John Wyndham‘s British sci-fi masterpiece, “The Midwich Cuckoos” was an instant classic of eerie suspense and true dread, and this big screen adaptation has lost none of its power in the nearly sixty years since its release.
Before remade by John Carpenter in 1995, Wolf Rilla adapted the book with his 1960 version entitled Village of the Damned. Warner Archive surprised fans today with a brand new HD release on Blu-ray, which includes commentary by “Chronicles of Terror: Silent Screams” author Steve Haberman and an HD trailer.
The film will be released next Tuesday, July 31st.
“Infidelity, pre-marital sex, rape, patricide, possession, child murder and more all come bubbling up in the film’s heady broth of British competence and discretion in the face of horror and despair. George Sanders stars as a sage citizen of a midland’s English village that suffers a mysterious, all-encompassing blackout. Upon awakening, it is soon discovered that Midwich’s entire population of fertile females are now all pregnant. Initial fears of outrage and betrayal are soon supplanted as it is realized that a clutch of cuckoos – hyper-intelligent, telepathic and otherworldly children have been placed in their midst. This taut, economical science fiction thriller is more hypnotic than ever thanks to this glorious Black and White High Definition edition on Blu-ray.”
