This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) |
Village of the Damned is a 1960 British science fiction horror film by German director Wolf Rilla. The film is adapted from the novel The Midwich Cuckoos (1957) by John Wyndham. The lead role of Professor Gordon Zellaby was played by George Sanders.
Village of the Damned | |
---|---|
U.S. theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Wolf Rilla |
Produced by | Ronald Kinnoch |
Screenplay by | Stirling Silliphant Wolf Rilla Ronald Kinnoch |
Based on | The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham |
Starring | George Sanders Barbara Shelley Martin Stephens Michael Gwynn |
Music by | Ron Goodwin |
Cinematography | Geoffrey Faithfull |
Edited by | Gordon Hales |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 77 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | $320,000 |
Box office | $2,175,000 |
A sequel, Children of the Damned (1964), followed, as did a remake, also called Village of the Damned (1995).
Screenplay
The inhabitants of the British village of Midwich suddenly fall unconscious, as does anyone entering the village. The military establishes a cordon around Midwich and sends in a man wearing a gas mask, but he, too, falls unconscious and is pulled back with rope. The man awakens and reports experiencing a cold sensation just before passing out. The pilot of a military reconnaissance plane is contacted and asked to investigate. When he flies below 5,000 feet, he loses consciousness and the plane crashes. A five-mile exclusion zone around the village is established for all aircraft. After approximately four hours, the villagers regain consciousness, and all are apparently unaffected.
Two months later, all women and girls of child-bearing age in the affected area are discovered to be pregnant, sparking many accusations of both infidelity and extramarital sex. The accusations fade as the extraordinary nature of the pregnancies is discovered, with seven-month fetuses appearing after only five months. All the women give birth on the same day. Their children have an unusual appearance, including "arresting" eyes, odd scalp hair construction and colour (platinum blonde), and unusually narrow fingernails. As the children grow and develop at a rapid rate, it becomes clear they also have a powerful telepathic bond with one another. They can communicate with each other over great distances, and as one learns something, so do the others.
Three years later, Professor Gordon Zellaby (Sanders), whose wife Anthea (Shelley) gave birth to one of the children, attends a meeting with British Intelligence to discuss the children. There he learns Midwich was not the only place affected; follow-up investigations have revealed similar phenomena in other areas of the world.
At age three, the children are precocious, physically and mentally the equivalent of children four times their age. Their behaviour has become even more unusual and striking. They dress impeccably, always walk as a group, speak in an adult manner, and behave maturely, but they show no conscience or love, and demonstrate a coldness to others, causing the villagers to fear and be repulsed by them.
The children begin to exhibit the power to read minds and to force people to do things against their will. There have been a number of villagers' deaths since the children were born, many of which are considered unusual, and some citizens believe the children are responsible. This is confirmed when the children are seen killing a man by making him crash his car into a wall, and again when they force his suspicious brother to shoot himself.
Zellaby, whose "son" David is one of the children, is at first eager to work with them, trying to teach them while hoping to learn more about them. The children are placed in a separate building where they will learn and live. While the children continue to exert their will, Zellaby learns the Soviet government has used an atomic cannon to destroy the sole remaining alternate village containing their own spawn of mutant children.
Zellaby compares the children's resistance to reasoning with a brick wall and uses this motif as self-protection against their mind reading after the children's inhuman nature becomes clear to him. He takes a hidden time-bomb to a session with the children and tries to block their awareness of the bomb by visualizing a brick wall. David scans his mind, showing an emotion (astonishment) for the first time. The children try to break down Zellaby's mental wall and discover the truth a moment before the bomb detonates, consuming the building in flames and killing them all.
- George Sanders as Gordon Zellaby
- Barbara Shelley as Anthea Zellaby
- Martin Stephens as David Zellaby
- Michael Gwynn as Alan Bernard
- Laurence Naismith as Doctor Willers
- Richard Warner as Harrington
- Jenny Laird as Mrs. Harrington
- Sarah Long as Evelyn Harrington
- Thomas Heathcote as James Pawle
- Charlotte Mitchell as Janet Pawle
- Pamela Buck as Milly Hughes
- Rosamund Greenwood as Miss Ogle
- Susan Richards as Mrs. Plumpton
- Bernard Archard as Vicar
- Peter Vaughan as P.C. Gobby
- John Phillips as General Leighton
- Richard Vernon as Sir Edgar Hargraves
- John Stuart as Professor Smith
- Keith Pyott as Dr. Carlisle
This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) |
The film was originally an American picture, to be filmed at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in Culver City, California when preproduction began in 1957. Ronald Colman was contracted for the leading role, but MGM shelved the project, bowing to pressure from religious groups that objected to the sinister depiction of virgin birth. Colman died in May 1958—by coincidence, his widow, actress Benita Hume, married actor George Sanders in 1959, and Sanders took the role meant for Colman.
