Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Excellent, a Must See

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Scientists discover that there are six children who each have an enormous intelligence. The children are flown to London to be studied, but they each escape their embassy and gather in a church.While this sequel will never have the sort of cult following the original has gained, it is not bad in its own right. What it does is create a story that spans nations, making a not so subtle argument about the advantages of working together rather than being at odds with one another. Coming out in 1964, this was no doubt a jab at the Cold War.There is also the theme of self-preservation. One character remarks that if the children are allowed to grow up and have children of their own, they would some day inherit the earth. This would be an affront to humanity. Or at least humanity as we know it... evolution, which may be great on the whole, looks terrifying to those who are left behind.

I have tired to watch this one before but I just could not get into at time so, I gave this movie another go.I thought it was decent movie, it had some really good creepy moment with kid scenes but the rest of the movie did little tame at times. I did get a little bored in the middle of the movie but then I really enjoyed last 20 mintures of movie and number of things going at the same time but I wish there more to the aftermath of the movie. just to end it after that. The acting was decent from the whole castI am going to give it 5 out of 10

Version I saw: UK DVD box set release Actors: 6/10Plot/script: 6/10Photography/visual style: 6/10Music/score: 6/10Overall: 7/10Children of the Damned is widely known as a not very good sequel to 1960's Village of the Damned. I found that it had definite problems, and was generally weaker than the original, but it seems to me to be a perfectly good film in its own right.It's not a conventional sequel either. While close enough that it might reasonably be accused of plagiarism if it did not credit the original (and the John Wyndham book upon which it is based), the two share no characters, and have different directors and writers. In addition, the plot of Children makes no reference whatsoever to the events of Village, and in fact, the miraculous powers of the mysterious, eerie children obey different rules too. Children of the Damned is not even based directly on a book at all: Wyndham's 'The Midwich Cuckoos' has no sequel. In almost every respect, they are effectively completely separate tales.The directing is pedestrian and, while the script has some good lines and commendable pacing, its Cold War paranoia theme had been done before and better in the likes of The Day the Earth Stood Still and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It also exhibits some uncertainty as to its genre, beginning as a buddy detective (weak) comedy, then edging into spy thriller, before the sci-fi/supernatural elements take over. While this is not necessarily a disaster (witness From Dusk Till Dawn's exuberant mish-mash of genres), it does not bode well.The acting is possibly the biggest problem. As I have said, the two main characters at the start interact like buddy detectives, but their banter is not very funny, for a start. More significantly, the cut-glass 'received pronunciation' English accents common in film and TV at the time were OK for Village's wealthy rural setting, but seem incongruous for inner-city London.Finally, while it is disguised by a new plot device of making the children almost mute, they are evidently less well-drilled, losing the most eerie qualities of the wonderfully atmospheric Village of the Damned.Finally, I was very disappointed by one detail that underlies the story. The children initially inspire fear and suspicion because of their uncanny intelligence, and the implication seems to be that they are right in this. Intelligence is the best of things, not the worst, and I frown upon anything that portrays it so blatantly as dangerous and scary.

In a London classroom, child psychologist Ian Hendry (as Tom Llewellyn) and genetics scientist Alan Badel (as David Neville) observe fair-haired student Clive Powell (as Paul). They are astonished by the young lad's ability to accomplish a difficult block-building task, in record time. It turns out young Powell is super-intelligent. He's also very strange. Investigating the boy leads Mr. Hendry and Mr. Badel to his self-described virgin mother, who almost immediately suffers a mishap. Powell's aunt Barbara Ferris (as Susan Eliot) moves in to care for the boy. Working for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Hendry and Badel find a total of six strange-acting children, from all around the world...This follow-up to "Village of the Damned" (1960) deviates significantly from the earlier film. In the opening credits, it is noted to be a sequel to John Wyndham's story (originally called "The Midwich Cuckoos"). During the film, we are given an alternate reality concerning the origin and purpose of the children in question. It's unfortunate screenwriter John Briley's story doesn't exactly demonstrate continuity with "Village", "Children of the Damned" is engaging. An obvious attempt at diversity is welcome, and the co-starring couple has a living arrangement and relationship open to interpretation. Anton "Tony" Leader directs through an artful atmosphere. Mr. Leader's lack of a feature film oeuvre was a plus for television.******* Children of the Damned (1/29/64) Anton M. Leader ~ Ian Hendry, Alan Badel, Clive Powell, Barbara Ferris