Children of the Damned

Starring: Ian Hendry, Alan Badel, Barbara Ferris, Alfred Burke, Clive Powell, Sheila Allen, Ralph Michael, Patrick Wymark
Directed by: Anton Leader
Rating: Approved
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
1964

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Six children from around the world are discovered to have uncanny intelligence and psychic powers. The governments of the world want to study them, but the children soon prove to be more dangerous than anyone imagined.

Review:

Tim: I was looking forward to seeing Children of the Damned. I enjoyed the 1960 original film, so was intrigued to see how this sequel turned out. Unfortunately, this movie follows the typical sequel route- it's not as good as the first film. Now, there were some worthwhile ideas in the film and even though it felt only loosely connected to the original, it was somewhat enjoyable to see a continuation of the ideas. I found this to be a decent movie, but certainly a step down in quality.

Now, it should be noted that this movie is really just a thematic sequel. The children here have similar powers to those in the first film, but there's a much different interpretation this time around. It actually makes for a fascinating contrast. In the first film, the children were very obviously evil and needed to be destroyed. This movie takes a more ambiguous approach. Sure, they are odd and different and potentially dangerous, but is our fear due to their evil nature, their otherness, or something else? The movie leaves some of these answers up to interpretation. We do discover much about the children by the end, but the information we're given doesn't dictate how we feel about the children or what we'd do in a similar situation to the adults here. This is quite different from the unambiguous original movie. I kind of like the straightforward quality of Village of the Damned, but it did make this film feel unique and refreshing. That helps more than it hurts.

The story is admittedly a little odd. You have all these unique children, each conveniently from a diverse country. They come together and their emotionless demeanor, frightening levels of intelligence, and ability to communicate telepathically creates fear and tension among the adults around them. Some want to protect them, some want to use them, some want to destroy them. I had a hard time figuring out who I was supposed to care about? The children? The movie sort of suggests that, but the title is literally Children of the Damned, so any sympathy for them felt out of place with the title. Should I care about the adults? Which ones? The ones who want to protect the children even though it seems foolish? The ones who want to understand them only? The ones who want to kill them? The story might have been intriguing, but it was a bit odd. I felt no real connection to any of the characters. Truthfully, I never got all that invested in anything. The movie itself doesn't have any classic moments like the brick wall scene in the original. There's a climax here and it's somewhat memorable, but it doesn't truly deliver.

There is enough here to be a decently entertaining film. The story isn't one we have seen numerous times already and it leaves some ambiguity for us to wrestle with. I was a bit surprised at some of the answers we got about the children. It was interesting, but it felt like a bit of a stretch. It felt disconnected from the title. If you sit down to watch a movie called Children of the Damned, this isn't the storyline you want to see. I suppose the movie gets some credit for subverting expectations, but it's also hurt by not fulfilling the promise of the title.

Children of the Damned is a decent movie that has its moments. I was interested in the unexpected story, but I have to be clear that this movie isn't nearly as good as Village of the Damned. In that sense, the movie disappoints as a sequel.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Village of the Damned