The film was transferred to the MGM British Studios and shot on location in the village of Letchmore Heath, near Watford, approximately 12 miles (20 kilometres) north of London. Local buildings such as The Three Horseshoes Pub and Aldenham School were used during filming.
The blonde wigs that the children wore were padded to give the impression that they had abnormally large heads.
The children were lit in such a way as to cause the irises and pupils of their eyes to merge into a large black disc against the whites of their eyes, to give them an eerie look.
The glowing-eye effect, when the children used their mental powers, was achieved by creating animated overlays of a bright white iris; this created a bright glowing iris with a black pupil when optically printed into the film. This technique was used mostly on freeze frames to create the required effect; the only sequence of live motion processed in this way was the scene in which David tells Alan Bernard to "leave us alone" where the eye effect appears as David speaks. The other time David's eyes go from normal to glowing on screen (after one of the girl children is nearly run down by a car), a two shot of the girl and David, is a composite shot split by a slightly jagged black line; the half with the girl is live motion, and you can see her hair moving in the breeze, whereas the half with David is a freeze frame with the eye effect added.
A similar split screen effect is used during the first scene of a boy and girl using their powers to stop their 'brother' stealing a puzzle box; the close ups of the mother holding the boy as his eyes begin to glow and she turns to look at him are achieved as above this time without a black line separating the freeze frames of the boy from the live motion of the mother. The final effect of the children's eyes zooming out of the flames of their burning school house utilized multiple exposures of a model head with glowing eyes which the camera zoomed in on.
For the original release of the film in Britain, censors removed the glowing eye effects. UK prints without the glowing eyes effects show that during the final sequence, in the close-ups, the kids widen their eyes as they attack Zellaby's mind, unlike the freeze frames with added glowing eyes used in the American prints. Another example is a slight smile that David makes after setting one of the villagers on fire in the UK print; the freeze frames of the American print do not contain such subtle detail. This print also has a credit for being filmed at MGM's British studios that is not on the American prints.
Theatrical release
Given an 'A' certificate by the British censors, the film opened in June 1960 at The Ritz cinema in Leicester Square, London. According to director Wolf Rilla, it soon attracted audiences, and cinema goers queued round the block to see it. In December of the same year it was released New York and Los Angeles; it became a sleeper hit for MGM in the US.
Home media
The film was released on DVD by Warner Home Video on August 10, 2004.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2016) |
Box office
According to MGM records the film earned $1.4 million in the US and Canada and $775,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $860,000.
Critical reception
The 18 June 1960 edition of The Guardian praised the story as "most ingenious" and Rilla as applying "the right laconic touch". Positive reviews also appeared in The Observer (by C.A. Lejeune): "The further you have moved away from fantasy, the more you will understand its chill"; and The People (by Ernest Betts), "As a horror film with a difference it'll give you the creeps for 77 minutes". Dilys Powell in The Sunday Times stated on 20 June 1960: "Well made British film: the effective timing, the frightening matter-of-factness of the village setting, most of the acting, and especially the acting of the handsome flaxen-haired children (headed by Martin Stevens) who are the cold villains of the piece."
American critics were also in favour of the film. The Time reviewer called it "one of the neatest little horror pictures produced since Peter Lorre went straight" and questioned the wisdom of MGM's low-profile release strategy. While not willing to call it a horror classic, Howard Thompson of The New York Times said, "as a quietly civilized exercise in the fear and power of the unknown this picture is one of the trimmest, most original and serenely unnerving little chillers in a long time". The film received a small but positive mention in the Saturday Review which called it "an absorbing little picture that you may yet be able to find on some double-feature bill". Author and film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film three out of a possible four stars, calling it " eerie, well-made chiller". On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 92% based on 25 reviews with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Chilling performances and a restrained, eerie atmosphere make this British horror both an unnerving parable of its era and a timeless classic."
