Village of the Damned (Wolf Rilla, 1960) & Children of the Damned (Anton Leader, 1964)

I had enjoyed reading The Midwich Cuckoos, so it was only a matter of time for me to watch the film adaptations.

I love ‘Village’, it keeps the tone, it’s creepy, it focuses on the prearrival… and it gets rid of unnecessary characters and that daft sex segregation that got on my nerves while reading the Wyndham book. I really enjoyed how ‘civilised’ it all is, there is no room for over the top horror campness, everything is melancholic, as if there they all knew there is really no way out of the situation.

I didn’t like ‘Children’, the sequel, as much. It is entertaining and I love some of the philosophical implications: the kids have no idea of the purpose of their existence and some scientist even suggest they are coming from the future, but governments still decide to kill them due to the potential risk their evident superiority poses. That final line when they say they came here to die is rather powerful.

I really can’t be bothered with Carpenter’s 90s remake of ‘Village’, though. I couldn’t be bothered back then and I still can’t be bothered now, not sure why.

Village: 8/10; Children: 7/10