I know that this film is technically considered an American film because it was made by MGM, but I have a hard time regarding it that way. It's based on an English novel, by an English novelist, & shot in England, with mostly British actors. (Although the director was German.) Even though it was financed by an American studio, doesn't it still feel a little wrong to call it an American film?
shareNo otherwise it would've been Village of the Buggered
shareIt is a British film. MGM were the distributors because the British Film industry needed their financial backing. MGM were good for British films in the 1960s. They financed Margaret Rutherford great quartet of Miss Marple films amongst others.
shareThat's really interesting, & explains quite alot, actually. I just prefer seeing credit given where credit is due, & to me this is one of the best quintessential British films of the 60's.
shareI agree. The film has an Olde-English feel to those countryside shots. But credit to American MGM for setting up a British Studio over here to get that product out in the 1960s.
shareYou're right about the way it was shot, & I hadn't consciously noticed that before. There are classics from 1960's America, I just never considered this to be one of them. Unfortunately, the remake a few decades later WAS overtly American, & it was awful, lol. They should have just left it alone.
shareI haven't seen that John Carpenter remake yet. But I know that majority of his fans are not pleased with his American version of this story. It's the same with the British follow-up 'Children of the Damned' made in 1964. It's nowhere near as good as this original film. For me a lot of it is to do with changing the story to an urban setting. And with it goes the charm that the village setting gives this one. And a lot of the menace goes missing too I think.
shareI might have been a little too harsh on the remake because I'm also a huge John Carpenter fan, so my expectations were probably too high. I have yet to see The Children Of the Damned, but it's always been on my list. It's now officially bumped up to the top!
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