Request Movie Now
Watch movie Village Of The Damned 1960 Film online on Amazon
Watch movie Village Of The Damned 1960 Film online
Watch The Movie On PrimeDev D Full HD Movie Download
Andha Yudh Full HD Movie Download
Harishchandrachi Factory Full HD Movie Download
Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani (1988) Full HD Movie Download
Baarish (1957) Full HD Movie Download
Dil-E-Nadan (1982) Full HD Movie Download
Hunt for Red October Full HD Movie Download
Ayyaa Full HD Movie Download
Bandie Full HD Movie Download
Hitler and the Nazis Part 2 Full HD Movie Download
Devi Mahathmyam Full HD Movie Download
Amalapuram Alludu Full HD Movie Download
Sri Raja Rajeshwari Full HD Movie Download
Gopala Rao Gari Ammayi Full HD Movie Download
Asadhyudu Full HD Movie Download
I Am Legend Full HD Movie Download
Dil Full HD Movie Download
Oka Chinna Maata Full HD Movie Download
Mandoram Full HD Movie Download
Bhale Dongalu Full HD Movie Download
Ta Ra Rum Pum Full HD Movie Download
Download latest Movie from bollywood
- 1> baaghi 3
- 2> THE SKY IS PINK MOVIE FULL STORY AND REVIEW
- 3> Luka Chuppi
- 4> TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE
- 5> Kabir Singh
- 6> Street Dancer 3D
- 7> Simmba
- 8> Gone Girl
- 9> The Girl Who Lived
- 10> Ludo
- 11> DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE
- 12> GUILTY
- 13> The Godfather
- 14> Adventures of Rusty
- 15> Sooryavanshi
- 16> Satyameva Jayate 2
- 17> Thappad
- 18> Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2
- 19> KGFChapter 2
- 20> Mardaani 2
- 21> Pinjar
- 22> Shivaji maharaj
- 23> Ek Villian 2
- 24> Hungama 2
- 25> Divergent
- 26> Mumbai Saga
- 27> The Internship
- 28> HIT (telugu)
- 29> Panga
- 30> The perfect date
- 31> 16 December
- 32> Gopala Gopala (Telugu)
- 33> Brahmastra
- 34> Gangubai Kathiawadi
- 35> Manmadhudu
- 36> Nenu local
- 37> Mahanati
- 38> Shatamanam bavathi
- 39> Lagaan
- 40> After
- 41> MOM
- 42> Shamshera
- 43> Raguvaran BTech
- 44> Khakee
- 45> The villain
- 46> OM
- 47> Mr. perfect
- 48> Bueatifull mind
- 49> Hichki
- 50> Gabbar Singh
- 51> Jogi
- 52> Before Sunrise
- 53> Before Sunset
- 54> Before Midnight
- 55> The Big Bull
- 56> Top Gun: Maverick
- 57> The Purge
- 58> The Sky is Pink
- 59> Laxmmi Bomb
- 60> Sadak 2
- 61> Sufna
- 62> Prithviraj
- 63> PK
- 64> Coolie No 1(2020)
- 65> Black Widow
- 66> Dear Zindagi
- 67> Dil Bechara
- 68> PHIR HERA PHERI
- 69> WAR
- 70> Dostana
- 71> RRR: Roudram Ranam Rudhiram
- 72> Maidan
- 73> Dabbang 3
- 74> Chhalaang
- 75> life as we know it
- 76> SherShaah
- 77> Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar
- 78> Event Horizon
- 79> 83
- 80> Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai
- 81> Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl
- 82> Mr India
- 83> Vivah
- 84> Anokha Bandhan
- 85> Ghost
- 86> Bhoot: Part One - The Haunted Ship
- 87> Haseen Dilruba
- 88> Laal Singh Chaddha
