This 1960 sci-fi/horror flick is a unique take on the classic alien invasion/ possessed child tale. One day in a small town in England all the citizens just faint on the spot. Scientist Gordon Zellaby (George Sanders, ALL ABOUT EVE) was talking to his soldier brother-in-law Alan Bernard (Michael Gwynn, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS) at the time. Alan brings in the military and discovers that any living thing that crosses a certain point entering the village faints on the spot.
Then as mysteriously as it started it ends with everyone waking up. No one is hurt, but strangely 12 women in town are now pregnant. After the mothers give birth, the town discovers the strangeness of the children, which all have dark eyes, bleach blonde hair and are developing at an unusually fast rate.
Gordon and his wife Anthea (Barbara Shelley, BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE) are skeptical of their strange son David (Martin Stephens, THE INNOCENTS), who seems to be the leader of the children. Soon enough it is discovered that the children have special abilities to control and read minds. They will also use deadly force if need be to protect themselves.
The black and white photography adds a nice touch of creepiness to the imagery. The opening shots of the town passed out are quite evocative and the kids whirling eyes are creepy as well. The film plays out fairly naturally with few surprises. It’s well crafted and the actors do fine with the material. However, it lacks a certain fun factor that some B-sci-fi films like THEM! have that raises them above the average. However, the film works nonetheless, because it never plays the material over-the-top like the awful remake with Christopher Reeve. It’s solid fare that any sci-fi fan needs to check out at least once.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
