A sleepy English village is beset by a strange, alien phenomenon that impregnates every person with a functioning uterus. The resulting children are cold, distant brood parasites with a collective hive mind and terrifying psychic abilities. They soon begin terrorizing the community while British intelligence studies other areas of the world suffering from comparable situations. Many, including the film's main protagonist, conclude that the human race is being invaded by extraterrestrial conquerors.
That's the basic gist of Village of the Damned, a tightly-paced supernatural thriller released during the height of the Cold War. Ryan is joined by Cheryl as they discuss the wider gestures being made by this movie. Talking points include the children's hair and sartorial choices, the parallels between the film and its source novel, the interesting fact that the direct sequel makes a thesis statement that directly challenges the themes of this movie, the dubious quality of John Carpenter's 1992 remake, the film's relationship to xenophobia, and its comments regarding adult resentment of the younger generation,
Cheryl strains to reference both Phantom of the Paradise and the Air Bud franchise while Ryan sneaks in references to Iron Maiden, The Simpsons, and the Grant Morrison/Frank Quitely run on New X-Men.
