We’re down to our final terrifying three days, and for Day 29 we go back to 1960 for the classic creepy children movie Village of the Damned. The English town of Midwich is under the control of a group of blond haired children with glowing eyes. Any who challenge them they use their psychic powers on. Only one man (George Sanders) seems to be able to face the children, and he must find a way to deal with them. 8.5/10 stars
Village of the Damned was followed-up in 1964 with Children of the Damned, and re-made in 1995 by John Carpenter. The children are all suitably creepy, tapping into their powers by keeping their emotions down. Director Wolf Rilla (Cairo) delivers the goods here with minimal special effects and creating a suitably creepy atmosphere. The cast are all good in their roles, and the suspense is maintained even with keeping most of the violence off-screen. It says a lot that this film still holds up well, showing you don’t need brutal violence and gore to make an effective scary movie. The movie has aired on TCM, and is available on Blu-ray/DVD.
