Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Scott LeBrun "Children of the Damned" is a reasonably entertaining follow-up, rather than sequel, to the 1960 classic "Village of the Damned". It explains its core idea, of a collective of aloof, powerful children, as being something *other* than the product of alien insemination. These kids - six in all - are born to mothers around the globe, without the need for conventional procreation. Officials such as Dr. Tom Llewellyn (Ian Hendry) and Dr. David Neville (Alan Badel) bring the children together for study, only for the kids to break free and hole up inside an abandoned building. They bring along a concerned adult (Barbara Ferris), and are able to build something quite remarkable. Soon, it is determined that these children may pose a serious threat to mankind, due to their superior intellect.Knowing some of the back story, and how this was intended to be a more ambitious examination of mankind and its relationship to its saviours, does give it some substance. Originally, there was a speech by the principal child, Paul (Clive Powell), whereupon he realizes what purpose he and his peers are here to fulfill. With it removed from the picture, the finale just doesn't carry the same weight, although we are still filled with a deep sense of regret. The screenplay by John Briley does a devastating job at showing how differences in thinking and methodology can lessen the chances for education and enlightenment.Once you get over the fact that this is a different variety of sci-fi, with less accent on horror elements, from "Village of the Damned", this does start to look better. If you compare them too much, this is naturally going to come as a letdown to some folk. It's still somewhat sad and scary, just in a different sort of way.The acting is solid from the adults - also including Alfred Burke, Sheila Allen, Patrick Wymark, Harold Goldblatt, and Bessie Love - and just right by the blank-faced children. Powell and the others do a capable job of barely showing any emotion, right up until the end.It's slowly paced, and low key, but it does have its rewards for patient viewers.Seven out of 10.

Hitchcoc This turns the intent of the original around and makes the children victims and the humans the bad folks (at least the government and the military). In science fiction, those who have moved way beyond us in evolutionary development are seen as threats, pure and simple. It has been used in stories where we automatically assume and advanced alien arrival means bombs will soon be dropped. Kill them before they kill us. This is understandable, but it gets in the way of our moving our own world along. Here, the blond haired, spooky eyed children (who aren't children in the conventional sense) make an appearance and are destined to meet. They have been conceived in non-traditional ways and have parents who don't have a clue. Eventually, moral people see what is going on, but must butt heads with the larger culture and the "protective" forces. This is nearly as disturbing as the original. However, other than the appearances of the children and how they came to be, this is an independent film and has no connection with its predecessor.

Robert Thompson (justbob1982) Version I saw: UK DVD box set release Actors: 6/10Plot/script: 6/10Photography/visual style: 6/10Music/score: 6/10Overall: 7/10Children of the Damned is widely known as a not very good sequel to 1960's Village of the Damned. I found that it had definite problems, and was generally weaker than the original, but it seems to me to be a perfectly good film in its own right.It's not a conventional sequel either. While close enough that it might reasonably be accused of plagiarism if it did not credit the original (and the John Wyndham book upon which it is based), the two share no characters, and have different directors and writers. In addition, the plot of Children makes no reference whatsoever to the events of Village, and in fact, the miraculous powers of the mysterious, eerie children obey different rules too. Children of the Damned is not even based directly on a book at all: Wyndham's 'The Midwich Cuckoos' has no sequel. In almost every respect, they are effectively completely separate tales.The directing is pedestrian and, while the script has some good lines and commendable pacing, its Cold War paranoia theme had been done before and better in the likes of The Day the Earth Stood Still and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It also exhibits some uncertainty as to its genre, beginning as a buddy detective (weak) comedy, then edging into spy thriller, before the sci-fi/supernatural elements take over. While this is not necessarily a disaster (witness From Dusk Till Dawn's exuberant mish-mash of genres), it does not bode well.The acting is possibly the biggest problem. As I have said, the two main characters at the start interact like buddy detectives, but their banter is not very funny, for a start. More significantly, the cut-glass 'received pronunciation' English accents common in film and TV at the time were OK for Village's wealthy rural setting, but seem incongruous for inner-city London.Finally, while it is disguised by a new plot device of making the children almost mute, they are evidently less well-drilled, losing the most eerie qualities of the wonderfully atmospheric Village of the Damned.Finally, I was very disappointed by one detail that underlies the story. The children initially inspire fear and suspicion because of their uncanny intelligence, and the implication seems to be that they are right in this. Intelligence is the best of things, not the worst, and I frown upon anything that portrays it so blatantly as dangerous and scary.

brefane Though Children of the Damned does bear some thematic similarities to 1960's Village of the Damned, it's not a sequel, but a confused allegory that is not only tedious and talky, but ultimately without point or purpose. The children of the title are ill-defined and ultimately uninteresting. Handsomely mounted, Children of the Damned is one of those films like Night of Dark Shadows(1971)where you sit and wait for something to happen. Village of the Damned was a minor classic;compact, chilling and clever, and it hooked you from the start. Even if you haven't seen Village of the Damned, Children of the Damned is bound to be a disappointment.