In a cinematic world where special effects leave nothing to the imagination, 1960’s classic “Village of the Damned” forces the viewer to confront his or her most personal fears, leaving nearly everything to the imagination.

Soon after everyone in an isolated British village mysteriously collapses, the women learn they are pregnant. The resulting children possess uniform blonde hair, super intelligence and the ability to read thoughts. The spooky tykes’ group-mind controls the willpower of others, and their collectivism may metaphorically condemn the pressure for social conformity, a shattering of the “childhood innocence” myth or simply join the slew of Red Scare films of the day. Once again, the filmmakers allow the audience to interpret the meaning.

The U.S. print differs from the original British edition in one key way: the iconic characteristic of the children’s icy glare, left untouched in the U.K., gets optically enhanced for American audiences.