Village of the Damned – United Kingdom/United States – 1960 – Sci-Fi, Horror, Mystery
Directed by: Wolf Rilla
Written by: Stirling Silliphant; Wolf Rilla; George Barclay
Main Players: George Sanders; Barbara Shelley; Michael Gwynn; Laurence Naismith; Martin Stephens
A scenic hillside, complete with sheep, tractors, and hard-working people… the good life. This is Midwich. Gordon Zellaby (Sanders) phones his brother-in-law Major Alan Bernard (Gwynn) and asks for a book, but then suddenly faints. Strangely enough, so do the farmers outside on their tractors, and all the people in the village streets. In fact, the whole town appears to have fallen asleep suddenly and all at once. What is going on!?
This naturally leads to chaos. Irons catch fire while pressing clothes. Cars drive off road and crash. As the town’s large clock tolls 11, there is no one awake to hear it. But is this the end?? No, it is just the beginning…
Alan has tried calling all over town for hours, and getting no response he hops in his car and zooms to Midwich. On the way, he sees a cop on a bicycle searching for a lost bus, who also says the department is having trouble reaching anyone in town. The men come cross the crashed bus almost immediately. The cop rides up to investigate, and promptly collapses. Alan thinks screw this and turns around.
Alan’s military connections make it easy to reach his boss, who immediately thinks there is some bizarre issue, and the men are right. They place warning signs and platoons of soldiers surrounding the town, cordoning it off and denying others entrance.
One soldier puts on a gas mask and walks towards town trying to figure out what has an effect on people. He doesn’t make it past the crashed bus, but is drug back to safety by a rope around his waist. He does wake once outside whatever the limit of this odd event is. A pilot flying over the town states he sees no movement and people look like they have just fallen over. Will the airplane get too close?? Oops.
This creepy setup is only the open, as an even more devious plot is afoot. As people in the town finally come out of their unexpected comas hours later, the women of childbearing age all notice something is new and different with their bodies. Uh oh. Here comes a generational problem.
Village of the Damned is based on a book and mostly delivers the goods. The story is strange and interesting and despite the 60’s date of the film it is very well done and never boring. It moves quickly and covers plenty of ground while featuring credible acting.
Come visit Midwich, if you dare!!
See This If You Liked:
The Thing from Another World; Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956; 1978); Quartermass and the Pit; Phase IV; The Omen (1976); Rosemary’s Baby; The Mist (2007); Children of the Damned; Dreamcatcher; Phantoms (1998); The Mothman Prophecies; Weapons (2025)
Score:
7.5