Village of the Damned (1960)

Spooky world building with a local anchor.
This movie is genuinely creepy, and while this particular version of it doesn't give itself that much time to elaborate on certain themes, it still gives you more than enough leeway to understand how creepy and scary these children really are. The effects are pretty darn good for a movie made in the late 50s and they hold up pretty well given what they attempt to do. The casting and direction is solid and while the ending is a bit uneven, it is a magnificent movie overall. This is one worth seeing.

It has a very tedious first half hour with all the time jumps which for me made the narrative very non-entertaining. The opening was great though, I loved that, and I does get better throughout, I thought the performances were good, especially the child actors who manage to be genuinely creepy villians (and it's a rarity for a child to creep me out). The cinematography was decent enough with a noticeable high point during the aforementioned opening, and the atmosphere was very strong throughout the second half. Some interesting concepts were explored too that are really quite thought-provoking and mature for a horror film of this era.

I understand it's influence on the genre and it's undeniable classic status and I did like it, but it could've been better.