"Did you hear that?" "What?" "Say, Barbara?" "Did you..." "Did you hear that?" "Could've sworn I heard whispering." "You were reading my mind." "That's all." "My thoughts sound like whispers." "Oh, yeah?" "And what were you thinking?" "I love you, Doc." "You sure make it fun to wake up before dawn." "I'll tell you that." "Frank?" " Did you finish last night?" " No." "Oh, honey." "It's a quarter to 6:00." "It's important." "Thanks." "That's everything." "Helium for the balloons!" "I'm picking up a tank at Harold's right after I drop you off... per your instructions." "Did I think of that?" "Cool." "I must be starting to get this delegating authority stuff." "Well, Mrs. Magoo..." "I guess that's why they made you principal." "I guess so." " Honey, don't smoke." " Come on." "You're gonna make me crash." "Look, I'll quit smokin' when you decide to get pregnant, all right?" "Hey, guys!" " Be careful." " Here I come." "Watch it." "Watch your step." "Thanks." "Okay." "You all right?" "Hey, Jill!" " Who's the chef?" " Oliver." "Oh, great." "I love burnt hot dogs." "Thanks." "So when's Ben coming home?" "Six weeks, four days and... nine hours." " Watch the edges." "Don't spill it." " I got it." "Let's take it over here." " Hey, Callie." "How are ya?" " Frank." "Good to see you." "Hey, where's my helium?" " Say you love me, baby." " Not until you get me my helium." "Righty-o." "I'll get right on it, dear." "See ya." " Oh, you go here." " Okay." "There's Jill." "I've got those receipts here." " Hey, how ya doin'?" " Hey, man, how the hell are ya?" " All right, bye." " Bye." "See you later." " Barbara!" " Hey, Frank!" "Good morning, Sam." "And you must be Cindy." "It's nice to finally meet you." "How are you today?" "Shall we go in and take a look around?" "You're both gonna love this place." " Hey, Harold." " Morning, Doc." " Hey, Frank." " Doc, how the hell are ya?" "Headin' over to the school fair?" "I gotta go to Butler County today, make my rounds at the hospital." "Try this muscle machine I made, show everybody how strong you are." "I should probably just sit in the shade and watch you young guys do it." " See ya, tough guy." " Right." " Okay, thanks, Jill." " We need finger paints." "Okay, I'll get 'em." "Finger paints." "Okay." "Yikes." "Well, a civilian pilot spots the smoke... and then I get here and find two of my officers passed out like babies." "Everything on that side of the white line is out cold." "So somebody starts talkin' about chemical weapons... somebody hits the panic button... and then you people are callin'." " There you go." " Look, there is no research lab." "There is no chemical plant." "There is no toxic waste dump." "There is no nuclear plant." " There's no nothin' around here." " Okay." "Nothing on the news channels Nothing on the news services." " Nobody's got it yet." " Good." "I'm just gonna take myself in there and get a look-see." " Hey, Ed." " Hey." " That's Frank McGowan's truck, right?" " What's left of it." " Lucky you wasn't in town today, Doc." " What's going on here?" "Nobody knows nothin', not even that Fed doctor down there." "She brought this whole circus with her, and they ain't got a clue." "Go on out there and see what the hell's goin' on." "Be careful." " Stay here?" " Yeah, we're just waitin'." "All right, good." "Pull him back!" "Get him outta there!" " Get him out!" " Stay back!" "Hits 'em like a hammer, Doc." "That's all we know." " Some kind of chemical, gas?" " No, it can't be." "The edges of the affected area are well-defined, stationary." "Doc, this is Dr. Susan..." "Verner." "Like Turner, with a "V."" "Epidemiologist, National Science Foundation." " M.D.?" " Yeah." "He's breathing." "Good pulse." "I think he just fainted." "Is Midwich affected by this?" " My hunch would be yes." " My wife's in Midwich." "We tried to get through for the last six hours." "Nobody picks up or calls out." "Could somebody please get me some blood and urine samples?" " What's the call?" " Ninety-eight." "You got one?" "Okay, all right." "Just take it easy." "Somebody get him a blanket." "Barbara." "Thank God." "Are you all right?" "Sweetheart, are you okay?" " I'm cold." " Come on." "Let's go home." "Heavenly Father... we mourn these lives... cut short without warning or apparent purpose." "We search for a reason and find none." "We have become accustomed to the power of science... so when we were struck down, we turned to science and asked, "Why?"" "But it could not answer." "So now we turn our eyes toward heaven... and seek our comfort in God's infinite mercy." "Let us pray." "Our Father, Who art in heaven... hallowed be Thy name." "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done... on Earth as it is in heaven." "Give us this day our daily bread... and forgive us our trespasses... as we forgive those who trespass