22) Village of the Damned (1960)

(5 's out of 5)

"I must think of a brick wall." 

Director
Wolf Rilla

Cast
George Sanders - Gordon Zellaby
Barbara Shelley - Anthea Zellaby
Martin Stephens - David 
Michael Gwynn - Alan Bernard
Laurence Naismith - Dr. Willers
Richard Warner - Mr. Harrington
Jenny Laird - Mrs. Harrington
Sarah Long - Evelyn Harrington
Thomas Heathcote - James Pawle

When it comes to the alien invasion, "they walk among us" kind of sci-fi movies, "Village of the Damned," based on John Wyndham's novel, "The Midwich Cuckoos" nails the sub-genre. I have to say, the title "Village of the Damned" is certainly more ominous than "The Midwich Cuckoos." 

In this movie, the entire population Midwich, a small British town, suddenly pass out. It's not just the people who fall unconscious. All the animals do, too.

Any living thing that crosses a certain perimeter around Midwich will also "wink out" as the characters put it. 

Prof. Gordon Zellaby (George Sanders) is on the phone with his brother, Alan Bernard (Michael Gwynn) as when he and his wife Anthea (Barbara Shelley) pass out. 

The military are called in and set up a barrier around the town as Alan goes to check in on his brother, though he's stopped at the military barricade. 

After several hours, the residents and animals begin to awaken. The phenomenon goes unexplained.

A few months go by when the village's next major surprise suddenly occurs. All women of child-bearing age are mysteriously pregnant. 

Of course, as expected, some serious accusations fly around about these poor women. This includes Anthea who's also pregnant to the shock of her husband. 

The local M.D., Dr. Willers (Laurence Naismith), deduces that all the women became pregnant on the same day when everyone fainted. 

Quickly. all speculation of adultery and premarital sex change to something more preternatural as the cause of all this. The unborn children develop at a quicker rate than normal babies still in the womb. 
All the women give birth on the same day to children who all look alike. The cause is definitely something otherworldly.  

As the children grow up at a fast rate, they maintain their similar appearances and also demonstrate their power of psychokinesis by making people bend to their will. They also communicate with each other through their telepathic powers regardless of distance. 

They speak in an adult-like manner. They also communicate with themselves through mental telepathy and always walk in groups.

Gordan and Anthea's son, David (Martin Stephens) seems to be the leader of these children.  

Whatever extra-terrestrial species these children are, Midwich isn't the only town becoming inhabited by them. This occurrence is also happening in other parts of the world. 

Gordon begins teaching these kids, which the kids permit him to do. He uses this time to learn about these weird kids, what their intentions are and where they come from. 

Alan also catches on to what the kids are up to, but they warn him to leave them alone and let them carry out their plan for domination. 

He and the other Midwich residents find themselves at the mercy of these telepathic alien children, and it seems there's little they can do about it. After they show their true colors after causing some residents to do themselves in, Gordon secretly devises a plan to destroy all these children as he's the only person in Midwich to have access to all of them, all at once. The only thing he needs to do is concentrate on the image of a brick wall should the kids start suspecting him of something and try reading his mind if they become suspicious. Of course, Gordon doesn't tell anyone, not even his wife, what his plans are. 

I can't help but notice a parallel between this movie, and Pink Floyd's song, "Another Brick in the Wall." I guess it's the teacher, Gordon, as he's up against the oddball students. And there's David telling Alan to leave them alone so they can work out their plans, and the alien kids being intelligent enough to not need Gordon's education, and the whole thing with the brick wall and the thought control is what brings the song to mind. It's only speculation. 

This movie doesn't play with its audience. It cuts right to the thrill and suspense. The suspense and trepidation are solid and substantial with no excess. 

It has a dominant intellectual tone that certainly doesn't get in the way of the real trepidation of the movie. The unsettling tone, which intensifies naturally, is superb. 
There's nothing in this movie that distracts from the story. It begins at the start of the inexplainable turmoil that causes all living things, people included, in the town of Midwich to pass out.

What makes this movie bold enough to push the bar is the use of children, albeit aliens in disguise, as entities to be destroyed. 

"Village of the Damned" raises itself above shlocky sci-fi B-movies of the era with a sense of intellectualism and science fiction prowess. Even for a movie that's 65-years old, it still is just as nightmarish and menacing as it must have been when audiences first gazed at it in theaters back in 1960. 

George Sanders as Gordon Zellaby in "Village of the Damned."

It has a fantastic cast of British actors who portray their respective characters as realistically as possible when facing such an insane plot as this gives audiences disturbing thoughts about what they would do in a situation like this. There's something about children as antagonists that give stories, especially horror, thriller, or science fiction stories, an edge unlike any other trope or plot device. With David and the other children in "Village of the Damned," they're calm and unsympathetic which adds so much to the building apprehension. 

The villagers grow more and more frightened and unsure, while the children watch emotionless yet threateningly. 

The movie often shoots at the children's eye level, and also uses awkward angles and close-ups of the villagers' faces for that extra sense of uneasiness. Eyes are the gateway to the souls and have power to convey the owner's emotions onto others. This movie utilizes that fact as brilliantly as it can. I've seen this device used in other movies. The 2004 horror movie, "The Grudge" comes to mind, though that movie uses fear as seen through characters eyes much more subtly. 

This movie is pure lightening in a bottle. It's restrained but still manages to be completely unsettling and stirring with an increasing feeling that things are going out of control. Perhaps some effects, primarily the split screen used to create the children's glowing eyes that occurs when they gain mental control over their victims and mentally tell them what to do, haven't aged well. But that's not the movie's fault. It has still made a lasting impression, iconic, on audiences.

The movie spawned a sequel in 1964 called, "Children of the Damned" which didn't get quite the praise and acclaim this first movie did. 

John Carpenter also made his own remake in 1995 with the same title. It stars Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley and Mark Hamill. 

"Village of the Damned" is a solid movie where nothing is wasted. It's a story that encourages the mind to pick it apart and stokes tension in the audience as soon as it begins. The child actors are keen at not smiling or laughing or breaking character. They play their menacing characters, superior to humans, brilliantly. I think that superiority is subtly played out as the children always seem to turn their faces away from the human characters when they're talking. 

The weight of the movie's success is really on them. And they pull it off effortlessly. This movie deserves a place among the top sci-fi invasive alien thriller movies ever made.