Village of the Damned / Children of the Damned

Rating:
Summary: A Different Type Of Village People!
Review: Caught this flick by chance on TCM yesterday a.m. and watched it straight through (which was easy, considering it clocked in at a mere 77m). A truly creepy beginning leads to a disturbing middle which then leads to a shocking conclusion. All told a great sci-fi/horror flick without an ounce of blood (why horror? The scene where the kids will a guy to blow his head off with a shotgun is terrifying!). The eyes are creepy, the blonde wigs are creepy, heck, even the clothes the kids wear are creepy. A real great flick from the British school of cinema. Disturbing? You bet. But quite entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Classic British Science Fiction
Review: This original black and white version of Village of the Damned is one of my all-time favorites. It stands head and shoulders above most of the other entries from this era by avoiding the pitfalls the others fell into.
The film is unrelenting in its bleakness, and there is not one second of humor to relieve the tension that slowly builds to the film's climax. Yet it is subtle and unpretentious, and the performances are understated and convincing. I consider this to be among the finest appearances by George Sanders; say what you will about him a person, he was perfect for the part of the father in Village.
This film is uncompromised by sentimentality, and there are no punches pulled in any scene, least of all the climax. That being said, the director never stoops to resorting to gore or gratuitous violence, but prepare yourself for a very unsettling experience.
Village of the Damned is far superior to its sequel (as is almost always the case) as it is to most other films of the same genre and period. It is also much better than the remake with Christopher Reeve, although the newer film is better than I expected.
If you're looking for a feel-good, lighthearted film watching experience, look elsewhere. But if you love well-made classic science fiction, this is one to add to your collection.

Rating:
Summary: invasion of the aryan children from outer-space
Review: Truly this a classic of both science-fiction as well as horror.
Of course the horror is not the traditional bloodletting but rather psychological.It reads like a hitler youths takeover of a
typical english village "while everybody is asleep".these fatherless children all sport blond hair & blue eyes and definite
ideas about how things should run in the now quaranteed village.
They also seem to exhibit no distinct personnalities but more of a "group mind"(hence the fachism analogy)that has no problem crushing all dissidents , even their own parents.

On the technical side I have to again commend Warner for including it's sequel (children of the damned)on the disc , making it a great value.While the sequel suffers in comparison
to the original it's still worth seeing.
We as customers should support Warner & it's "double bill" DVD's
so that other companies might jump on the bandwaggon (so far only
MGM has released some interesting double bills)and increase the circulation of classic films on DVD.