The 1st movie is based on the 1957 sci-fi novel "The Midwich Cuckoos" by John Wyndham... and it is a very good adaption! The 2nd movie is a written for the screen follow-up... not nearly as good as the 1st but still eerie with those creepy kids, and although we didn't really 'get it' at first, after listening to the commentary by the screenwriter of the movie, it all made sense. So it's great that this release includes that commentary, it is not only interesting but if like us were too young to remember the time of The Cuban Missile Crisis etc, the commentary is illuminating.
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Village of the Dammed I put up there with the original " Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in it's unsettling and riveting tone. Both demonstrated an insidious infiltration of our society without an outside invasion with physical beings in flying saucers. This concept added to a more chilling effect,I thought. Always felt what added to the eeriness of these movies also was that they were in B & W, which added greatly to the realism effect. These movies still hold up today in their impact. Children of the Dammed didn't measure up to the Village of the Dammed but is a watchable sequel.
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Hi, I like the older classic horror movies but when you grow up adults don't look at things like children. If it was for George Sanders in the Village of the Damn the dialogue on both these movies would be wasted with the English injecting their king and queen humor with idioms that no one understands. Children of the Damn was worse with the English remarks and the children were not that all interesting for shock value. Old boy lets get some crumpets and tea before the children kill us. thank you, Larry Brandolino
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A cool double-feature DVD from Warner Home Video. VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED: As with INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956) before it, 1960's VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is a cold-war allegory that uses extraterrestrial infiltration to represent Western fears of Communist invasion. Even so, this flick is still one of the best SF thrillers ever made, and it has become one of the SF cinema classics. When a group of albino children born under mysterious circumstances begin to demonstrate superhuman mental prowess, they come to be viewed by their community and the military as a threat to the survival of mankind. Though faithful to the novel on which it is based--THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS by British SF author John Wyndham--the film is in many ways more frightening, mainly due to simple but effective special FX and outstanding performances from adult leads George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, and Michael Gwynn and from child actor Martin Stephens. Indeed, the unusually reserved and sympathetic performance from Sanders--well known in England at the time for his over-the-top portrayals of villains or cynical antiheroes--makes the film's climax extremely dramatic and affecting. Avoid John Carpenter's far inferior 1995 remake and watch this one instead. CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED: 1963's CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED was originally marketed and is still often regarded today as the sequel to the 1960 classic VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. However, the second film's script diverges so drastically from the characters and premise of the first that it is not, in actuality, a continuation of or branch-off from the same narrative. Super-intelligent (maybe supernatural?) children are the only common story element. While cold-war issues are still addressed, sympathies are ultimately directed towards the children rather than the adults or society at large, reflecting the burgeoning shift from conservatism to liberalism that was then occurring in the West (and especially the United States) at the time. A decent SF film in its own right, CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED just isn't as cinematically effective nor as dramatically memorable as its purported progenitor VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. In truth, its greatest merit is the fact that it marks the first solo scriptwriting credit for John Briley, who would later go on to win an Oscar for scripting 1982's GANDHI. The double-feature DVD from Warner Home Video is well worth the price of admission. Not only does it offer anamorphic widescreen versions of both films, each film also includes its respective trailer and a feature commentary (John Briley does the commentary for the film he scripted). Definitely a five-star disc that SF and Horror fans will want to have in their collections.Read full review
it came fast and the quality is great!
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