adequate ability in all three categories. This is a very messed up movie regarding the telecenetic powers of a group of blonde/blue eyed children living in England. Thier behavior is unsettling and how they act towards other is truly barbaric. It shows that there is more to being human then just intelect and that being human means showing empathy, compasion and love, something all these children lack judging from their actions. I like the fact that there is not much blood and the sparse special effects make it even more "realistic" and not silly or just plain stupid.

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Superb SF classic
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.