SCARY MONSTERS #139: MONSTERS KIDS FOR MONSTER KIDS

Scary Monsters #139 is a monster-kid treat that caters to monster-movie kids ("Chilling Children, Awful Adolescents and Terrible Teens," that is), packaged by Scott Jackson's vibrant, Village of the Damned, front cover and his terrific, back-cover collage celebrating the petulant personas of The Good Son, The Bad Seed, Bad Ronald and Twilight Zone's "It's a Good Life." 

But that's not all when it comes to youthful terrors, for Issue #139 commemorates Village of the Damned 1995, Children of the Damned, (These are) the Damned, The Innocents, The Omen 1976, Carrie 1976, Horror High (aka Twisted Brain), The Children, Death is Child's Play, Come Out and Play, Ruby and Untamed Youth, along with a historic look of the lethal Leopold and Loeb.

For added, demented fun, Issue #139 sports articles on The Horror of Frankenstein and Phantom of the Opera 1925 (as it reaches its 100th-year mark) and essays on such Jekyll/Hyde variants as the Incredible Hulk and Batman's Harvey (Two-Face) Dent, as well as shape-shifting entities (e.g. X-Men's Mystique and The Hideous Sun Demon), embellished by "50 Wonderful Things About Dracula" (adorned, no less, by nifty, Lugosi photos), plus creepy cartoons ("Roomies from the Tomb" and "Burn Notice") and those reliable, Scary Monsters' staples, "Kaiju Corner", "Secret Photo," "Caption This," "Monster Kid Trivia Quiz" and "Trilogy of Terror."

This 150-page treasure chest of chills and thrills is certainly worth having and can be purchased at  

https://www.mymoviemonsters.com/store.php/mymoviemonsters/pd10887339/_scary_monsters_139__chilling_children_awful_adolescents__preorder_for_june#images

I saw The Midwich Cuckoos: Village of the Damned (An Afterthought)

Sky Max's The Midwich Cuckoos (Village of the Damned) miniseries (as shown on AMC+) often reminded me more of Children of the Damned, the 1964 sequel to the 1960, film adaptation of John Wyndham's novel about strange, brainiac youngsters intent on taking over the bloody world. 

The children, with that sequel, as well as the latest, seven-chapter incarnation, are multiethnic (more varied in a sort of U.N. fashion), thus taking away the Hitler Youth/Aryan Race allegory, though keeping the anti-Immaculate Conception basis intact ... well, sort of. The Midwich Cuckoos series, like Children ..., downplays demonic/extraterrestrial intervention as a cause, though we all suspect there's something malignant at play in the worst otherworldly way. 

Keeping a bit of mystery in the fable works better for me, as opposed to the actual cause being confirmed, as in John Carpenter's 1995 remake, where Kirstie Alley shows Christopher Reeve the little, big-headed aliens that caused the whole, bratty scheme.

At any rate, I believe that writer David (Troy: Fall of a City/Hanna) Farr's Midwich series stuck close enough to the Wyndham's core, enough to be acceptable and appreciated by those who've enjoyed what's come before. Sure, the new version is padded (a criticism that some have expressed), but just like a novel that offers extended insight into causes and effects, this Midwich achieves just that (even bringing in some parental legality for realism's sake). If one were to grow weary of any of its interludes, one could easily enough fast-forward past them (or zone out during them) until another mentalist calamity should grab one's attention. 

Will there be more to this Midwich retelling? Considering that we didn't get the obligatory, brick-wall ending (even though we got a wee taste of such via a bus ride in the "finale"), I suppose we could and should be treated to it. There's definitely more to show and tell here, and if the children are shown getting older, smarter ... deadlier, all the more reason to extrapolate their we-know-what's-best-for-you control. On the other hand, Samuel West's character, Bernard Westcott, offers a backstory yet to be explored. A prequel, in this respect, could perform just as well, maybe even better than a leap forward. 

AMC PRESENTS SKY MAX'S THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS (VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED: THE SERIES)

John (The Day of the Triffids) Wyndham's novel, The Midwich Cuckoos, was filmed previously as The Village of the Damned in 1960 and under the same name in 1995, with the initial spawning a sequel, Children of the Damned in 1964. Now, we get a series based on the concept, but instead of strange kids sporting fair hair, they're brunettes (and as in Children ..., multiethnic), but no less threatening for it.  

The idea is the Immaculate Conception reversed, with a group of women becoming pregnant during a mysterious blackout and birthing entities that are more intent to rule than care about human strife. Is the infestation demonic, extraterrestrial or both? (The John Carpenter remake confirms the alien link.) No matter how one slices it, in their Hitler Jugend ramifications, these kids are frightening.

As in the novel and the Wolf Rilla's 1960 version, the series is British based, produced by Sky Max, created by David (Troy: Fall of a City) Farr and stars Keeley Hawles, Aisling Loftus, Synnove Karlsen, Louis Reeves, Ukweli Roach, Lara Rossi, India Armeteifio, Max Beesley, Jade Harrison, Billie Gadsdon, Kaylen Luke and Kimia Lamour. Advance word from the U.K. conveys that the performances hit the mark, and therefore the characters do, as well. 

I don't know how much mileage the concept will get being stretched into seven, hour-long segments, but I'm hoping it'll cover the necessary socio-political/dystopic themes of the previous editions. If so, The Midwich Cuckoos update should offer worth-while food for thought, along with all those expected chills. 

(The Midwich Cuckoos premieres on AMC+ on October 17.)