The Damned

Plot synopsis:
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.
Bernard urges the children to give up their new friends, and reveals his knowledge of their secret place. The children refuse, and destroy the surveillance cameras. Bernard sends men in radiation suits, but King and Simon overpower them. Simon uses one of their Geiger counters, and discovers that the children are radioactive. The intruders lead the children out of the caves, but they are ambushed by more men in radiation suits and most of the children are taken back to the bunker.
King grabs one of the boys and escapes in a stolen car. He is overcome by radiation sickness and orders the boy out of the car. The boy is immediately recaptured. King is pursued by a helicopter, loses control of the car and is killed.
Joan and Simon escape by boat, but they are also overcome by sickness. A helicopter hovers above as their boat drifts off course; the pilot has orders to destroy it once the occupants are confirmed dead.
Bernard confides in his mistress Freya that he regrets the children now know they are prisoners. They were born radioactive, the result of a nuclear accident. This enables them to be resistant to nuclear fallout, and so they will survive the "inevitable" nuclear war to come, according to Bernard. When Freya rejects him and his plan, he kills her.
The final scene depicts holiday-goers enjoying the beach, unable to hear the desperate cries of the imprisoned children nearby.

Tags: romantic, murder

Review:
Teen Gang side-story works mostly to take away the focus from the kids and was probably a mistake although it did give Oliver Reed a good role..
But here's what I mean by the characters:The spiritually hurt "old/young" man played (and in fairness, perhaps miscast) by MacDonald Carey, desperate in some way to "complete" himself; the numerous old English establishment/power figures, feeling out of time and place, as if powerless to deal with the worlds changes, still "in" power but somehow no longer; the devout artist, passionate about her work, which in itself is a little dehumanising (there is a great, heart rending scene, where she cries in agony as Oliver Reed destroys some of her art work, that will stay with me for a while); the young girl unable to "become" what she wants, perhaps of her "possessive" brother, who really genuinely wants to protect her from the evils of the world; the emotionless children, full of potential but ultimately radioactive and poison, and most of all the "angry young men" lead masterfully by Oliver Reed, They represent the irrational human, simply wanting to "be" and nothing more.While trying to follow some sort of standard narrative, there seems to be something else going on in this film that is talking about a far wider, human theme with actually makes it much more of a "pure" science fiction/philosophical film than it maybe gets credit for.
Yes, you can look at it at face value and ultimately see it as nothing more than a curious English B movie, but...The film moves very slowly, but its shift from what looks to be a critique on teenagers turns into a science fiction film with a very gritty message about human survival and with its grim ending its something you tend not to see much in films, either then or now.Perhaps I am reading FAR too much into the film, but cold war polemic aside there seems to be something far more rhetorical being said about "radiation" and the death of humanity/culture/civility.
The two plots combine when the American and his girl stumble into the base with the brother after them.This film was always in danger of becoming messy considering how the story changes dramatically half way through, but it actually flows really well and the story manages to keep the first plot running even when the second one takes centre stage.
The themes of the story do get lost somewhat under what we are directly seeing on screen, but 'The Damned' is a very fitting title as the movie deals with a situation born out of the need for a contingency plan in case of nuclear war.
The central cast is excellent with Shirley Anne Field and Macdonald Carey getting good support from the always memorable Oliver Reed.
it took me two years just to find a copy, the movie will challenge your imagination, if you laugh and say it could never happen, you may be in denial, the early 15 minutes of the film is 60"s exploitation, after that it evolves into a more serious study of how far government and scientists will push the envelope, if 1% of this sci-fi drama could be true,   may god help us..
Set on a small and isolated British island community, we're introduced to King (the phenomenal Oliver Reed), his oppressed sister Joan and their docile gang of youthful thugs.
It stars Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field, Oliver Reed, Alexander Knox, Viveca Lindfors and Walter Gotell.
Music is by James Bernard and cinematography by Arthur Grant.The South Coast of England, and a middle aged American tourist, a Teddy Boy gang leader and his troubled sister are thrust together into a deadly scenario deep below the cliffs of Weymouth...Blacklisted by Hollywood, Joseph Losey moved to Britain to continue his artistic leanings.
