Review: The Damned

Teddy boy leader Oliver Reed uses his sister Shirley Anne Field to scam womanising American tourist Macdonald Carey. The latter ends up feeling guilty and visits Carey on his boat. Reed is incredibly possessive of Field and comes after them, threatening to kill them both. Eventually Carey and Field stumble onto military property and eventually fall off a cliff. And that’s when they meet the children. Children who appear to have never seen other human beings before and mistake Carey and Field for their parents. Viveca Lindfors plays a sculptor, Alexander Knox is a scientist, James Villiers and Walter Gotell are military men.

 

Possibly the most overrated film from Hammer Studios, this Joseph Losey (“Accident”, Hammer’s “X – The Unknown”) sci-fi outing from 1963 is regarded by some as the best the studio ever produced. I don’t even think it’s a decent movie let alone up to the standard of “Never Take Sweets From a Stranger”, “Ten Seconds From Hell”, or even “Horror of Dracula”. That’s a shame because the rather strange situation at hand with the kids is a potentially terrifying one which could’ve formed the basis of an excellent film. Whether it’s the fault of screenwriter Evan Jones (the startling “Wake in Fright”) or original author H. L. Lawrence, there’s just not nearly enough focus on this idea. If all you require from a film is weirdness and originality, you may find this film more to your liking than I did. I needed a film where it all hangs together, and this one just ain’t it. It could’ve been a fun psycho Ollie Reed film, but even better it could’ve been an excellent creepy kid experiment film. Instead it tries to be a hybrid of both, and doesn’t come off. Fine performances by James Villiers and Walter Gotell are wasted in the process.

 

Oliver Reed looks hilarious as a menacing ‘Teddy Boy’. Instead of the leather the rest of his gang is decked out in, Reed wears a suit and tie as well as biker gloves. Let’s be honest, ‘Teddy Boys’ is the least threatening, least cool-sounding name for a gang anyway. I’ve never understood that one. Silly outfit or not, you can’t take your eyes off Reed here, he steals the film simply by being. Sadly our leading man is “Days of Our Lives” narrator/star Macdonald Carey, the poor man’s Gregory Peck. I found him rather unsympathetic in this, coming off as a bit of an entitled misogynist, and I say that as a fan of Sean Connery’s stint as Bond. He’s stiff and miscast, he looks old enough to be Shirley Anne Field’s father, if not grandfather. I was losing patience with the pacing here. It takes a good 30 minutes for the film to really start its engine and get to the real premise of the film. Even then it doesn’t all come together anyway, leaving me frustrated if not outright angry. The stuff with the kids is fascinating but there’s just not enough time or room for it here when mixed with the Ollie Reed teddy boy stuff that bookends it. I also could’ve easily lost the character played by Viveca Lindfors entirely if it meant more time focussed on the situation with the kids.

 

The best thing here by far is the stunning B&W location shooting by Arthur Grant (“Captain Clegg”, “Quatermass and the Pit”, “Tomb of Ligeia”, “The Reptile”). Otherwise, I didn’t much care for this one. A frustrating film experience where there’s too much going on and not enough focus on what’s most compelling here. Oliver Reed is terrific, but the unusual story with the kids is where this film’s focus should’ve been, not him. A huge disappointment.

 

Rating: C