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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"Village of the Damned" is a
'60s sci-fi classic steeped in paranoia and set in
England's Midwich. It seems that this picturesque
district was visited by aliens who secretly
impregnated the town's human women. Suddenly,
blonde-haired, clone-like boys and girls begin to
pop up all over the countryside. These
glowing-eyed humanoids have but one purpose -- to
use their intellectual superiority as mind-control
over the adults in order to conquer the world.
Top billed are George Sanders and Barbara Shelley
as Gordon and Anthea Zellaby. Gordon is first to
recognize that the town's children are not what
they seem. But will he be in time and possess a
strong enough will to stop this slow plague of
brainwashing?
The chilling screenplay by Stirling Siliphant
(based on the novel, "The Midwich Cuckoos") and
nimble direction by Wolf Rilla builds to a climax
of unsettling terror that even today should hold
audiences spellbound.
This classic film comes as a double feature with
its sequel, "Children of the Damned": Moving the
location from the countryside to a London school
for the gifted, a professor (Alan Badel) assembles
high I.Q. moppets from around the world for an
intellectual experiment that goes horribly awry.
The sequel has its merits but it lacks in the
visceral and unsettling terror associated with the
original.
In 1995 "Village of the Damned" was remade by
scare-master, John Carpenter with Kristie Alley
and Christopher Reeve -- but with decidedly
predictable and less than stellar rewards.
Warner's DVD is outstanding. The image is
remarkably clean, with a very solid and
beautifully rendered grayscale, deep blacks and
excellent contrast levels. Fine details are fully
realized. There is a total lack of edge effects
and other digital anomalies for an exceptionally
smooth visual presentation. The audio is mono but
with a considerable punch to it. For "Village of
the Damned" there is a thoughtful and thorough
audio commentary by author, Steve Haberman. On
"Children of the Damned" we get a fairly thorough
reading by the sequel's screenwriter, John Briley. |
