Village of the Damned (1960)

Director:

Wolf Rilla

Writers:

Stirling Silliphant (screenplay) &
Wolf Rilla (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

7 December 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

What Demonic Force Lurks Behind Those Eyes?

Plot:

In the English village of Midwich, the blond-haired, glowing-eyed children of uncertain paternity prove to have frightening powers.

Plot Keywords:

Village | English | Children | Soldier | Pregnancy

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

George Sanders	...	Gordon Zellaby
Barbara Shelley	...	Anthea Zellaby
Martin Stephens	...	David Zellaby
Michael Gwynn	...	Alan Bernard
Laurence Naismith	...	Doctor Willers
Richard Warner	...	Harrington
Jenny Laird	...	Mrs. Harrington
Sarah Long	...	Evelyn Harrington
Thomas Heathcote	...	James Pawle
Charlotte Mitchell	...	Janet Pawle
Pamela Buck	...	Milly Hughes
Rosamund Greenwood	...	Miss Ogle
Susan Richards	...	Mrs. Plumpton
Bernard Archard	...	Vicar
Peter Vaughan	...	P.C. Gobby
John Phillips	...	General Leighton
Richard Vernon	...	Sir Edgar Hargraves
John Stuart	...	Professor Smith
Keith Pyott	...	Dr. Carlisle
Alexander Archdale	...	The Coroner
Sheila Robins	...	Nurse
Tom Bowman	...	Pilot
Anthony Harrison	...	Lieutenant
Diane Aubrey	...	W.R.A.C. Secretary
Gerald Paris	...	Sapper
Bruno	...	The Dog
June Cowell	...	The Children
Linda Bateson	...	The Children
John Kelly	...	The Children
Carlo Cura	...	The Children
Lesley Scoble	...	The Children
Mark Milleham	...	The Children (as Mark Mileham)
Roger Malik	...	The Children
Elizabeth Mundle	...	The Children
Teri Scoble	...	The Children (as Theresa Scoble)
Peter Preidel	...	The Children
Peter Taylor	...	The Children
Howard Knight	...	The Children
Brian Smith	...	The Village Children
Janice Howley	...	The Village Children
Paul Norman	...	The Village Children
Robert Marks	...	The Village Children
John Bush	...	The Village Children
Billy Lawrence	...	The Village Children

Directed by
Wolf Rilla

Writing credits
Stirling Silliphant		(screenplay) &
Wolf Rilla		(screenplay) &
Ronald Kinnoch		(screenplay) (as George Barclay)
John Wyndham		(novel "The Midwich Cuckoos")

Produced by
Ronald Kinnoch	....	producer

Original Music by
Ron Goodwin

Cinematography by
Geoffrey Faithfull		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Gordon Hales

Casting by
Irene Howard		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Ivan King

Makeup Department
Eric Aylott	....	makeup artist
Joan Johnstone	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Denis Johnson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Middlemas	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Gordon Daniel	....	dubbing editor
J.B. Smith	....	dubbing mixer
Cyril Swern	....	sound recordist
A.W. Watkins	....	recording supervisor

Visual Effects by
Tom Howard	....	photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank Drake	....	camera operator
Gerald Moss	....	photographer: second unit
Dennis Fraser	....	grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eileen Sullivan	....	wardrobe supervisor

Music Department
Ron Goodwin	....	conductor

Transportation Department
Eddie Frewin	....	driver: generator (uncredited)

Other crew
Lee Turner	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1960) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1960) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1960) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1961) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (2004) (Finland) (TV)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1961) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (196?) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• R.G.B.  subtitles: French version
• Turner Entertainment  package design (1992 release)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated | UK:12 (re-rating) (2005) | UK:A (original rating) | West Germany:16 | Netherlands:18 (original rating) (1960)

Filming Locations:

Letchmore Heath, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios

Trivia:

The eerie effect of the children's glowing eyes was created by matting a negative (reversed) image of their eyes over the pupils when they used their powers.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Just before the credits, there's a long crane shot which ends in the trees. It's obvious that the crane snagged a branch on its way up, because a branch suddenly snaps into the frame. They follow the shot with a brief view of other branches waving around, as though to cover the mistake...but the first branch was *not* blowing in the wind.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Prof. Gordon Zellaby:[on telephone] Good morning. Uh, would you get me Major Bernard at his Whitehall number? Thank you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Red Zone Cuba (#7.19)" (1994)

A great classic thriller, unfortunately overshadowed by the spectacular psychological thriller released the same year - Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

Village of the Damned is a very well-made thriller that seems to have been overlooked because of the sheer magnitude of its competition - Psycho. Both of these films are testaments to the idea that low budgets are very capable of producing great films. It is not the size of the budget that matters, it is the skill of the filmmakers and the actors. Village of the Damned makes use of a variety of very easily done but also very effective special effects, such as the boundary across which all people and animals lose consciousness, the creepy eyes on those kids, and their hypnotic powers.

The discussion of the exact same phenomenon happening to a few remote towns all over the world does a lot to show what these kids can do, and it increases the dramatic tension of the film as a whole. Cheaply made, but also very well made because a lot of thought was obviously put into it, Village of the Damned is a timeless thriller, even in black and white. When you watch a movie like this, if you are the kind of person who is so superficial about your movies that you refuse to watch black and white films, keep in mind that black and white photography REQUIRES good acting, to put it in the immortal words of Orson Welles. You can't have black and white photography and bad acting, the film would never work. Village of the Damned takes black and white photography and fills it with excellent acting, a fascinating story, and good direction that makes me wonder why this was the only film that Wolf Rilla ever directed.