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Village of the Damned (1960)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
5/25
5/25:
If Adolf Hitler saw Village of the Damned, he would be gleefully rubbing his hands together and asking
his German scientists, "How...can we...do this to create the master race?"
Although I like the story that's perfect fodder for The Twilight Zone and the special effects are
excellent in regard to the eyes, the intelligence isn't quite there with the military and all of the women
disappearing when the babies are born. And there's no urgency shown by top men in the UK government? Why
isn't the Royal Society or whatever involved, too? How come these alien children need adults?
Just kill them all and relocate to different towns or cities and blend in with the rest of people.
The biggest mistake is letting Gordon Zellaby (his wife is 26 years younger than him!) dictate policy
after he's been infected. Who appointed him, and why? His judgment is clearly affected due to his son being
among the alien children. Speaking of them, it's interesting to see no girls in the white-people-only village
because I wondered how young was the cut-off point to have kids. Some of the pregnant virgins saying they
hadn't had sex should be message enough to ring the seriousness of the situation, requiring isolation of village
residents, but everybody stayed stupid, regardless.
How about that Bernard? He told the pilot to be sure to shake out of it immediately should he fall asleep during
the descent. That's when I thought, "Uh...that's not going to happen." After the pilot failed to do so and thus
crashed his plane, Bernard simply moved on. What a considerate guy! He should've been charged with murder.
Elsewhere, the movie is notable for showing a man killing himself with a shotgun although it was done
off screen which has to be a rarity for cinema this early.
All in all, so much potential in Village of the Damned has gone untapped because of failing to cover
every base plot-wise.