One day, everyone in the English village of Midwich inexplicably falls asleep for several hours at the same time. Months later it emerges that all women of a suitable age are pregnant, dating from the strange day. What happened, and will their children be human ?
I must confess a bias; the book on which this movie is based - The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham - is one of my very favourite novels, a short, sharp, stunning story with a killer premise and a gripping, scary, imaginative and exhilarating narrative. The movie is an almost note-perfect adaptation; the pre-credits depiction of the blackouts is one of the best opening sequences in any film, the mystery and suspense leading to the birth and development of the alien space children is terrific and the finale is (literally) explosive. What I particularly love about this story is the depiction of alien/evil in the children. A standard alien invasion story (say War Of The Worlds) makes the threat very external and other-worldly, but in this tale the conquerors are much more domestic and innocent-seeming. This is such a rich theme; the space-seed idea seems curiously plausible, are the kids at least partly human, and aren't children the Earth's natural inheritors anyway ? Sanders is excellent as the troubled protagonist, Gordon Zellaby, in my favourite of his many roles, and solid supporting performers like Naismith and Vernon give the film great legitimacy and dramatic bite. Geoffrey Faithful's camera-work is brilliant, documenting the village with sharp intensity, flowing into the action and not wasting a single shot. Brilliantly scripted by the prolific Stirling Silliphant (who also wrote In The Heat Of The Night and The Poseidon Adventure amongst others), with solid direction by the otherwise undistinguished Rilla. Despite its low budget, this is the original and fabulous creepy kids movie (predating Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist and The Omen), a model of lean, exciting film-making and one of the best British science-fiction / horror films ever made. Followed by a sort-of sequel (Children Of The Damned in 1963) and remade (brilliantly) by John Carpenter in 1995.
I must confess a bias; the book on which this movie is based - The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham - is one of my very favourite novels, a short, sharp, stunning story with a killer premise and a gripping, scary, imaginative and exhilarating narrative. The movie is an almost note-perfect adaptation; the pre-credits depiction of the blackouts is one of the best opening sequences in any film, the mystery and suspense leading to the birth and development of the alien space children is terrific and the finale is (literally) explosive. What I particularly love about this story is the depiction of alien/evil in the children. A standard alien invasion story (say War Of The Worlds) makes the threat very external and other-worldly, but in this tale the conquerors are much more domestic and innocent-seeming. This is such a rich theme; the space-seed idea seems curiously plausible, are the kids at least partly human, and aren't children the Earth's natural inheritors anyway ? Sanders is excellent as the troubled protagonist, Gordon Zellaby, in my favourite of his many roles, and solid supporting performers like Naismith and Vernon give the film great legitimacy and dramatic bite. Geoffrey Faithful's camera-work is brilliant, documenting the village with sharp intensity, flowing into the action and not wasting a single shot. Brilliantly scripted by the prolific Stirling Silliphant (who also wrote In The Heat Of The Night and The Poseidon Adventure amongst others), with solid direction by the otherwise undistinguished Rilla. Despite its low budget, this is the original and fabulous creepy kids movie (predating Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist and The Omen), a model of lean, exciting film-making and one of the best British science-fiction / horror films ever made. Followed by a sort-of sequel (Children Of The Damned in 1963) and remade (brilliantly) by John Carpenter in 1995.