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ABOUT THE DVD: The film is presented in BLACK & WHITE and WIDESCREEN format (1.85:1 aspect ratio) and runs for 86 minutes - the AUDIO is the original ENGLISH language (there are also French and Italian dubbed soundtracks on the disc) - SUBTITLES are in English, French, Italian and Arabic
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Spike Owen
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Children Of The Damned is directed by Anton M. Leader and written by John Briley. It's a thematic sequel to Village Of The Damned from 1960 which was based on the novel written by John Wyndham. Plot finds 6 children identified by UNESCO to have special powers that if used in unison could have devastating consequences for mankind.
Interesting and atmospheric if ultimately lukewarm as a whole. Retreading the plot from the superior first film, it's amazing that this take actually has very little to do with the 1960 darling. Confused? Well you wont be watching this since it's very talky and the makers are intent on making us listen. Listen to some moral quandaries, Cold War politics and even a touch of existentialism. All nicely wrapped around 6 not very creepy kids who actually aren't very evil at all. The acting is fine, notably the taut turns from Ian Hendry and Alan Badel, while David Boulton's black & white photography carries a suitable bleakness to it.
Well made but all too often dull; where Briley's script isn't as clever as it wants to be, the film is mostly saved by some technical smarts and a boldly gloomy ending. 5/10
Children Of The Damned is directed by Anton M. Leader and written by John Briley. It's a thematic sequel to Village Of The Damned from 1960 which was based on the novel written by John Wyndham. Plot finds 6 children identified by UNESCO to have special powers that if used in unison could have devastating consequences for mankind.
Interesting and atmospheric if ultimately lukewarm as a whole. Retreading the plot from the superior first film, it's amazing that this take actually has very little to do with the 1960 darling. Confused? Well you wont be watching this since it's very talky and the makers are intent on making us listen. Listen to some moral quandaries, Cold War politics and even a touch of existentialism. All nicely wrapped around 6 not very creepy kids who actually aren't very evil at all. The acting is fine, notably the taut turns from Ian Hendry and Alan Badel, while David Boulton's black & white photography carries a suitable bleakness to it.
Well made but all too often dull; where Briley's script isn't as clever as it wants to be, the film is mostly saved by some technical smarts and a boldly gloomy ending. 5/10
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I like it because 'Children of the Damned' is sequel to the 1960 'Village of the Damned'. It is not as great as 'Village of the damned', but 'Children of the Damned' is good movie to watch.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.0 out of 5 stars
8 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
a decent movie in it's own right, but not really a sequel
17 Aug 2000
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
While many people seem to think this movie is a sequel to Village of the Damned, it really isn't. This fact should be clear to anyone who has seen both films. Children of the Damned is actually a completely different take on the same basic theme presented in Village of the Damned (kids with super brains and psychic powers wreaking havoc). There is no continuity between the two films. In Village of the Damned, women have alien children artificially implanted into their wombs. Children of the Damned creates the same problem by having children mysteriously born with a mutation that causes them to be a million years ahead of ordinary humans in the process of evolution. One should also notice that all the children in Village of the Damned were blond. This is not the case with Children of the Damned. This movie is well acted and suspenseful. It is a solid piece of early 60's black and white horror. In my opinion, it is not quite as good as Village of the Damned for two reasons, the first one being that the story is very vague about the cause of the children's existence and what is motivating them to terrorize people. The second reason is that this movie is simply not as creepy as Village of the Damned. All that having been said, It's still a great movie if you like old sci-fi and horror flicks, so definitely see it!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as good as Village of the Damned.
10 April 2001
By Calle
- Published on Amazon.com
I like both versions of Village of the Damned. The children are eerie and a little scary, so cold-blooded and cruel. The children in this movie, six children from different countries staying in an abandoned church in London, don't look as eerie and seem to be confused rather than evil. The small town in the first movie is also a more interesting environment than the big city in this sequel.
The acting is quite fair but the screenplay is far from as good as the one of the first movie. The cinematography is quite good, but this sequel should have been better, but it's not a bad movie, watch this if it is on TV but don't pay too much to see it. If you have seen neither of them, watch Village of the Damned, it's quite much better. I give this movie 6 points of 10. I wouldn't buy this movie.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Children: We Are Here For the Same Reason You Are
21 Oct 2003
By Martin Asiner
- Published on Amazon.com
There is the unfortunate but understandable tendency to judge the merits of THE CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED against its highly successful predecessor, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. In the latter, director Wolf Rilla created crackling suspense with the birth of a brood of telepathic blond children who are clearly the result of extraterrestrial intervention. Their mission was to create more of their own kind; hence the mutually antagonistic Darwinian confrontation between them and humanity. With the former, however, director Anton Leader shifts the focus from the why of the children to the how. Several times, a human scientist asks the children, "Why are you here?" Each time, the reply is noncommital. For the most part the children are eeriely silent, and it is only toward the end that they can verbalize, however imperfectly, their mission. Just before the inevitable bloodbath, the children's spokesboy Paul notes: "We are here for the same reason you are." This reply raises more questions than it answers since humanity is here only because as a species human beings have run roughshod over all competitors.
This film is not meant to be a sequel to the earlier VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED, despite the similar titles and storyline. CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED is a stand alone film that is typical of the British thrillers of the mid 1960's. The production is starkly filmed in harsh shades of black and white with an earnest cast that delivers considerable suspense, even if none of the actors is known to American viewers. Both films suggest that humanity is quite willing to meet all threats to its safety with a singlemindedess of purpose that is at least as fixed as any the children could produce.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
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