VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED/CHILDREN OF THE DA

I remember watching these movies on TV many years ago. I liked the movies. Unfortunately, this DVD is DEFECTIVE and will not play. The first DVD/Blu-Ray player I tried to play this disc on flashed the word "FALSE" and opened the disc tray for removal -- after 3 tries I gave up on that player. I had never seen "FALSE" displayed before! Weeks later I tried a different stand-alone DVD/Blu-Ray player -- the second player wouldn't even display anything -- it just promptly opened the disc tray for removal. I gave up on that player after only two attempts. Weeks later, I tried using my desktop computer's player. The first disc player software actually found the name of the first movie; but it could not actually bring up the disc menu or play anything on the disc. I tried two other disc player software programs on my desktop computer -- both of them just continued to scan the disc without finding anything at all. The disc arrived intact -- no damage and visually appears to be pristine ... but if there are movies on it, they cannot be played.

This is a great collection. I'm glad that the overall series didn't get run into the ground, with 10 un-needed sequels, like so many other franchises. The first film is the best, by a landslide. The follow-up, which was several years later, has a different tone. Where the first has a sort of dreamy, isolated feeling, which is persistent as a backdrop to the story, the second pulls the story into real life a lot more. The second has some problems for me, and it's even a little difficult to see how the 2 movies actual connect to each other; I feel like the second one never really explains that. Still, this is well worth picking up and enjoying, if only for the first movie.

I can find no way whatsoever to access "Children of the Damned" Tried every button on the remote for the Blu-Ray player, every option that popped up on the screen. Tried just letting the first movie play out then let all the warnings play out in hopes of the second movie turning up. Nothing! So frustrated! I would have asked for help but can't find the question option on this DVD.

Village of the Damned is simply superb in it's presentation of fear of the unknown. Not relying on special effects, which by today's standard were non-existent at the time, it uses atmosphere and acting to deliver a first rate scare. George Sanders is excellent as the teacher of the alien children forced upon the women of Midwich. The tension of what the children are and might do is tight and builds to a crashing crescendo in the final scene of the film. Based on John Wyndham's novel, The Midwich Cuckoos (an appropriate name if one knows how cuckoos leave their eggs in other birds' nests) it is a fine interpretation of the book. I highly recommend this movie to any fans of science fiction/horror who can appreciate the finer nuances of films from bygone days.Children of the Damned does not, in my opinion, live up to its promise. Like many sequels it attempts to cash in on the impact of the first film but falls well short. As I do not have this films in my collection I am going to buy them

Pleasantly surprised by the quality of the video. The dvd was used, which i didn't realize until after I placed the order. But I decided to take a chance and let it go through. Upon opening it I found the disc was in very good condition, like new. I hadn't seen this version of VOTD since I was a child. At that time it scared the crap out of me, I think this movie was ahead of its time and one of the few really scary movies from that era, it was a different kind of scare value. I lined up a couple of other horror movies including the original "The Bad Seed" and made a old school horror movie night of it.

Despite having a name that sounds like a German-Japanese dinosaur movie and a drastically reduced budget after MGM got nervous over the possible reaction from the Catholic Legion of Decency, Wolf Rilla managed to deliver a genuine low-budget classic that makes light of its limitations in Village of the Damned. Surprisingly faithful to the source (The Midwich Cuckoos) despite the many changes, it's another variation on novelist's John Wyndham's big theme, the battle for supremacy between two species - in this case the human race and the intellectually superior children spawned after a mysterious alien intervention that sees a small village rendered unconscious in a memorably staged sequence that combines the mundane with the inexplicable. Rather than exploiting the premise and the dangerous telekinetic abilities of the children for shock effects (although they do demonstrate them in a couple of memorable sequences), for the most part the film is as much concerned with the twin dilemmas of whether the children are a potential boon or a threat to the human race and of finding a way to defeat or destroy an enemy that not only knows what you're thinking but which is still a part of your own family. With an excellent screenplay, tightly constructed and imaginatively directed with a great ending - "You are thinking of a brick wall. You are thinking of a brick wall.." - it holds up remarkably well nearly a half century on.Children of the Damned is morally and politically more ambitious still, exploring the notion that humans are perhaps far worse than the cuckoos in their midst. Unfortunately it's also very dull, good performances from Alfred Burke and Ian Hendry notwithstanding. There's no real involvement or forward momentum, and it exists in a vacuum - the events in the first film are never even acknowledged. But the saving grace of the Region 1 DVD at least is screenwriter John Briley's audio commentary (neither commentary is included on the foreign issues), dealing with the themes of the movie as well as taking detailed diversions into the effect of the blacklist on Hollywood, the exile of US talent to Britain and the artistic and political freedom that MGM UK's sheep farming activities gave them! (There's also a brief harbinger of things to come with a photo of Gandhi overlooking Indian politicians debating killing the children in the film: Briley would go on to write Attenborough's biopic.)

Most horror films are bad, and the crop from 1960 aren't particularly exceptional: you might have Psycho, but you also have The Leech Woman, The Hypnotic Eye, 13 Ghosts, House of Usher, etc.Village of The Damned is one of the better examples. A whole village falls asleep, and a few months later all the women are revealed to be pregnant.The film was originally schedule to be shot in California, but fear of a conservative backlash over the virgin birth concept delayed production and it eventually moved to the UK. This is probably why it is so good. Village of The Damned is a slow burner; starting on the day everyone falls asleep, the the mystery and suspense builds steadily through a series of escalating horrors.Children of The Damned, expanding on the themes of the first movie, isn't quite as good, but still worth the watch.Print and Sound quality are excellent.

These are old B&W movies with exceptional quality, nothing grainy here. At one time these were damn scary.

Case is not made well. It doesn't keep the paper cover flat so it makes it look almost like it has a ripple to it like it's been water damaged because the plastic case is not solid behind the paper. Makes it look cheap.

Excellent, I would definately buy from this seller again.

Nostalgic.