These Are the Damned (1962)

An American tourist, a youth gang leader, and his troubled sister find themselves trapped in a top secret government facility experimenting on children.

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writers:

Evan Jones (screenplay), H.L. Lawrence (novel)

Stars:

Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field, Viveca Lindfors

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Macdonald Carey	...	Simon Wells
Shirley Anne Field	...	Joan
Viveca Lindfors	...	Freya Neilson
Alexander Knox	...	Bernard
Oliver Reed	...	King
Walter Gotell	...	Major Holland
James Villiers	...	Captain Gregory
Tom Kempinski	...	Ted (as Thomas Kempinski)
Kenneth Cope	...	Sid
Brian Oulton	...	Mr. Dingle
Barbara Everest	...	Miss Lamont
Allan McClelland	...	Mr. Stuart (as Alan McClelland)
James Maxwell	...	Mr. Talbot
Rachel Clay	...	Victoria
Caroline Sheldon	...	Elizabeth

Storyline

The middle-aged American Simon Wells sails in his boat to Weymouth and stumbles with the twenty year-old Joan on the street. He believes that she is a prostitute but she is actually part of a scheme of a motorcycle gang to rob tourists. Simon is brutally beaten up by her brother King and his gang. The policemen find the wounded Simon and take him to a bar to recover, where he meets the military Bernard and his mistress Freya Neilson. On the next morning, Joan challenges King and meets Simon in his boat, and King and his gang hunts Simon down. Joan and Simon spend the night together in an isolated house and on the morning, they are located by the gang. They try to flee and stumble in a top-secret military facility managed by Bernard. They are helped by children and brought to their hideout in a cave. King falls in the sea while chasing the couple and is also helped by a boy and brought to the same place. Soon Joan finds that the children are cold as if they were dead. What is the ...

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Plot Keywords:

child horror | psychotronic film | motorcycle gang | cornwall | minack theatre | 

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Taglines:

Come At Your Own Risk ... If You Come Alone!

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Working title was "On the Brink."

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Goofs

A shadow of a crew member can be seen moving after King shoots the soldier in the lab.

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Quotes

Bernard: I live with one fact. A power has been released that will melt these stones. We must be ready when the time comes.
Freya Neilson: You really believe it's going to happen, don't you?
Bernard: Certainly! There's absolutely no question.

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Crazy Credits

The credit "JOSEPH LOSEY director", unlike the others, recedes and vanishes.

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Alternate Versions

Cut prior to 1961 X rated cinema release over child concerns. It was further cut for US theatrical release. The cuts were restored in 2010 for UK 12 rated DVD and 2019 Blu-ray release.

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Connections

Featured in Talkies: Shirley Anne Field (2019)

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Soundtracks

Rock 'n' Roll Boogie
(uncredited)
Music by Frank Barcley (i.e. Bent Fabricius-Bjerre)
Chappell Recorded Music Library
Heard in the amusement arcade scene

User Reviews

Memorable 60s Paranoia

Very intriguing film to watch. One must consider it was made during the era of the Cold War to begin with so the situation implied probably didn't seem as implausible in its time. One of the earliest films to portray a secret government organization up to no-good unawares to ordinary citizens. Would have benefitted if more time had been given to the children involved here as then their plight might affect us as and audience even more. Still it's a nice if not fully successful effort to put a thoughtful science fiction tale on film. Teen Gang side-story works mostly to take away the focus from the kids and was probably a mistake although it did give Oliver Reed a good role.

Details

Official Sites:

Hammer Films

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 July 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

These Are the Damned

Filming Locations:

Chesil Beach, Dorset, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min 96 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1