Was it ever stated where these children actually came from? I haven't seen the film in awhile (I'm planning on getting the DVD) and I couldn't remember if the characters ever figured out what these kids were. Were they supposed to be of alien origin or demonic? Or was it open for speculation? Personally, I think things are often scarier if they're never explained. The unknown always tends to be the most terrifying.
Hi,
To the best of my knowledge, it was never made clear. Personally I would go for alien, seeing that there were 12 of them (60 or so in the book). This would hint to alien abduction, as made popular by the X-files and numerous publications.
On the other hand, the ending of the movie seems to indicate demonic posssesion. Maybe both options work for this one.
What I clearly remember is that I HATED those kids. That's what made the movie work for me.
Yes, they were very creepy. I like the idea of their origin never being clearly defined. Thanks for the response!
In the first one, it's suggested that aliens or a higher force or being caused their existences to begin. For all we know, they could be Darth Vader's cousins with more developed force capabilities or something. In the second film the theory is that they're mutants or the equivalent of humanity evolved by a million more years...evolved early, kinda an X-Men type story of telepaths. So either Darth Vader's cousins or Professor X's nephews, who knows.
Sincerely,
Exchronos
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Actually, in the films the main theory thrown around the conference tables is impregnation via transmission (electrical or otherwise). That would explain the defined blackout areas where people lay unconscious for several hours. There were fatherless children in the first film too. It reminded me of Star Wars because Anakin/Darth Vader (who turned out to be a little blonde kid with mental powers via the Force...sound familiar?) supposedly didn't have a biological father either. It could also be that humanity didn't originate on Earth (Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, even Star Trek), and there's a division of humanity on another planet that has surpassed us in evolution while we were stuck in the Dark Ages. I don't think time travel is a suitable explanation, heck, even mutation or Evolutionary Jump Effect (EJE) are not suitable explanations in retrospect.
Sincerely,
Exchronos
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It happenens when the village is frozen in the book. But I guess alien. It is very good in my opinion
shareVirgin births and crucifixion imply divine origin.
shareUm...I don't remember what was stated in the original, but the 95 remake made it perfectly clear that they were of alien origin. I'm assuming that was the intention of the 60s version as well but I haven't seen it in a while so I can't be sure. In Carpenter's film though, it's aliens.
Well I hope he knows more than we do, cause I know *beep* all squared in a box." -- DIVORCING JACK
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The clue is in the title of the book the film is based on "The Midwich Cuckoos"
The cuckoo is a bird which lays its eggs in another birds nest for the surrogate to raise as its own.
The children are either the result of alien eggs being implanted in Earth mothers or the mothers are impregnated by alien fathers.
A lot of the menace in 50s and 60s sci-fi/horror comes from not actually being able to see the "monster/creature/alien". The mind is left to speculate about what it looks like, and thats a far more powerful tool of menace than any multi million dollar cgi alien. Of course the reason the monsters are not really shown is down to the films mostly being low budget and the special effects at the time not being able to create anything more menacing than a man in a rubber suit. So either by clever thinking or budgetary restraints those films stick in our minds as true shockers.
Well, in MIDWICH CUCKOOS it was made very clear it was aliens at work: There is one point in the book where it is revealed that, during the "dayout", someone had taken a photo of Midwich from high up above... and in the photo they'd spotted a large, white, spoon-shaped object sitting exactly in the center of the "dayout" region. In other words, an alien spacecraft. The speculation as to exactly WHY the apparent aliens had done this was... pretty interesting, and more than a little cynical.
Midwich Cuckoo's was an excellent book, and this was a good adaptation of the book :)
shareI saw this when it was first released. I was about eight years old, just somewhat younger than the kids in the movie. I remember that it was heavily advertised, with those creepy eyes everywhere. The ads and movie itself scared the crap out of me. I really think I remember believing them to be alien origin because of the plethera of similar alien themed movies during that time.
I just saw this again on TCM not long ago, and it STILL scared the crap out of me.
Of course I do now have a much greater appreciation for George Sanders than I did when I was a young child.
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Maybe "God" was behind it all.
shareIn the book Zellaby expands on that theme and reckons that perhaps the entire world is just a huge testing ground for releasing certain strains of species basically just to see what happens, who ends up dominating and who ends up being dominated. He is uncomfortable with the theory but given the lack of hard evidence for human evolution he is prepared at least to speculate (somewhat cynically, as nomad-46 states above, that we were all 'put' here at one stage or another and are being observed from above purely out of cold, scientific curiousity.
shareYeah, but then John Wyndham tended to be a bit cynical anyway. Particularly about Man's tendency to do the wrong thing, but think he's doing the right thing, a lot. This latter element is more of a factor in the semi-sequel "Children of the Damned," which also ended with them blowing up the children, but changed the significance of that from a victory of sorts to a horrible, shocking mistake.
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I'm of the opinion that the movie was a social commentary about the demonic evil of Hitler's Germany because the kids had blond hair, arresting eyes and superior intellect.
Now glowing eyes will denote demonic evil but they can also denote a sinister alien.
I think the use of glowing eyes was a special effect of the day to imply mind control.
In sci-fi you have energy beings that can take over human bodies, impregnate them and reside in a human body and then still survive when that body no longer exists but must seek another body to invade.
You have demonic possession in movies such as "Rosemary's Baby"
I'd say the eyes that leave the fire at the end are just the energy beings freed from the body and must find another host (Star Trek)...
Sequel anybody?
I think they were alien because of the loss of time. Loss of time is also part of other alien visitation to earth movies.
Blonde hair in Nazi Germany? Like Hitler's, Himmler's, Georing's and Goebbels'?
shareGreat post, Lady Margaret
Do you remember that line from "Rosemary's Baby"? What have you done to its eyes?" Rosemary exclaims. "He has his father’s eyes," a coven member responds.
The evil child subgenre: The Bad Seed (1956), Village of the Damned (1960), Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Exorcist (1973), The Omen (1976), Orphan (2009)
I'm of the opinion that the movie was a social commentary about the demonic evil of Hitler's Germany because the kids had blond hair, arresting eyes and superior intellect.
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