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The Midwich Cuckoos
First Published: 1957
219 pages
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About The Movie
The Midwich Cuckoos has been filmed twice, both times under the title Village of the Damned. The original film, made in England in 1960 and directed by Wolf Rilla, remains faithful to Wyndham´s novel, with a screenplay by Oscar winner Stirling Silliphant. Though the film does not capture the same quiet dread the novel so expertly delivers, its image of the mesmerizing, evil little children is a powerful one. The film has a remarkable cast that includes George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Michael Gwynn and Laurence Naismith.
In 1995, American director John Carpenter (Halloween) remade the film, again remaining relatively close to the novel (through David Himmelstein´s script), though transferring the setting to coastal California. Christopher Reeve plays a doctor who must contend with the strange situation, and Kirstie Alley is a sinister scientist who is observing the new species. The film is dark and downbeat, again without a film equivalent of Wyndham´s unerring narrative touch. The cast also includes Linda Kozlowski, Michael Paré, Meredith Salenger and Mark Hamill.
The popularity of the 1960 British film inspired an interesting sequel in 1963 entitled Children of the Damned, with an original script (using Wyndham´s material) by John Briley, who later won an Oscar for the screenplay for Gandhi. In this continuation of the story of the Midwich phenomenon, the children are brought to London by the government for extermination. But the children are on to the plot and defy the authorities to prevail and destroy them. An impressive cast was assembed for this film, directed by Anton M. Leader, and it includes Alan Badel, Ian Hendry, Clive Powell and the American silent film star Bessie Love.
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