Children of the Damned (1964)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Anton Leader

Writers:

John Briley (writer) and
John Wyndham (novel)

Release Date:

29 January 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

So young, so innocent, so deadly - they came to conquer the world!

Plot:

Scientists discovers that there are six children who each have an enormous intelligence. The children are flown to London to be studied...

Plot Keywords:

Children | Church | Embassy | Scientist | Intelligence

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Ian Hendry	...	Col Tom Llewellyn
Alan Badel	...	Dr. David Neville
Barbara Ferris	...	Susan Eliot
Alfred Burke	...	Colin Webster
Sheila Allen	...	Diana Looran
Ralph Michael	...	Defense Minister
Patrick Wymark	...	Commander
Martin Miller	...	Prof. Gruber
Harold Goldblatt	...	Harib
Patrick White	...	Mr. Davidson
André Mikhelson	...	Russian official
Bessie Love	...	Mrs. Robbins, Mark's Grandmother
Clive Powell	...	Paul
Yoke-Moon Lee	...	Mi Ling
Roberta Rex	...	Nina

Also Known As:

Horror! (USA)
The Children (UK) (working title)
The Children Return (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Unrated (video release) | UK:12 (re-rating) (2006) | UK:X (original rating) | Norway:16 (1964) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Bermondsey, London, England, UK

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fantastic Fantasy Fright-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Slightly better then the first one

Title: Children of the Damned (1963) Director: Anton Leader Cast: Clive Powell, Barbara Ferris, Ian Hendry, Alan Badel Review: Having seen the first film (Village of the Damned) and loved its eerie ideas of children with powerful psychic powers taking over the world I looked upon the opportunity to see its sequel Children of the Damned with great anticipation. Would it be just as good as its predecessor? The story is about these very intelligent kids with psychic powers that start to sprout all over the world. Women start giving birth to these kids all over the planet, sometimes women who have never been with a man or women that aren't married. So as would be natural in a situation such as this, the government starts to take notice of these kids and sees in them military intelligence potential. So, each country tries to grab a hold of their special child and of course they have plans to exploit these kids in the military endeavors. Unfortunately for the governments of the world, the kids are not up for it.

This is a flick from the early 60's, and at that time creature features where very popular (Dracula, Frankenstein, Giant Spiders, Giant everythings) so when a series like this one shows up where its got no special effects, no monsters, no men in suits destroying the city...well you kind of get to wondering, will it hold interest? It is a horror film and people expect to get spooked...but no monsters or effects? Yes, thats right, the creatures in this film are just kids and believe me thats enough. I thought it was great how this series of films managed to be so good without the monsters and effects. Its just a good chilling story, with a good premise and great performances.

The first one was about presenting us the kids. Suddenly there they where amongst the town of Midwich in London. There they were using their powers on people and there they were killing whoever got in their way. But that first movie never answered any questions. It just asked them. Who where these kids and what did they want? And thats where this sequel comes in.

For a moment there while I was watching it I thought the answers where never going to come and that the filmmakers where going to continue toying with the audience and keep us in the dark about the kids purpose, but low and behold, this sequel actually gives us some insight on why the kids are here.

There's a lot of great moments on this film that shouldn't be missed, for example when the kids lock themselves up inside of a spooky old church and barricade themselves in it. I loved that weapon that they created with the giant old piano in the church! That has to be one of the coolest and most original things I've ever seen on any movie! Awesome moment.

The last 20 minutes of the film are really gripping and tense so I suggest that you stay all the way to the end and not give up on this film. The filmmakers really came up with an interesting situation that turns red hot in the suspense o meter with the kids facing off with the military. I know its an old movie, and I know its not as fast paced as todays films, but dammit, this is a gripping, intense and suspenseful tale. Screw special effects! This is a good story! The only thing I didn't like was that I thought the look of the children on the first one was spookier. I liked the fact that they all had blond hair. The looked like drones or clones of some sort. The big distinction with the sequel is that the kids are all from different nationalities and are all different looking. One is Indian, one is African, one is Chinese and so forth. I just thought it would have been creepier if they were all from different parts of the world yet looked the same. Still its no big deal because the children are just as scary once you get into the movie.

Anyhows, I highly recommend this great sequel if your into good story and suspense in your films (even if they are in black and white and old) well then your in for a treat.

Rating: 5 out of 5