- 89> Qismat
- 90> Rajput
- 91> Drive
- 92> Dil Chahta Hai
- 93> Dil Ki Baazi
- 94> Dil Ka Rishta
- 95> Teesri Manzil
- 96> Dil
- 97> Love Aaj Kal
- 98> Khaali Peeli
- 99> Bunty Aur Babli 2
- 100> Atrangi Re
- 101> Gulabo Sitabo
- 102> Jodi
- 103> Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari
- 104> Deewana
- 105> Attack
- 106> Sardar Udham Singh
- 107> Toofan
- 108> THE LOVEBIRDS
- 109> Jersey
- 110> Ginny Weds Sunny
- 111> Thalaivi
- 112> Shiddat
- 113> Angels vs Zombies
- 114> Koi Mil Gya
- 115> Thank God
- 116> Bhuj: The Pride of India
- 117> Hum Aapke Hain Kaun
- 118> The Platform
- 119> Bird Box
- 120> Roohi Afzana
- 121> Torbaaz
- 122> Nikamma
- 123> World War Z
- 124> Extraction
- 125> Train to Busan
- 126> Life of Pi
- 127> SHAADI MEIN JROOR AANA
- 128> Himmat Aur Mehnat
- 129> To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You
- 130> Mimi
- 131> Good Newwz
- 132> Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan
- 133> Raabta
- 134> Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- 135> Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- 136> Chhapaak
- 137> War of the Worlds
- 138> Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- 139> Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- 140> MURDER MYSTERY
- 141> Shakuntala Devi
- 142> Bachchan Pandey
- 143> Jayeshbhai Jordar
- 144> Sheer Qorma
- 145> Saina
- 146> 'O' Pushpa I hate tears
- 147> Kedarnath
- 148> MS Dhoni The Untold Story
- 149> Chhichhore
- 150> Badhaai Ho
- 151> Unstoppable
- 152> Oz the Great And Powerful
- 153> The Girl on the Train
- 154> Haathi Mere Saathi 2020
- 155> The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
- 156> Gandhi Se Pehle Gandhi
- 157> The Song of Scorpions
- 158> Srimanthudu
- 159> Hello Guru Prema Kosame
- 160> Beauty and The Beast
- 161> Black Panther
- 162> Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- 163> Bole Chudiyan
- 164> Fidaa
- 165> Duvvada Jagannadham
- 166> Bruce Lee: The Fighter
- 167> Hyper
- 168> Yaara
- 169> Red (2020)
- 170> Shivam
- 171> That Is Mahalakshmi
- 172> Nishabdham
- 173> Aashram 2020 web series
- 174> Laxmii
- 175> Mismatched
- 176> STUDENT OF THE YEAR 2
- 177> NAIL POLISH
- 178> Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi
- 179> KAAGAZ
- 180> 12 o Clock
- 181> The Power
- 182> bolo hau
- 183> Tribhanga
- 184> JAMUN
- 185> Madam Chief Minister
- 186> Maasaab
- 187> Aadhaar
- 188> Tanhaji
- 189> Bhaagi 3
- 190> Bhootnath
- 191> MALANG
- 192> Jai Mummy Di
- 193> Haathi Mere Saathi 2021
- 194> Shakeela
- 195> Unpaused
- 196> Annayya
- 197> Vamsoddharakudu
- 198> Mrugaraju
- 199> Narasimha Naidu
- 200> Sankranti
- 201> Manasu Maata Vinadhu
- 202> Anjaane
- 203> Apaharan
- 204> Bachke Rehna Re Baba
- 205> Bewafaa
- 206> Roohi
- 207> Radhe
- 208> Zindagi Khoobsoorat Hai
- 209> Yeh Mohabbat Hai
- 210> Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai?
