Really Surprised!

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Between 1960's "Village of the Damned" and this one, I'd say take your pick. Both are effective and creepy sci-fi/horror flicks, this one primarily so for the virtually silent but menacing children who seem to have no parentage on the father side, and exhibit a super-normal intelligence that defies scientific investigation. The young kid Paul (Clive Powell) was particularly effective as the lead youngster, but I had to laugh during the opening scene when he put together the puzzle cube - what was the point of using a stopwatch to time the effort? The other 'normal' kids didn't even have a half dozen pieces completed yet.What the film should convince one of is that film makers don't need to get elaborate with fancy special effects or mindless physical horror when so much more can be done with a mysterious story line and the power of suggestion. Having some of your principal characters go catatonic from time to time helps too, it creates tension and anxiety the way peeking around a dark corner does when you suspect a demon on the other side. Pretty effective.It's too bad we didn't get a firmer idea of what the kids with the million year advanced brain capability were really up to. The finale made an oxymoron of the term military intelligence, can you imagine a battlefield confrontation between super powers determined by the dropping of a screwdriver?

In the 1960 sci-fi/horror thriller "Village of the Damned," five small communities around the world had been put to sleep by a mysterious agency and all their women capable of childbirth immaculately made preggers. The resultant children had evinced powers of mental control, a hyperaccelerated physical development and a hive mind; by the end of the film, all the children had been slain by their panicky respective nations. Thus, a follow-up to this classic film would seemingly have been an unlikely prospect. And yet, four years later, that sequel, "Children of the Damned," made its unexpected appearance. Released in January 1964 and sporting the alarming advice to "Beware the Eyes That Paralyze!" on its promotional poster, the film turned out to be a remarkably satisfying sequel, featuring all-new characters, a completely different story line, and a wholly different feel, as compared to the first picture. Another product of MGM's British branch, and again sporting an intelligent and adult script, first-rate acting and gorgeous B&W cinematography, "Children" can proudly hold its head high next to its famous forebear.In the film, UNESCO has, for the first time, given a standardized IQ test to kids all around the world, and with startling results. Six children--four boys (from the U.K., Nigeria, India and the U.S.) and two girls (from Russian and China)--have turned in tests that indicate identical, impossibly high IQ scores. The six are brought together in London for study, and psychologist Tom Lewellin (the great British actor Ian Hendry) and geneticist David Neville (Alan Badel) begin their examination. But the children--who also demonstrate the same psi powers, hive mind, freakishly glowing eyes, and powers of mental coercion as the kids in the first film--soon band together, kidnap the Brit kid Paul's pretty Aunt Susan (Barbara Ferris), and hole up in an abandoned church, while the heads of their respective governments ponder how to get them back or, possibly, destroy them. It would seem that a murderous showdown between the freakishly gifted kids and the panicky world leaders might be inevitable again....There are several salient differences between "VOTD" and "COTD," despite their surface similarities. Of basic importance is the fact that the kids in the first film are suggested to be alien in nature, and with their uniform blonde looks, they certainly do appear otherworldly and unsettling. The children in the sequel, on the other hand, are supposed to be biological sports who have miraculously arisen simultaneously. The kids in the first film are not sympathetic in nature; those in the second most definitely are, especially with their differentiated cute looks (the little Chinese girl is adorable) and after the audience learns that the kids are wholly human, just evolved to a point perhaps a million years in mankind's future. There is more agonized soul searching as to what to do with these problematic children in the second film, with Hendry very much our moral compass, and while both films end on a decided down note, the events of the latter picture seem even more tragic, due to the sympathetic nature of the kids here. "COTD," as screenwriter John Briley tells us during the DVD's commentary, is more of a "moral fable of the Cold War," whereas the first had been most clearly a science-fiction scarifier. And if possible, the six kids of the sequel cause even more of a worldwide tizzy than the 12 alien kids of the British village of Midwich in the original outing!As to the similarities, both films boast absolutely first-rate, moody B&W lensing (by cinematographer Geoffrey Faithful in the first film and David Boulton in the second) and taut direction (Wolf Rilla in the former; Anton M. Leader, who otherwise worked almost exclusively for television, in the latter). As in the initial outing, the most memorable scenes in "COTD" for the viewer will most likely be the ones in which the kids use their powers to punish perceived threats on the part of their elders. Hence, in the sequel, Paul attempts to kill his mother by forcing her to walk in traffic; one government agent is coerced to shoot another and then to walk off a high balcony in that abandoned church; the children use some kind of sonic device to stop the attack of foreign kidnappers; and three British officials are compelled to slay one another by stabbing and strangulation. Two other similarities that the films share: crackerjack, literate scripts and remarkably fine acting down to the smallest bit players. Very much a class act all the way, this is one sequel that really does live up to its original, complementing the first while piling on new layers of meaning and additional food for thought. An "all-new suspense shocker," that promotional poster proclaimed, and for once, the advertising hyperbole turns out to be precisely true! This is superior, adult entertainment all the way!

