Rent The Damned (1962)
3.3 of 5 from 85 ratings
1h 31min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- The brutality of modern society is fast encroaching on the picturesque seaside town of Weymouth. American tourist Simon Wells (Macdonald Carey) is looking for a relaxing holiday but he is mugged by the psychopatic King (Oliver Reed) and his gang of thugs. Wells escapes with King's sister, Joanie (Shirley Anne Field), and they stumble upon a sinister establishment where nine ice-cold children are being subjected to a horrifying experiment. The shadowy authorities in control of the base will stop at nothing to safeguard their secret, but it is the mysterious children who will doom them all...
- Actors:
- Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field, Viveca Lindfors, Alexander Knox, Oliver Reed, Walter Gotell, James Villiers, Tom Kempinski, Kenneth Cope, Brian Oulton, Barbara Everest, Allan McClelland, James Maxwell, Rachel Clay, Caroline Sheldon, Rebecca Dignam, Siobhan Taylor, Nicholas Clay, Kit Williams, Christopher Witty
- Directors:
- Joseph Losey
- Producers:
- Anthony Hinds
- Writers:
- Evan Jones, H.L. Lawrence
- Aka:
- These Are the Damned
- Studio:
- Sony
- Genres:
- Classics, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers
- Collections:
- 21 Reasons to Love, 21 Reasons to Love... Ingmar Bergman: Part 2, Remembering Shirley Anne Field, The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Brian De Palma, Top 10 British Seaside Movies, Top Films
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 25/11/2019
- Run Time:
- 183 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- Alternative presentations of the complete 96-minute version, playable as either The Damned or These Are the Damned
- Box-set exclusive presentation of the rarely seen original 87-minute UK theatrical cut of 'The Damned'
- Audio commentary with film historians Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan
- On the Brink: Inside 'The Damned' (2019, 27 mins): new and exclusive documentary, featuring Alan Barnes, Kevin Lyons, Nick Riddle and Jonathan Rigby, exploring aspects of the film's production
- Hammer's Women: Viveca Lindfors (2019, 15 mins): profile of the renowned actor by film historian Lindsay Hallam
- Looking in theRight Place (2019, 10 mins): actor Shirley Anne Field recalls working with Oliver Reed and Joseph Losey
- Children of 'The Damned' (2019, 24 mins): former child actors David Palmer, Kit Williams and Christopher Witty discuss their experiences of making The Damned
- Something Out of Nothing (2019, 7 mins): screenwriter Evan Jones reflects on his first feature-film credit
- Smoke Screen (2019, 12 mins): interview with camera operator Anthony Heller
- Beneath the Surface (2019, 26 mins): interview with filmmaker Gavrik Losey, son of director Joseph Losey
- Beyond Black Leather (2019, 15 mins): academic IQ Hunter discusses The Damned
- No Future (2019, 26 mins): appreciation by author and film historian Neil Sinyard
- The Lonely Shore (2019, 21 mins): appreciation of James Bernard's score by David Huckvale, author of James Bernard, Composer to Count Dracula: A Critical Biography
- Isolated music & effects track
- Original US theatrical trailer
- Joe Dante trailer commentary (2013, 4 mins): short critical appreciation
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
- Disc 1:
- This disc includes extended version
- Special Features - Disc 2:
- This disc includes UK theatrical cut
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Reviews (1) of The Damned
Disturbing - The Damned review by sb
FILM & SHOCKTOBER Very strange and bleak Hammer sci-fi/horror movie. Set in and around Weymouth in Dorset we meet Simon (Carey) a middle aged American tourist who is lured by Joan (Field) into the clutches of a motorcycle gang led by her brother King ( a very sinister Oliver Reed) where he is beaten and robbed. She feels sorry for him and in a way to get away from King (it’s implied there is an unhealthy relationship there) she jumps onto his boat. The gang pursue them and on landing by some cliffs the pair discover some mysterious scientific base run by the militery. With King chasing them they discover a secret entrance in a cave and find a group of children who are being held captive but educated via TV screens by Bernard (Knox) . The children help the adults and they are joined by King but the children are all ice cold to the touch and and any interaction by the guards are conducted wearing radiation suits. The adults agree to let help the children escape but begin to fall sick as Knox knew they would….. Directed by Joseph Losey in exile from the Hollywood blacklist he brings his customary edgy remote icy touch which adds to the whole ‘60’s atomic paranoia but with an really strange almost surreal twist to it… It’s unusual for a Hammer film of the time to have an outside director and is a much darker bleaker affair than normal - very good indeed - 4/5
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