the judgment of the children being alien was incorrect, and that the children's cells are in fact human, advanced by a million years. Meanwhile, the children also imply they have arrived at the decision their presence is incompatible with that of basic humans, and therefore they intend to lower their defences and sacrifice themselves. The military commander recognizes a mistake has been made, and aborts the attack command; however, the command is triggered accidentally by a screwdriver – one of the simplest of basic man's machines. The church is destroyed, and the children are killed. Cast Critical reception Howard Thompson in The New York Times in late January 1964 considered it: "a dull, pretentious successor to that marvelous little chiller of several seasons ago, Village of the Damned. What a comedown." On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 75% based on , with a weighted average rating of 5.6/10. Time Out called the sequel a "fairly intriguing and atmospheric exercise in science fiction." References External links 1964 films 1964 horror films 1960s horror thriller films 1960s science fiction horror films British black-and-white films British science fiction horror films British sequel films Films scored by Ron Goodwin Films based on science fiction novels Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Village of the Damned films Films with screenplays by John Briley Films shot at MGM-British Studios 1960s English-language films Films about children 1960s British films