Children of the Damned (1964)

Six impossibly intelligent children from all over the world with dangerous psychic powers hide in a church in England after the military tries to experiment on them. Besieged, they warn the military to back off before carnage ensues.

Director:

Anton Leader (as Anton M. Leader)

Writers:

John Briley (screenplay), John Wyndham (novel)

Stars:

Ian Hendry, Alan Badel, Barbara Ferris

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ian Hendry	...	Dr. Tom Llewellyn
Alan Badel	...	Dr. David Neville
Barbara Ferris	...	Susan Eliot
Alfred Burke	...	Colin Webster
Sheila Allen	...	Diana Looran
Ralph Michael	...	Defense Minister
Patrick Wymark	...	Commander
Martin Miller	...	Prof. Gruber
Harold Goldblatt	...	Harib
Patrick White	...	Mr. Davidson
André Mikhelson	...	Russian official (as Andre Mikhelson)
Bessie Love	...	Mrs. Robbins, Mark's Grandmother
Clive Powell	...	Paul
Yoke-Moon Lee	...	Mi Ling (as Lee Yoke-Moon)
Roberta Rex	...	Nina

Storyline

Scientists discovers that six children from six different places in the world each have superhuman intelligence to such extent that they've even developed psychic powers. The children are flown to London to be studied, but they each escape their embassy and barricade themselves in a church which the military besieges. Is there a way to resolve this stand off peacefully, and if not, what then?

---

Plot Keywords:

siege | battle | super intelligence | telekinesis | collective consciousness | 

---

Taglines:

So young, so innocent, so deadly - they came to conquer the world!

---

Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

29 January 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Children of the Damned

Filming Locations:

Bermondsey, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lawrence P. Bachmann Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The children's eyes don't light up until 41 minutes into the movie.

---

Quotes

Dr. Tom Llewellyn: At this very moment, they could be making all those men out there turn their guns on one another!

---

Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (1997)

User Reviews

Interesting British sci-fi (but not a sequel!)

Although it is often referred to as a sequel to "Village of the Damned", the plot differs in enough ways to make the claim seriously questionable. No mention is made of the events in the first film. The only real similarity is that the story concerns six children who are perceived as a threat to mankind because they possess strange telepathic and mind-control powers.

Unlike the first film, however, the children are of different nationalities (not identical blonds, as the children in the first film) and they do not mature at an accelerated rate.

It's as if the basic premise (six superintelligent kids who are a threat to mankind) was reworked into a new story. The children are explained as being "quantum leaps in evolution" (not alien offspring, as in the first film). And yet the story never clarifies why they were all born at approximately the same time in different parts of the world (coincidence?). When one sympathetic government agent asks the children, "Why are you here?", the children reply "We don't know."

A line of dialogue by a major character, stating that the children are here to help mankind, was later edited from the film. Too bad.

Mankind, rather than the kids, are portrayed as the bad guys. Despite some confusion over these basic plot elements, director Anton M. Leader does deliver a clear message concerning the hate, fear, and intolerance which society feels towards anyone who doesn't "fit in", as well as the greed for power which nations feel in their efforts to gain dominance over each other.