- 211> The Tomorrow War
- 212> DehradunDiary
- 213> Meri Shaadi Karaoo
- 214> Matruu Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola
- 215> No One Killed Jesica
- 216> Aag Ka Goola
- 217> Eight Million Dollars
- 218> Three Hundred
- 219> Cats and Dog
- 220> Decoy
- 221> Gold Rush
- 222> You Have Got Mail
- 223> Final Destination three
- 224> Tofan
- 225> Jungle
Request for Download movie Village Of The Damned 1960 Film
- Bollywood movies
- Latest Bollywood movies
- Download all bengali movies
- Download all bhojpuri movies
- Download all english movies
- Download all gujarati movies
- Download all hindi movies
- Download all kannada movies
- Download all malayalam movies
- Download all marathi movies
- Download all oriya movies
- Download all punjabi movies
- Download all tamil movies
- Download all telugu movies
- Bollywood action movies
- Bollywood adventure movies
- Bollywood animation movies
- Bollywood classical movies
- Bollywood comedy movies
- Bollywood crime movies
- Bollywood devotional movies
- Bollywood documentary movies
- Bollywood drama movies
- Bollywood family movies
- Bollywood fantasy movies
- Bollywood historical movies
- Bollywood history movies
- Bollywood horror movies
- Bollywood musical movies
- Bollywood mystery movies
- Bollywood mythological movies
- Bollywood patriotic movies
- Bollywood romance movies
- Bollywood romantic movies
- Bollywood sci-fi movies
- Bollywood social movies
- Bollywood spiritual movies
- Bollywood sports movies
- Bollywood suspense movies
- Bollywood thriller movies
- Bollywood war movies
- Hot actress list
- Hot gujarati actress list
- Hot tamil actress list
- Hot bhojpuri actress list
- Hot assam actress list
- Hot bihari actress list
- Hot jammu and kashmir actress list
- Hot gujarati actress list
- Hot haryana actress list
- Hot konkani actress list
- Hot marathi actress list
- Hot odia actress list
- Hot punjabi actress list
- Hot rajasthani actress list
- Hot kannada actress list
- Hot malayalam actress list
- Hot telugu actress list
- Hot tulu actress list
- Hot Actress list from Indian city
- Hot actress list from ahmedabad
- Hot actress list from alappuzha
- Hot actress list from bangalore
- Hot actress list from bangalore
- Hot actress list from bhopal
- Hot actress list from chandigarh
- Hot actress list from chennai
- Hot actress list from guwahati
- Hot actress list from hyderabad, india
- Hot actress list from indore
- Hot actress list from jaipur
- Hot actress list from kannur
- Hot actress list from kochi
- Hot actress list from kolkata
- Hot actress list from kollam
- Hot actress list from kottayam
- Hot actress list from kozhikode
- Hot actress list from lucknow
- Hot actress list from madurai
- Hot actress list from mangalore
- Hot actress list from mumbai
- Hot actress list from mysore
- Hot actress list from new delhi
- Hot actress list from patna
- Hot actress list from pune
- Hot actress list from thiruvananthapuram
- Hot actress list from thrissur
- Hot actress list from tiruchirappalli
- Hot actress list from vijayawada
- Hot actress list from visakhapatnam
- All Bollywood Movies
- Bollywood Celeb
- >Art Director
- >Audiography
- >Background Music
- >Banner
- >Choreographer
- >Cinematographer
- >Costume Designer
- >Dialogue Writer
- >Director
- >Distributor
- >Editor
- >Executive Producer
- >Hair Stylist
- >Lyricist
- >Music Director
- >Photographer
- >Playback Singers
- >Presenter
- >Producer
- >Production Company
- >Production Designer
- >Screenplay
- >Singer
- >Sound
- >Actor
- >Story Writer
- >Studio
- >Video Director
- >Miscellaneous
- >Publicity (pro)
- >Web Creator
- >Production Labs
- >Publicity Design
- >Publicity Stills
- >Writer
- >Miscellaneous Artists
- >Visual Effects
- >Reporter
- >Music Company
- >Shooting Studios
- >Picturised On
- >Line Producer
- >Co Producer
- >Asst Director
- >Casting Director
- >Cinematography
- >Choreography
- >Dialouge
- >Editing
- >Lyrics
- >Music
- >Story
- >Playback Singer Female
- >Playback Singer Male
- >Actor In A Comic Role (male/female)
- >Child Artiste
- >Ensemble Cast
- >Actor Popular Choice (male)
- >Actor Popular Choice (female)
- >Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Song Of The Year
- >Actor In Supporting Role
- >Actress In Supporting Role
- >Actor In Leading Role
- >Art Direction
- >Actress In Leading Role
- >Sound Recording
- >Costume Design
- >Special Effects
- >Action
- >Actor In A Negative Role
- >Lifetime Achievement Award
- >Cinematic Exellence (director)
- >Cinematic Exellence (male)
- >Cinematic Exellence (female)
- >International Male Icon
- >International Female Icon
- >Actor In A Supporting Role (male)
- >Actor In A Supporting Role (female)
- >Actor In A Comic Role
- >Playback Singer (male)
- >Playback Singer (female)
- >Most Promising Debut (female)
- >Most Promising Debut (male)
- >Most Promising Director
- >Sound Design
- >Lifetime Jodi
- >Marketed Film
- >Jury Award For Best Actor
- >Jury Award For Best Actress
- >Jury Award For Best Film
- >Jury Award For Best Director
- >Playback Singer(male)
- >Lifetime Acheivement Award (male)
- >Excellence Award
- >Jodi Award
- >Performer Of The Year
- >Presented By