At first it's hard to accept a "clearly too old" Simon as a romantic partner for a sultry Joan, but as back stories are dangled it's not inconceivable that Joan would seek solace in the arms of an older man.The Children of Light.On the outer edges, for a while, are Bernard (Knox) and Freya (Lindfors), he's a scientist, she's a sculptress, they themselves are part of a weird relationship.
He's mysterious and soon to become the focal point of a terrible secret, she's eccentric and spends her time at her cliff top studio crafting weird sculptures, the latter of which Losey gleefully enjoys framing to keep the atmosphere edgy, the images are lasting and used to great impact as The Damned reveals its hand, and what a hand it is.
I haven't seen this film for a very long time,but would love to do so again.Most of the previous commentators have pretty much covered the film,several comparing it to 'A clockwork orange',but I can see another possible connection between the two films;the actual dress imagery of the two gangs is rather similar,as I recall(bowler hats in both,an umbrella aka Oliver Reed,& a large stick with Malcolm McDowell, plus rather uniform clothing).These 'looks' seem to me surrealist in style,maybe suggesting a link of mindless violence to mindless conformity,and I wonder if this less well known(now)film influenced 'A clockwork orange'?.
Creepy Sci-Fi. The middle-aged American Simon Wells (Macdonald Carey) sails in his boat to Weymouth and stumbles with the twenty year-old Joan (Shirley Anne Field) on the street.
What is the secret of the children and the military staff?"The Damned" is a creepy sci-fi with a very dark and hopeless conclusion in the summit of the Cold War. In this period, people were paranoid with nuclear attack and the British research in understood by those that lived in that period.
I have not seen this film since about 1974 and yet I can still remember the chant of the thugs(a young Oliver Reed and Kenneth Cope of Randall and Hopkirk(My partner the ghost-US)).I don't know why but this film is almost unknown and I don't think it has been shown on UK T.V for almost 25 years.I think it captures a number of issues of that time e.g youth culture,the bomb etc and it is well worth seeing..
It starts out with British Teddy Boy motorcycle thugs from the '60s (led by OLIVER REED) mocking rich American tourist (MACDONALD CAREY) and beating him up while some sort of rock song about leather plays on the soundtrack.It goes on to explore the relationship between a weird sculptress (VIVECA LINDFORS) with a penchant for ugly art and a jaded scientist (ALEXANDER KNOX) who both loves her and hates her for what she is.
The plot gets thicker when MACDONALD CAREY and Oliver Reed's sister (SHIRLEY ANNE FIELD) develop a romance despite her brother's incestuous objections and accidentally stumble upon the building where the weird experiments are going on.It's all structured so poorly that you keep wondering in what direction the plot will wander next and none of the scientific explanations seem the least bit plausible.Summing up: Extremely dated sci-fi directed by Joseph Losey is fairly well acted but the script is a jumbled mess..
Nevertheless, the movie remains a good 'different' watch and I think that the lovers of science-fiction thrillers shall still most likely enjoy this movie, just like I, despite everything, still did.Just don't expect, just because the Hammer studios name is attached to this, that this movie is going to be a tense, atmospheric one.
It is of marginal value even as a historical footnote.I only suffered through to the end because the rating was so high and several reviewers on here had suggested I would be left thinking and pondering after the movie's conclusion.I am pondering...but I am only pondering why I bothered.One star for Oliver Reed, one star for decent cinematography, one star because the final 30 minutes is better than the first 60.
The first story (with Oliver Reed presiding) is not so interesting.Nevertheless, the last half of the film where the sci-fi plot takes over, and the truth about Alexander Knox's scientific experiment on the children emerges, is riveting and disturbing.
After they manage to get out with the children, the Military soon recapture them but the couple manage to escape.Despite its title, this has nothing to do with Village of the Damned or Children of the Damned.The cast includes Macdonald Carey, Shirly Anne Field (Horrors of the Black Museum), Oliver Reed (The Curse of the Werewolf), Alexander Knox and Kenneth Cope.This is worth watching, especially if you are a Hammer fan.Rating: 3 stars out of 5..
