THESE ARE THE DAMNED: the deluded and the dull

THESE ARE THE DAMNED is a weird and unsatisfying mix of science fiction, drama, horror, exploitation and romance, but what's most surprising is that this 1961 concoction from British horror specialists Hammer is directed by Joseph Losey.
Yes, the American ex-pat best known today for films such as the 1951 classic 'The Prowler,' as well as 'Accident', 'The Go-Between' 'The Servant' and 'Modesty Blaise' was also responsible for this attempt to find a new spin on the fear of nuclear annihilation while also cashing in on early 60s British society's fear of Mods, Rockers and Teddy Boys. And all within the staid, respectable environs of Weymouth in Dorset!

Added to this awkward mish-mash of genres is a cast that's somewhat less than to-die-for. US B-movie star Macdonald Carey tops the bill supported by faded Swedish import Viveca Lindfors, stiff as a board Alexander Knox, cute but unconvincing Shirley Anne Field, and a young Oliver Reed as the world's least believable gang leader. Reed, though, is entertaining, playing the part for laughs and interpreting his character as a menacing buffoon with a disturbing hang-up about his sister's (Field) blatant sexuality. Carey is way too old and paternal to be anything else but creepy in his wooing of Field, and Lindfors, as a sculptress who happens to have her studio right next to a top secret government research facility just looks bored.
The facility is the setting for much of the drawn out, only tepidly exciting action, involving a group of children who are being raised in an underground bunker to become the saviours of the human race in the event of a nuclear holocaust. It's an appallingly shoddily constructed premise incapable of withstanding even the most cursory examination. The project is so closely guarded that Reed's gang of halfwitted Teddy Boys are able to climb over the fence to gain entry, while Carey and Field access the secret bunker through unmonitored caves in the cliff containing the bunker.
The only clue that director Losey is responsible for this second rate farrago is the dialogue. Much of it is ponderous, pseudo-philosophical navel-gazing, yawn-inducing nonsense spoken by characters in the deluded belief that they are appearing in an art house film. In retrospect THESE ARE THE DAMNED plays like a warm-up for the more high-brow, arty films that were to characterize the rest of Losey's career, and he is to be admired for succeeding in sneaking these chunks of pretentious wordsmithery past the considerably more low-brow bosses at Hammer.
What this film lacks in entertainment value it nearly makes up for in curiosity value. It's almost worth the investment of your time and attention to marvel at the bizarre mix of genres, actors and dialogue. Almost - but unless you're a Joseph Losey completist - probably not quite.