Unlike the original, "Village of the Damned," this film skips the introductory stuff and begins in medias res, with the kids already six or seven years old, half a dozen of them, spread around the world in different countries. There is no explanation of how they were born except in the claim of an English mother that she'd "never been touched." In principle, that's okay. But in this instance it means there is no dramatic introduction that's the equivalent of those disquieting first scenes in the original, in which Midwitch is shrouded in some kind of invisible cloud that renders people unconscious the moment they enter it.

What I mean is that there isn't a lot of mystery in most of this movie. We see the kids drawn together in London. They hardly speak. Some of them never utter a word. And they hole up with their pretty, blond adult servant in a dilapidated church, resisting all efforts to get them to return to their normal lives.

Why are they there? (Or, let's say, why are they here?) We don't know. They don't know either. They manage to share thoughts with one another without speaking. They put together some solar-powered machine that blows the minds of anyone approaching them with even the slightest of hostile intents. And they don't hesitate to kill people who try to exploit them.

They're both sinister and lethal. And nobody knows their goal. There is a big argument among the military and the scientists about whether they should be destroyed or not, and one of the children is shot dead during a killing spree.

Finally, the community deems them too dangerous to survive and brings to bear enormous ordinance to exterminate them and clobber the deconsecrated church they've barricaded themselves in.

There's a lot of rather obvious Cold War intrigue going on. Every nation wants to take its own superchild and put its brain to use. (For a surreal example of this theme, read John Hersey's novel, "The Child Buyer.") The Cold War material is right up front, but when that dilapidated church first appeared I wondered whether religion were behind the story. It was. The child who was killed is brought back to life. And the children stand hand in hand while they're martyred. I won't get into too detailed an explanation of exactly HOW religion fits in because, mainly, I can't. I didn't understand the thing.

The narrative seemed to be going in a direction similar to that of "The Day the Earth Stood Still." I am sacrificing my life to convince you that you should stop your bickering. And yet, if that is in fact the message, it comes across as if written in proto-Indo-Hittite. What's left at the end resembles the cloud of dust that settles over the now-demolished church.

I'd like to be able to recommend it more highly but it's left me as confused as the screenplay. I think, if I hadn't a clearer idea of what I was aiming for, I'd have left the original alone.

Five super-intelligent, emotionless children are discovered around the world. They also have the power to control peoples minds (their eyes glow when they do this). They're all taken to London to be studied but they escape and barricade themselves in an old, abandoned church. But what do they want?

Not as good as the original "Village..." but this sequel showed real promise. It's effectively filmed in moody black & white and has some very talented British actors giving good performances. Also the kids themselves are extremely spooky--especially when their eyes are glowing. It also shows how various countries want to use the children for their own gain. It also leads up to a (sadly) violent climax leaving most of the questions unanswered. Basically, it's a cop out and that's too bad. If you're going to set up a situation like this at least give it an ending...don't just end with violence (although that may be the point). Some people think this is better than the original but I disagree. Still, I was never bored and admired the direction and photography. Worth seeing, if you can handle the lousy ending.

(Small Spoilers!!!) Children of the Damned got released as a sequel to `Village of the Damned', though not officially and not starring George Sanders. Yet, both films are fascinating, prominent Science Fiction efforts and still some of the most jaw-dropping films I ever saw. A study, let by the United Nations results in bizarre and alarming findings. Six children, from all corners of the world, score unusually high on intelligence tests. It becomes even more remarkably when it seems that none of them has a father and all of them have label mothers. One mom even declared her boy is `not from this world'. While psychologists and other prominent scientists from all over the world search for explanations, the group of prodigies together seek shelter in an abandoned church….Things are getting more and more frightening when it turns out they're telepathic and able to hypnotize humans with their minds and eyes…

Children of the Damned offers suspense from the beginning till the very end, with a few breath-taking climaxes in-between. I rarely saw a movie that has such a constant tense-level. The silent, yet intriguing children are terrifically cast and often they look scarier as most other cinema-madmen! I know it sounds like a cliché by now but…This is SF like they only could have made it in the old days. Scriptwriters nowadays simply can't come up with such ingenious and creative plots anymore. The script is intelligent (with a few interesting lectures on genetics) and the black and white cinematography helps increasing the tension even more. And, if the high entertainment values aren't enough yet…Children of the Damned also raises a stunning ethical debate and it severely questions the statement whether humans are a superior species or not. Impressive AND thought-provoking! What more could you possibly wish for?