He is lured by the lovely 20 year old Joan (Shirley Anne Field) into a mugging by her brother King (Oliver Reed) and his gang of black leather clad bikers.
Widely regarded as his worst film, it is easy to see why; sloppily scripted, casting a nightmare and an editor that didn't fully understand the images he was cutting together, its hard to get into this film as it veers from Clockwork Orange-like violence in its opening reel through to gang thuggery through to opposites attract by the end.Notable for one of the first screen appearances of Oliver Reed, this film does suffer from many faults.
Joseph Losey directed this bizarre crime and sci-fi hybrid that stars Oliver Reed as a brutal gang leader who pursues his runaway sister, who has fled with a former victim of his, whose boat they attempted to rob.
Hammer were the responsible studio and perhaps they expected something closer to a full-blown horror film but for whatever reason the film's release date was put back, (in America by four years and then it was heavily cut).It's poorly acted, (though a young Oliver Reed does make some kind of impression), and indifferently scripted yet it's very strange and powerful and unsettling.
It deals with radioactive children, (shades of "Village of the Damned"), it has a 'mad' scientist, (Alexander Knox), and in this case it has 'teddy-boy' thugs, (Oliver Reed is the leader and Kenneth Cope was young enough to be one of them, too).
First half is devoted to drama of American Macdonald Carey romancing British Shirley Anne Field, who is the sister of a biker gang leader (Oliver Reed).
I thought I was watching Brighton Rock, but then it turned into The Chrysalids or something.If there's something off-putting for me, it's that all the hard work put into the characters' relationships in the early part of the film doesn't seem to matter one whit once the science- fictional aspect of the movie comes roaring to the forefront, with those darn kids.
The characters begin to intermingle, the connections are forged, Simon and King seem destined for trouble over Joan, Freya's isolation seems destined to be spoiled...and then suddenly the quandaries of the regular people all become completely irrelevant as these bizarre kids with the cold flesh but the good manners show up and take the movie into a whole other realm.
A realm of mad science, soldiers in space-suits, and a futuristic secret lab, plus eerie caves, hidden from civilization.I just feel that the downside to creating all this tension between Simon, Joan, Freya and King which is all grounded in regular stuff like jealousy, sexual attraction, and hooliganism (plus some sculptures) is that the movie doesn't need it for the second half, which has a completely different agenda.
'The Damned' is interesting these days mainly because of an early defining role for Oliver Reed as King, an immature and aggressive gang leader.
So when you watch this film and see the teddy boy gangs and hear 'Black Leather Rock' pulsing out from the soundtrack, you might expect something very different.It's a powerful film, helped by the sure performances of the children.
Perhaps Alexander Knox takes it a bit too seriously, that might be the one flaw of the film, but it is definitely outstanding as the most original, memorable and odd of Losey's many dark films, among which this is certainly not the darkest, due to the excellent acting, admirable direction, wonderful settings at Weymouth on the tip of south England, the heart-rending drama of the children and the total realism in this totally unreal nightmare of a thinkable reality..
Beginning like a proto-run for Clockwork Orange, with a wildly charismatic Oliver Reed strutting his stuff as a most English thug, the film then becomes a bizarre, almost dream-logical science-fiction piece filled with musings on art, hope and the pointless of it all.
As to their utility for the plot, it is their thuggish pursuing of Simon Wells (Macdonald Carey) which leads Wells and Joan (Shirley Ann Field) to the compound, as well as King (Oliver Reed) and his gang.
Certainly Macdonald Carey (poor man's Gregory Peck) and starlet who never went anywhere Shirley Anne Field have little to offer the viewer, and Alexander Knox has to struggle with a bland scientist's part.Joseph Losey directed, so we are assured of some wonderful interior scenes (Freya's house is beautifully rendered, with the jagged sculptures mounted everywhere) but the night invasion of the top-secret nuclear facility is poorly executed.
that messed up the film for me.I agree that Oliver Reed was a very nice looking man and he did played the role of King quite well - he was really the highlight of the entire movie.6/10.
MacDonald Carey is an American tourist who gets picked up by Shirley Anne Field, but she's a shill for her brother Oliver Reed's leather clad Teddy boy gang who mug Carey.
