Village of the Damned (1960)

Village of the Damned

Rating: 4.5/5

Premise:

From IMDB:
In the English village of Midwich, the blond-haired, glowing-eyed children of uncertain paternity prove to have frightening powers.

Review:

Well, I couldn’t resist, I watched the original.

Now that’s more like it! Proper suspense, ever since the reaction to the blackout. There really didn’t seem to be much in the remake, everyone just moved on with their lives. In this original version people actually seemed baffled, wanted to know what had happened and were frightened of the possible outcome.

Everything in general made more sense. And the fact that the movie took place in England was a lovely bonus. Everyone was so polite and efficient!

There was concern with press from the beginning, which made perfect sense.
The scene where Gordon receives the news of his wife’s pregnancy was so well put together. Witty and intriguing at the same time.
The women were actually scared during their pregnancy because they could not account for it and started wondering about what exactly was growing inside them. They didn’t just go around their merry lives as if nothing had happened as they did in the remake.

There are so many examples of little things that made me thrilled…
The rapid growth of the fetuses.
The dog’s reaction to the baby.
The trick with the box.
The fact that there were other children in Midwich and that they were the first targets, not the adults.

Most of all, there was progression of plot and events.
The children’s powers were not immediately discovered. Adults did not just stand by and watch. Occurrences were taken into consideration, decisions made. They played an active part in the development of circumstances. And what a development.

The only thing I did not like as much as in the remake was that they would talk amongst each other. As a hive mind, that should be unnecessary.

At first I wasn’t sure what to make of their thoughtfulness towards the women in the shop and their maintaining dialogues with humans, such as David with his mother. But the fact is it made them seem interested in knowing humans and their intentions, unlike the very smart zombies in the remake. They actually wanted to learn from us, not just annihilate our species.

This movie was just incredibly thought out and executed. In light of it, the remake feels even less well put together. Almost as if a collection of individual scenes purposely made more gory than the original, just for the shock factor. No wonder it lacked cohesion.
The only thing I liked more there was the idea of a mate and the prospect of what a lack of one might to do such a creature.

There was very little I did not absolutely enjoy in this original version of Village of the Damned.
I never thought I would feel so excited about a movie made in 1960. I highly recommend it.