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
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 | children | boat | top secret | 

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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

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

"The Brink" was Losey's preferred title, although "The Abyss" was considered, but he thought it 'pretentious'. After the delay in release the studio preferred to link the film with the similar, though source unrelated, 1960 success "Village of the Damned (1960)".

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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

Freya Neilson: [to Bernard] You know, someone once told me when a bureaucrat wants to keep his job, he stamps everything 'Top Secret.' Is that true?

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Crazy Credits

Over the end credits a Government helicopter continues to pursue the speedboat with Simon and Joan on board taking evasive action, before an inconclusive fade.

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Connections

Referenced in Akira (1988)

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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

Black Leather, Black Leather … Smash! Smash! Smash!

Of all the Hammer films I've seen so far, and they are quite numerous, "These Are The Damned" definitely ranks as their strangest and most curious effort. This legendary British production studio specialized in straightforward monster movies and gorier updates of classic horror tales, but this particular film is something entirely different and actually quite hard to categorize. There are two principal – and extremely opposite – story lines in this film and, even though they seem impossible to blend, director Joseph Losey pulls it off without much effort. The first half (approximately) of the story is more or less reminiscent to such films as "West Side Story" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", and … NO, I'm not kidding. Set on a small and isolated British island community, we're introduced to King (the phenomenal Oliver Reed), his oppressed sister Joan and their docile gang of youthful thugs. The gang targets tourists, like the unfortunate American boat owner Simon Wells. Joan seduces and lures Simon to a quiet alley, where King and C° are waiting to rob and attack him whilst whistling a really awesome tune ("Black Leather, Black Leather … Smash! Smash! Smash!). But Joan is fed up with her life-style and dominant brother and returns to Simon the next day, hoping to escape together. As you're subsequently expecting the rest of the story to revolve on an exciting chase & battle between the two parties, the tone and atmosphere of the film suddenly changes completely and turns into an awkward Sci-Fi ploy! Fleeing from King, Joan and Simon end up in a cave where a bunch of children are apparently kept prisoners by the military and the government. There's something odd about these kids as they all share birthdays, feel extremely cold and respond mysteriously to Geiger counters… The sudden change in atmosphere is unusual, but very original and fascinating! The second half of the story is clearly influenced by the success of "Village of the Damned", which happens to be one of my favorite Sci-Fi tales and easily of the greatest classics in the genre. A fairly high level of suspense is sustained throughout both story lines and there are several genuinely creepy moments to enjoy. The acting performances aren't superb, but Losey's direction is surefooted enough to compensate. The stylish black & white photography adds tension to the already grim atmosphere and – as said – the theme song is truly terrific. I read about "These are the Damned" before, but it's an obscure and hard-to-find film. So, thank you very much good people of the BBC, for programming this beauty!