Having second thoughts, Ms. Field decides to leave the black leather motorcycle gang led by darkly handsome brother Oliver Reed (as King) and hops on Carey's boat.
Their guardian is dictator-like Alexander Knox (as Bernard), who is seeing attractive sculptress Viveca Lindfors (as Freya Neilson)...The young children have a horrifying secret...There appear to be two disconnected story lines, here.
James Bernard's music, especially the "Black Leather Rock" theme, is very catchy.****** The Damned (5/19/63) Joseph Losey ~ MacDonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field, Oliver Reed, Alexander Knox.
In Fact, in America it was Deemed Controversial after the Cuban Missile Crisis and so much so that its Release was not only Delayed but Edited and Dumped Years Later and Plunked to be Forgotten on the Bottom of a Hammer Double Bill.Watching it Today, it is a Cold War Message Piece involving Radioactive Children Reared in Laboratories like so many Rats.
They are at once more Endearing and Sympathetic than Anyone on Screen.The Opening Teddy Boy Juvenile Crime Sequence, at First Showing the "Evil" Street Thugs with an Incestuous Leader of the Villains is a Striking Contrast to the Real Evil in the Movie that is Radiation, Scientific Indifference, and Government Secrets.It is a Cold and Unforgettable Film that at First Glance seems Clunky, Confusing, and a Hopeless Mess, is Afterwards Ingrained in the Consciousness and what Remains is a Chilling Experience and its Message, just like the Movie, is One for the Ages..
Director Joseph Losey brilliantly combines a story of adolescent thugs (led by Oliver Reed) mugging American MacDonald Carey with a disturbing science fiction story about the government raising radioactive children to populate the earth after the bomb drops.
Few people know of this movie beyond science fiction fans and Hammer Studios cultists, but it is a tremendously moving film experience.
And the sympathetic adults are very well played by beautiful Shirley Ann Field and Macdonald Carey, with Oliver Reed turning in a surprising performance of unexpected depth as a young thug who's got a vulnerable side.
Violent, youthful rebellion is the first thing the camera shows us where The Damned begins in Losey's typical style of exposition (sound and action with no dialogue) as the teddy boys orchestrate with military precision the mugging and gang-beating of Simon Wells, a middle-aged American tourist, by using a honey-trap in the form of gang leader King's sensual but subjugated sister, Joanie.
Rich nice guy Amercian Simon Wells (a fine performance by Macdonald Carey) runs afoul of a nasty gang of Teddy Boy hoodlums led by the brutish and fearsome King (Oliver Reed in peak surly form) while vacationing in Weymouth, England.
Director Joseph Losey, working from a compelling and original script by Evan Jones, offers an offbeat and interesting synthesis of several different genres: The picture starts out like a run-of-the-mill youth gang exploitation feature complete with an insanely theme song called "Black Leather Rock" ("Smash!
By far the most interesting is Oliver Reed in one of his 'bad guy' roles, playing the leader of the gang.
Story about American Simon Wells (Macdonald Carey) meeting British Joan (Shirley Anne Field) in England and being attracted to her.
While they're running from Reed and his gang Simon and Joan come across an isolated government facility by the British seaside.
Inside are a number of young children who are being injected with radiation so they'll be the survivors of an imminent nuclear war the British see coming.Strange film for Hammer pictures.
It starts off as a sociological examination of British youth culture in the early sixties, something akin to "Beat Girl" which also starred Shirley Anne Field and Oliver Reed, and ends up as a science-fiction thriller about clandestine government activities in the nuclear age.
I'm not too sure that I would call it classic but I do think its a very good, if very bleak story about "the inevitable" end of humanity in a cloud of radiation.The plot begins seeming to be abut the youth gang problem in England with a band of leather clad toughs beating up an American tourist who wandered off with the sister of one of them.
As the film got underway I found myself thinking, "My gosh, but this thing has aged." The opening act, set in London of the swinging early sixties, with it's "teddy-boys" in leather jackets behaving like the kids who weren't nearly tough or bad enough to get into "A Clockwork Orange", seems a bit silly by today's standards.
Fine performances abound from Oliver Reed, Macdonald Carey, Viveca Lindfors and Shirley Anne Field.