against us." "And lead us not into temptation... but deliver us from evil." "For Thine is the kingdom and the power... and the glory forever and ever." "Amen." "Did you ever hear of Charles Fort?" "He wrote The Book of the Damned... about things nobody's been able to explain... like frogs falling from the sky, blue snow, red rain." "Are you suggesting I read him?" "No, no." "It's just that... sometimes mysteries don't get solved." "I mean, what if something like this happens again?" "I don't know." "What do I do?" "Can I call you?" "Well, of course you can call me." "Oh, and by the way, I suggest you read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle." "As Sherlock Holmes once said..." ""When you've eliminated the impossible... whatever remains, however improbable... must be the truth."" "It's not possible." "You made a mistake." "Do it again." "Well, I mean, I don't have a problem running the tests again, but..." "I have felt like this before in the morning." "It is just some kind of bug." "Melanie?" "What's the matter?" "Maybe I can help." "No." "You can't." "There they are!" "Hey, you guys!" "We're empty!" "We need some more here!" "Hi, how are you?" "Oh, it's good to see you." "Hey, Ben, this is fantastic." "Callie, look up and smile." "So, Ben, after a year in Japan... did you ever think you'd have to get used to being a dad?" "Hello, Doc." "I said hello." " How long you been standing there?" " Oh, ages." "Liar." "Hey, big guy." "Why are you kissing me like that?" "I wanted to know first, so I used a home pregnancy kit." "Well, honey, you know those..." "those are unreliable." "And that's why I went to see Dr. Cornright to make sure." "Gonna open it?" "Hi." "You got a minute?" "Sure." "Well, everything's positive." "You are pregnant." "We'd been trying, you know." "Look, um..." "I wanted to tell you something before you hear it from somebody else." "There's a lot of pregnancies." "I mean, a lot." "Much more than would normally be expected." "What do you mean?" "Well, um..." "Is something wrong with my baby?" "It's nothing to indicate that." "You're a normal, healthy young woman..." "Alan, don't talk to me like a doctor." "All the pregnancies... seem to date from the day of the blackout." "Oh, no!" "Dr. Susan Verner has flown in..." "This is all 'cause of that blackout, ain't it?" " Just come out and say something!" " They don't know for sure!" "They are all gonna be deformed!" "Why won't everyone say it?" "Wait a minute." "That's not true!" "That's..." "Excuse me!" "That's not true." "There's no reason to believe that." "Barbara and I are pregnant." "We know how you feel." "We know what a lot of you are thinking, so let me say right now... the same thing I've told a lot of you individually." "The standard tests have not revealed one abnormality." "Anywhere." "Not one." "All right?" "Let's listen to Dr. Verner, please." "She's come to talk to us." "Dr. Susan Verner, ladies and gentlemen." "I wanna start off by saying we are all very concerned about your well-being." "But ultimately it will come down to individual decisions." "And I understand that these decisions will be... probably the most intimate, personal, difficult decisions... that you ever make in your life." "However, because your pregnancies... have attracted intense scientific interest... including the National Institute of Health... and National Science Foundation... those of you who decide to have your child... will have all prenatal expenses paid." "You'll also receive $3,000 monthly as an allowance." "If you allow your child to be examined and tested on a regular basis." "Is that $3,000 a family?" "What if your wife and your daughter both have kids?" "Then you would receive $6,000." "Look, I don't want you to interpret this allowance... as some sort of a pressure." "It isn't." "It's your decision." "And if you decide to terminate... then of course you have the right to do that." "You can do it privately, or if financially unable... a medical team will be brought in next week." " The choice is yours." " That's killing babies." "Are you okay?" "Ben's moving out." "Oh, Callie." "He won't believe me." "What are you gonna do?" "I can't keep it." "I mean, it can't be Ben's." "I just don't..." "I just don't understand." "Something very strange is happening to all of us." "You know, they say the... the Roberts girl is a virgin." "What are you going to do?" "I don't know." " You all right?" " Yeah." "It was just a dream." " Let's go back to sleep, huh?" " Yeah." "What's going on, Doctor?" "Nothing." "They have apparently decided to keep their babies." "All of them?" "Why?" "That's a very good question." "Nurse!" " Keep pushing!" "Push!" " All right, Mom!" "Okay, here we go." "Here we go." "Almost." "Almost done!" "Good, Mom." "That's good." "Push, push, push." "That's it." "That's