Children of the Damned

When You consider starting Your Review with... "Well... It COULD have been worse!" You know You are in trouble!

Obviously, the owners of the TITLE rights, wanted to cash in... And made a "SEQUEL" that really bares extremely little resemblance to the original film!

Sadly, as was more often than not the case with movies from the 60s and 70s, when a sequel was made, the results were almost always woefully inferior to the original! Sorry to say that CHILDREN is no exception! Absolutely every PLOT development is utterly and excruciatingly predictable! Production values range from barely passable to simply awful. Acting is either very flat or way over the top!

To be honest... I really wanted to like CHILDREN... But despite really making an effort to do so... I debated giving it 3***... But ultimately decided to be a tad generous ...and ended up bestowing it with 4****. IMDb says that LESS than 9% of viewers rated it 9 or 10 Stars... So, apparently, most people tended to agree with me pretty much!

Children of the Damned is not so much a sequel to Village of the Damned as a supplement to it. This time it's children in the heart of London who are displaying terrifying powers. Instead of personalising the story as in the first film, this time screenwriter John Briley enlarges the scope to encompass some philosophical questions: what right does man have to interfere with evolution? Who's more scared, the adults or the children?

And of course, nature vs. nurture? Highly recommended, Children of the Damned is a fine example of British science fiction filmmaking, as good as Five Million Years to Earth.

Six children from six different nations, each gifted with superior intellects and telekinetic powers, are tested by scientists keen to discover the limits of their capabilities. Inevitably, the children come to the attention of shady government types who wish to exploit the children for the purposes of national security, or failing that, destroy them. In fear, the children join forces and take refuge in a derelict church, where they are forced to strike back at those who might wish to do them harm.

Children of the Damned is generally considered to be a sequel to the excellent Village of the Damned; however, when viewed like this, glaring anomalies prevent it from being a fully satisfying experience. Children of the Damned is therefore best viewed as a standalone project; seen in this way, the film is more than worthy of any sci-fi/horror fan's time—an intelligent, thought-provoking piece that raises religious, ethical and philosophical debates and which, depending on how the somewhat ambiguous ending is interpreted, also delivers a prophetic warning: unless humans can overcome their innate distrust and fear of that which they do not understand, there can be no hope of survival for mankind.

Opinion about which of the 'of the Damned' films is better is seriously divided, but given the choice, I would always go for the freaky, blonde-haired and undeniably malevolent mutants of 'Village' over the normal looking, multi-cultural, and possibly benevolent saviours of mankind from 'Children'. Guess that's just how I roll...

When a film is a success, it is almost inevitable there will be a sequel to it. The classic 1960 sci-fi film Village Of The Damned is no exception to that rule and 1964's Children Of the Damned would be that sequel. While any sequel to Village Of The Damned would have big shoes to feel, this film doesn't quite live to the standards set by the original film. In fact, it is easy to say that Children Of The Damned is very much a sequel in name only that, contradictorily, requires knowledge of the original film for it to make sense as well as being a terribly dated Cold War parable.

The film certainly has a respectable cast. Ian Hendry and Alan Badel play Tom Llewellyn and David Neville, who both give believable performances as the two scientists who uncover the children and their powers. Barbara Ferris plays the aunt of one of the children who ends up becoming a spokesperson for the children while under their control. Alfred Burke gives perhaps the film's best performance as British government agent Colin Webster whose involvement only makes the situation worse as the film goes on. Together they are a cast that is more then a match for that in the original film.

One of the film's problems though is in its title characters: the children. Due to whatever reason, gone are the seemingly normal yet otherworldly and menacing children of the original. These children are the exact opposite. They are utterly normal children from five places around the world who lack any of the otherworldly feeling or menace of the original children. Even the special effect used on the eyes when the children are using their powers isn't really used and, when it is, it just doesn't look stand up to the effect used in the original film. The result is that perhaps one, single essential element of the film that needed to work just doesn't work.

The production values of the film are excellent. In particular the stark black and white cinematography of Davis Boulton gives the film a strong sense of atmosphere and menace throughout which helps the film immensely. The production design of Elliot Scott give the film the same feeling as the cinematography, especially in the form of the destitute church the children come to occupy for much of the film. One element that improves in this film is the score by composer Ron Goodwin that, after a rather mixed result in the original film, is never out of place and put to good use throughout. The success of the production values helps the film out immensely.

Along with the children, the script is another essential element that ends up having a rather mixed result. If anything, the script presents this film as a rather confused sequel to say the least. The script seems to require that the viewer have seen the original film to understand all the events taking place. Yet the film seems to spend most of its time wanting to distance itself as far as possible from the original film. The result is a confusing mix: the plot and events make little sense without having seen the original film but the story might as well be anything but a sequel. It also doesn't help that the film, by the admission of screenwriter John Briley, was more or less meant to be more of a Cold War parable. The children can be viewed as scientists around the world who the major Cold War powers (represented by the government officials in the film) want to put to use building ever more powerful weapons of mass destruction. While this would be a good idea to have explored somewhere else, this film doesn't really seem to be either the place to do it or even do it well. If anything the script seems to be drowning in good ideas (such as the revelations that come out in the films last few minutes) that are never put to good use. Also the Cold War parable gives this film something the original doesn't have: a terribly dated feel to it. The result is that the script is a rather mixed affair.

Children Of The Damned, even when viewed on its own and not as a sequel, is a rather mixed affair. Despite a fine main cast and excellent production values, the film's supporting cast (the children) and its script both are rather mixed in their results. When viewed as a sequel however, the film comes across as a rather confused sequel that requires knowledge of the original film for it to make sense as well as being a terribly dated Cold War parable to the point of becoming a sequel in name only. All this means that, while a decent film, it never quite works either as a sequel or as an original film either and is a bit of a letdown overall.

Although it is often referred to as a sequel to "Village of the Damned", the plot differs in enough ways to make the claim seriously questionable. No mention is made of the events in the first film. The only real similarity is that the story concerns six children who are perceived as a threat to mankind because they possess strange telepathic and mind-control powers.

Unlike the first film, however, the children are of different nationalities (not identical blonds, as the children in the first film) and they do not mature at an accelerated rate.

It's as if the basic premise (six superintelligent kids who are a threat to mankind) was reworked into a new story. The children are explained as being "quantum leaps in evolution" (not alien offspring, as in the first film). And yet the story never clarifies why they were all born at approximately the same time in different parts of the world (coincidence?). When one sympathetic government agent asks the children, "Why are you here?", the children reply "We don't know."

A line of dialogue by a major character, stating that the children are here to help mankind, was later edited from the film. Too bad.

Mankind, rather than the kids, are portrayed as the bad guys. Despite some confusion over these basic plot elements, director Anton M. Leader does deliver a clear message concerning the hate, fear, and intolerance which society feels towards anyone who doesn't "fit in", as well as the greed for power which nations feel in their efforts to gain dominance over each other.