You know how it goes this time of the year, so I'm really trying my hardest to get into the season, so I thought I'd throw an early present at you, because, really, nothing says Peace, Love & the Holidays like freakin' out of control kids, and the kids in
"Village Of The Damned" are about as out of control as you can get!
The very rico suave George Sanders is Gordon Zellaby to perfection! Nice pad!! I'm jealous!!
But I'm a lot more jealous of your 27 years younger than you, wife, the knockout Barbara Shelley as Anthea Zellaby! You go George!!!
It's a proud moment, George is going to be a father!!!
Then they find out that every female in the village of impregnatable age is in a motherly way, and not every couple in the village is dealing with it so good!!
Enter David Zellaby portrayed by Martin Stephens, supposedly the most famous child actor in England in the 50's & 60's! Martin got tired of acting and became an architect!!!
Here you got your classic "the locals" versus "the blondie outsiders!" Take another look, and see if you think "the locals" stand even half a chance! Stupid kids!!
Oh, Yeah, the local kids' Dads are a lot smarter than their kids!! Since they've got nothing else to do but get snockered at the local pub all day, they decide to take it into their own hands like the mob in "Frankenstein!" Not real smart!!
At this point, it's time to start thinking about how we can just all get along!! Hey, David, little buddy, it's cool, we were just joking, really!!!
George focuses on the brick wall so his real thoughts won't be known, as he prepares his mind for the ultimate sacrifice in order to save all of mankind!
I have to admit the music in this movie is very weak, and almost non-existent for a good deal of the film, and there's not really even a theme to speak of, but just as they saved the world from these brats, they saved the movie for us music lovers by having a very cool, albeit very short, ending sequence. It had to be short, after all, they blew them to kingdom come, so there wasn't a whole lot left to talk about!!
The ironic thing, is that the composer of the music for this film, Ron Goodwin is, or was, one of the swingingest guy we've had the pleasure to write about here. A child prodigy, who had his own swing band when he was a teenager, called "The Woodchoppers," Mr. Goodwin was one amazing cat!! Working all genres from swing to easy listening, he composed music for a little under 100 films, and he also released this classic outer space LP "Music In Orbit" or as it was known in the UK, "Out Of This World" produced by none other than George Martin in 1958!
Ron started off as a pianist, then switched to trumpet, and when he wasn't doing anything else, he was being used as a background singer!!! Go search him on imdb.com, it'll only take you about 30 minutes to read his bio! Wow!!!
I liked this movie when I first saw it, and it totally sucked me in again when I viewed it recently! So, spread the cheer, and get together and watch it with some friends!!
Yes, you lucky souls, in it's current release, "Children Of The Damned" and "Village Of The Damned" are paired up as an absolutely terrific double feature, so now, you can rent or buy it and make a weekend of it!!! Once again written by John Wyndham with music by Ron Goodwin, "Children Of The Damned" is arguably as good, or maybe even better in some people's eyes, as it's predecessor, "Village Of The Damned!" For me, the first movie is a more cerebral, but this one is a lot more grisly and graphic! 
Ron seemed to get a chance to stretch out a bit more on this flick, but he still never was given a chance to swing out like he did in "Day Of The Triffids" or like you know he can, just the same, this is some very spacey and moody music, that accompanies this film quite rightly!!
Ian Hendry as Col Tom Llewellyn and Barbara Ferris as Susan Eliot both have some serious issues in this movie. He really thinks the kids are allright, but she becomes completely under their control, and even serves as their mouthpiece for a lot of the film!!
These are the three main protagonists in this flick, Alan Badel as Dr. David Neville, you've already been introduced to Ian in the middle, and Alfred Burke as Colin Webster! They've got their work cut out for them!!! 
Pretty grisly, yeah, that dude really shouldn't have shot their dog, that was really extraordinarily stupid!!!
Taking the concept of 'the dirty look' combined with 'if looks could kill' and you've got some real trouble on your hands!!
The real basic notion is that kids learn a lot faster than adults!!! A Lot Faster!!! The kids rig up the organ in the church to blast out the adults eardrums and brains, too bad they didn't have some Hendrix!!
Ian Hendry was lookin' like a cross between Chevy Chase and George Bush, and although he was married to Janet Munro for like 8 years, he really got dealt some bad cards in life. He originally had the top billing in "The Avengers" over Patrick Macnee, but left TV for the movies after one season. He worked on a ton of British films and TV over the years, mostly in cop roles, but never did much other horror. Sadly, Ian Hendry died of internal bleeding on Christmas Eve in 1984 at only 53 years old!
So, all the ambassadors from all the different countries want their own kids back; they don't have a clue that the children aren't really theirs, and that they are of one collective mind. Lots of politics going on here!
This is a very good movie, and it's hard to fault it, but I really liked the blonde brats versus this multi-cultural mix, they were a lot creepier!!!
John Wyndham seemed to have a penchant for explosive endings!! I really like the fact that in both of these movies, he never explains where the kids came from, or what they actually have planned! It's just all understood!!! Your mind fills in the blanks!!!