Six children from six different nations, each gifted with superior intellects and telekinetic powers, are tested by scientists keen to discover the limits of their capabilities. Inevitably, the children come to the attention of shady government types who wish to exploit the children for the purposes of national security, or failing that, destroy them. In fear, the children join forces and take refuge in a derelict church, where they are forced to strike back at those who might wish to do them harm.Children of the Damned is generally considered to be a sequel to the excellent Village of the Damned; however, when viewed like this, glaring anomalies prevent it from being a fully satisfying experience. Children of the Damned is therefore best viewed as a standalone project; seen in this way, the film is more than worthy of any sci-fi/horror fan's time—an intelligent, thought-provoking piece that raises religious, ethical and philosophical debates and which, depending on how the somewhat ambiguous ending is interpreted, also delivers a prophetic warning: unless humans can overcome their innate distrust and fear of that which they do not understand, there can be no hope of survival for mankind.Opinion about which of the 'of the Damned' films is better is seriously divided, but given the choice, I would always go for the freaky, blonde-haired and undeniably malevolent mutants of 'Village' over the normal looking, multi-cultural, and possibly benevolent saviours of mankind from 'Children'. Guess that's just how I roll...

When a film is a success, it is almost inevitable there will be a sequel to it. The classic 1960 sci-fi film Village Of The Damned is no exception to that rule and 1964's Children Of the Damned would be that sequel. While any sequel to Village Of The Damned would have big shoes to feel, this film doesn't quite live to the standards set by the original film. In fact, it is easy to say that Children Of The Damned is very much a sequel in name only that, contradictorily, requires knowledge of the original film for it to make sense as well as being a terribly dated Cold War parable.The film certainly has a respectable cast. Ian Hendry and Alan Badel play Tom Llewellyn and David Neville, who both give believable performances as the two scientists who uncover the children and their powers. Barbara Ferris plays the aunt of one of the children who ends up becoming a spokesperson for the children while under their control. Alfred Burke gives perhaps the film's best performance as British government agent Colin Webster whose involvement only makes the situation worse as the film goes on. Together they are a cast that is more then a match for that in the original film.One of the film's problems though is in its title characters: the children. Due to whatever reason, gone are the seemingly normal yet otherworldly and menacing children of the original. These children are the exact opposite. They are utterly normal children from five places around the world who lack any of the otherworldly feeling or menace of the original children. Even the special effect used on the eyes when the children are using their powers isn't really used and, when it is, it just doesn't look stand up to the effect used in the original film. The result is that perhaps one, single essential element of the film that needed to work just doesn't work.The production values of the film are excellent. In particular the stark black and white cinematography of Davis Boulton gives the film a strong sense of atmosphere and menace throughout which helps the film immensely. The production design of Elliot Scott give the film the same feeling as the cinematography, especially in the form of the destitute church the children come to occupy for much of the film. One element that improves in this film is the score by composer Ron Goodwin that, after a rather mixed result in the original film, is never out of place and put to good use throughout. The success of the production values helps the film out immensely.Along with the children, the script is another essential element that ends up having a rather mixed result. If anything, the script presents this film as a rather confused sequel to say the least. The script seems to require that the viewer have seen the original film to understand all the events taking place. Yet the film seems to spend most of its time wanting to distance itself as far as possible from the original film. The result is a confusing mix: the plot and events make little sense without having seen the original film but the story might as well be anything but a sequel. It also doesn't help that the film, by the admission of screenwriter John Briley, was more or less meant to be more of a Cold War parable. The children can be viewed as scientists around the world who the major Cold War powers (represented by the government officials in the film) want to put to use building ever more powerful weapons of mass destruction. While this would be a good idea to have explored somewhere else, this film doesn't really seem to be either the place to do it or even do it well. If anything the script seems to be drowning in good ideas (such as the revelations that come out in the films last few minutes) that are never put to good use. Also the Cold War parable gives this film something the original doesn't have: a terribly dated feel to it. The result is that the script is a rather mixed affair.Children Of The Damned, even when viewed on its own and not as a sequel, is a rather mixed affair. Despite a fine main cast and excellent production values, the film's supporting cast (the children) and its script both are rather mixed in their results. When viewed as a sequel however, the film comes across as a rather confused sequel that requires knowledge of the original film for it to make sense as well as being a terribly dated Cold War parable to the point of becoming a sequel in name only. All this means that, while a decent film, it never quite works either as a sequel or as an original film either and is a bit of a letdown overall.