CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED

(vt Horror!)

   Film (1963). MGM. Dir Anton M. Leader, starring Ian Hendry, Alan Badel, Barbara Ferris, Bessie Love. Screenplay Jack Briley, based on The Midwich Cuckoos (1957) by John WYNDHAM. 90 mins. B/w.

   This UK film is not a sequel to the successful VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1960); it is a remake, though much more remotely based on Wyndham's novel. This time the setting is urban. Once again, children are born with mysterious powers. They are gathered in London for investigation from different parts of the world. Where in the first film the children were malevolent, here they are treated more sympathetically; they remain children despite their superhuman qualities, and their destruction is a consequence of human fear and ignorance, not any hostile actions of their own. Moody use is made of the shadowy, ruined church where much of the action takes place. Though low-key and made with almost too much UK restraint, COTD is sadder and more pungent than its predecessor in its story of (literal) alienation.

   JB/PN