The Damned (1963 film)
| The Damned | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Joseph Losey |
| Produced by |
Michael Carreras Anthony Hinds Anthony Nelson Keys |
| Written by | Evan Jones (adaptation) |
| Based on |
The Children of Light by H.L. Lawrence |
| Starring |
Macdonald Carey Shirley Anne Field Oliver Reed Alexander Knox Viveca Lindfors |
| Music by | James Bernard |
| Cinematography | Arthur Grant |
| Edited by | Reginald Mills |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes (cut on release to 87 in UK and 77 in USA) |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £170,000 |
The Damned (alternate title These Are the Damned) is a 1963 British science fiction film starring Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field and Oliver Reed. It was a Hammer Film production directed by Joseph Losey and based on H.L. Lawrence's novel The Children of Light.
Simon Wells, a middle-aged tourist, is on a boating holiday off the southern coast of England. He has recently divorced, and left his career as an insurance executive. In Weymouth, he meets 20-year-old Joan, who lures him into a brutal mugging at the hands of her brother, King, and his motorbike gang. The next day Joan defies her overprotective brother and joins Simon on his boat.
Simon is willing to forgive the prior incident, and Joan implies that the beating was inevitable after Simon attempted to pick up Joan in a bar. She describes the abuse she suffers from King whenever men show interest in her. Simon urges her to run away with him, but she insists upon returning to shore. Their time on the water is observed by a member of King's gang.
That night, Joan and Simon meet at a cliff-top house where they have sex. The house is surrounded by King's gang, but the couple escape and reach the relative safety of a nearby military base. They are taken to meet the base commander, a scientist named Bernard. He refuses to discuss his work and deflects their questions with vague threats. Joan and Simon are free to leave.
The couple descend the cliff to the beach, pursued by King. They find a network of caves leading to an underground bunker attached to the military base. Within the caves live nine children, all aged 11, whose skin is cold to the touch. They appear healthy, well-dressed, and intelligent, but know little about the outside world. Their home is under continuous video surveillance. They are educated via closed circuit television by Bernard, who deflects their questions about their purpose and their isolation with promises that they will learn the answers someday. The children are regularly visited by men in radiation protection suits.
Although Bernard is forced to keep the children under constant watch, he allows them one chamber in the caves without cameras. The children are unaware that their "secret hideout" is known to their captors, and they keep there mementos of people that they believe are their parents. The children host Joan, Simon and King in this "secret" room and smuggle food to them. Joan and Simon commit to rescuing the children, and they pressure King into helping them. The three visitors soon feel unwell.
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