Children of the Damned

Children of the Damned Directed by Anton Leader. Screenplay by John Briley based on a conversation overheard in an elevator about the Very Good Movie, Village of the Damned, or something similar.

Hmmm. Did that title seem a little prejudicial? Good. This movie is one I use to illustrate a basic Hollywood failing with sequels.

The Plot Term used loosely.

There are six hyper intelligent ten year olds scattered all around the world. They are brought for study in London. They are creepy little kids. They have few emotions. They can make people who threaten them walk in front of a lorry. (That's a truck for us colonials.)

The children do nothing to allay the fears of the important men brought to examine them. They run and hide in a church. When the government comes to get them out, they use a hydrogen powered church organ as a sonic weapon. Finally, it is decided to blow them up to end their insidious evil. But Dr. Llewellin discovers they are not aliens, just mutant freaks who show us that humanity will evolve further down the path of unpleasantness, with psychic powers so we can be really rude to one another.

Well, since they are not aliens, it is decided not to destroy them, but an accident with the button causes the dynamite to go off, killing the children, and several members of the UN. The last scene is a little English hand clutching a little Asian hand. The end. Roll credits, ninety minutes too late.

I have not credited any of the actors in this movie, to protect them. I did list the Director, who should have known better, and the Screenwriter, who should have been given a job in the sewage treatment department. Vat scrubber second class. And he should have to use his toothbrush.

This movie was done to be a sequel to the 1960 classic, Village of the Damned. Village of the Damned played on our fears of communism. They are among us; they could be your very children! It is a great movie, vastly underappreciated.

This movie was written to be a response to the Cold War. I don't know about you, but I don't see how turning a church organ into a hydrogen powered sonic weapon has anything to do with nuclear disarmament. They movie spends most of its time showing how very dangerous and sociopathic the children are. Then it throws in some random scenes, like anchovies on a pizza, which suggest we are supposed to sympathize with the little mind-controlling monsters. Like anchovies, these scenes bleed over and flavor everything around them, making them unpalatable.

Further, (and here is where we address the Hollywood sequel failure) they took the very best elements of the first movie, the children's remarkable sameness, the freakish manner in which they were conceived, while the entire town lay comatose, and their steadfast refusal to explain anything, and threw it out the window. One child is English, with sandy/brownish hair. One child is Indian, one Nigerian, one Chinese, one Russian, and one American. Five boys, one girl. In Midwich, there was a balance of sexes. The English Child Paul may have been immaculately conceived, but we don't know. All we have is his slag mother's word. It ruins all continuity between the first and second movie.

And the horror does not stop there. There are such gaping holes in the movie based on its own merits, much less how it insults the original. When the children turn the organ into a weapon, it kills scores of military men, or drives them mad. But the good doctor raps his scarf around his head, and he's fine! Who knew a bit of woolen was the cure for sonic weapons? Doors also protect Aunt Susan, but a tank does not protect its occupants. Worst of all, they shoot one child, Rashid. They refer to his death in trying to convince the children to surrender themselves. But at the end, Rashid is standing with his friends, no reason, no explanation, not even an implausible one. He just got better.

Then, they kill the children the exact same way they killed the Midford Cuckoos. I mean, that is not a sequel; that's boring! They manage to kill that damn shark in Jaws a different way each movie. Couldn't they come up with something better?

The only thing I can say in this movies defense is that it is well acted. It's direction sucks like a black hole; but all the little actors gave exactly what was asked of them, and they did it well. The musical score is also passable, and helps build what little mood the movie manages.

Do I recommend this movie? Oh yes. It should be required viewing in every film class to show the directors of tomorrow that any idea, no matter how brilliant, can be ruined if you *&(*&) with it too much. But if you are going to get the two pack, go ahead. The compare and contrast makes for a great lesson in critical thinking.