Plot: What’s it about?
In Village of the Damned, the small village of Midwich experiences an unusual phenomenon that changes everyone who resides there. On a normal day, one like any other, the entire village comes to a complete halt for several hours. All the locals fall into a deep sleep, whether they were still in bed or out doing chores or clocked in at work. As if the world had stopped, the village of Midwich ceased to be alive for those few hours. The normal pace soon resumed, but whatever caused those hours of deep sleep, there had to be a reason. Months later, every fertile woman in the village is heavy with child and no one can explain. Some are married women who wouldn’t be surprised to be pregnant, while others have no clue how it could be. When the children are born and display very unusual traits, will the mysterious source be uncovered? In Children of the Damned, a handful of highly intelligent children are gathered for extensive studies. A British boy is found to possess immense intelligence, so he is brought to London to be studied, only to reveal that he can control the minds of some people. When five more of his intelligence are also found, all six children are housed together in London, under close supervision. But when they band together and make an escape, can anyone stand in their way?
The realm of horror cinema is all about shock these days, as few films focus on atmosphere and tension. The focus is instead on bloodshed, graphic violence, and naked women. I love those elements to death, but a scary movie doesn’t need those traits to be effective. A good example is Village of the Damned, a movie that rolls at a slow pace and allows the tension to mount, which results in constant eerie atmosphere. I prefer this to a cheap scare every few minutes, but of course, not everyone premise can be explored in this fashion. I know some folks will find the flick to be dull and anticlimactic at times, but I don’t think director Wolf Rilla wastes much time here. Yes, the pace is very slow in some stretches, but it needs to be in order to let the tension build and atmosphere simmer. The sequel, Children of the Damned follows the same blueprint, but isn’t quite as chilling as the original. The story is different, but the same tone is present and in the end, it feels too much like a rehash of Village of the Damned. I still think Children of the Damned is worth a look however, as it has some prime moments. This double feature lets you check out both movies for one price, which is a tremendous value in this case. So fans of horror cinema shouldn’t hesitate, as two good chillers for the price of one is hard to pass on.
Video: How does it look?
Village of the Damned and Children of the Damned are both presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. I had moderate expectations in this department, as the laserdisc double feature looked good, but I hoped for improvements here. In the end, the images do seem to be crisper and a little sharper, but the same prints seem to have been used. No real concerns there however, as the prints are in decent condition. A few scratches and some grain can be seen, but on the whole, time hasn’t done much damage. I did see some level of softness evident in both pictures, though not as bad as can be seen on the laserdisc. So while not total restorations, these movies look good and are a step above previous editions.
Audio: How does it sound?
Not a lot to discuss on the audio front, although the included mono options seems to handle the basics well enough. The tracks don’t have a lot of age related problems like hiss or distortion, but a couple small instances do surface in the presentations. But on the whole, the audio is clean and clear throughout, so no real complaints. The sound effects and music don’t amount to much, but come across well here and leave little room for concern. No issues in the least with the dialogue, so every classic line is presented in fine form. I didn’t expect much from these tracks and I didn’t get much, but it was enough to make it all sound good. This disc includes a French language option, as well as subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.
Supplements: What are the extras?
An audio commentary track on Village of the Damned is provided by author Steve Haberman, while writer John Briley supplies a session for Children of the Damned. Briley’s first hand memories prove to make for a more insightful track, but Haberman has a lot of great knowledge and his track is quite good also. In addition to the two audio commentary tracks, this release also includes theatrical trailers for both motion pictures.