it." "You're doing great!" "Take a deep breath and..." "Deep breath and push!" "Push, push, push!" "Come with that." "Push a little more." " Push, Barbara, push." " A little more." " Oh, it hurts." " I know." "Push." " Help me." "Help me!" " We've got a problem!" "ICU." "Now!" " Push, push, push!" " Come on!" " Yeah!" "There we go!" " Good, Barbara!" "And there we go." "Beauty!" "Lookin' great, sweetie." "Good job." " It's a girl, honey." " Is it all right?" " It's a girl?" " She's fine." "Push!" "Yes!" "There we are!" " There we are." "Clamp this." " Look, here's your baby." "Oh, God." "Oh, my baby." "Look at him." "He's beautiful." "Come on, just breathe once." "Oxygen." "Oxygen." "Watch the B.P." "Come on, sweetie, you can do it." "Push." "Doctor, do you think you can get your ass over here and help me?" "Push!" "Bear down on her!" "All right, here we go!" "Come on, push!" "Give me one big push!" "Come on, here we go!" "Come on!" "I'm sorry." "It's stillborn." " Get some fluid in her." " Yes, Dr. Verner." "Hey, how we doin'?" "Everything all right?" "We lost the Roberts baby." "Oh, God." "How?" "Respiratory failure." "Umbilical asphyxia." "Where did you take the baby?" "I saw you take Melanie's baby outside." "I took the baby for an autopsy." "I didn't want the other mothers to see." "I baptize thee... in the name of the Father... and the Son... and the Holy Spirit." "Amen." "I got you." "I got you." "Let us pray." "Heavenly Father, we thank You... that by the water of the Holy Spirit..." "You have bestowed upon these, Your servants, the forgiveness of sin... and have raised them to the new life of grace." "Sustain them, O Lord, in Your Holy Spirit." "Give them an inquiring and discerning heart... the courage to will and to persevere... the spirit to know and to love You... and the gift of wonder and joy in all Your work." " Amen." " Amen." "You're a good girl." "That's a good girl." "Yeah." "Note how the section of hair is flat on one side and arced on the other... like a capital "D."" "Right." "The texture is, I don't know..." "It's unusually soft." "What did you think when you looked at her nails?" "Narrower than normal." "Any results yet from the DNA testing?" "Common genetic characteristics." "Almost as if they're siblings from the same parent." "But it's way too early to have anything conclusive." "Hey, baby." "What ya doin'?" "You can spell your name." "How can you spell your name?" "How can Mommy's... smart little boy spell his name?" "Sweetie, was the soup too hot?" "Okay, baby." "We're gonna go see our friend Mara." "Yeah." "Oh, God!" "Are you crazy?" "How could you..." "Stop it!" "Oh, God!" "Honey, can't you tell me what happened?" "No!" "God, no!" "I understand there are some recent developments at Midwich." "Yes." "The children are beginning to interact more with the general community." "There have been a few casualties..." "I should say accidents, suicides... that might be related to contact with the children... but no direct physical violence was involved." "I have also been trying..." "unsuccessfully... to get Dr. Chaffee back on the program." "His daughter's the leader, isn't she?" "He's probably got his hands full." "Personal considerations aren't important, are they?" "I think that the opportunity to study these children... should take precedent over any considerations." "Let's cut to the chase here." "It is now of interest to national security... that we continue to carefully monitor their developing powers." "I ask for another year's grant." "Good afternoon, children." "Mara, why do you smile?" "You're trying to hide your thoughts from us." "Just how deeply do you see?" "Everything active in your mind." "But the process that leads to the spoken words eludes us." "Why do you speak some thoughts and not others?" "Wouldn't it be a noisy world if we said everything we thought?" "Okay, I'm gonna put a drop of this in your eyes." "It won't hurt." "Okay, I'm gonna put a drop of this in your eyes." "It won't hurt." "I'm sorry." "Calm down!" "I'm gonna wash your eye out!" "Okay, open your eyes!" "It's all right!" "It's okay!" "It's okay!" "How's the doctor?" "Corneal scarring." " Most likely permanent blindness." " How did it happen?" "Doesn't remember much." "It'll be listed as an accident." "It was the children." "There's no proof of that." "What I want to know is... are the people in this town safe?" "What are they gonna do to us?" " Hi." " This has got to stop." "They don't belong in regular classes." "It's getting dangerous." "The other children can't learn." "I was thinking maybe you could teach them." "They seem to respect you." "Respect?" "No." "They don't even know the meaning of that word." "Why bother?" "It doesn't make any difference what we do." "We need you." "What am I gonna teach them?" "What am I possibly going to teach them?" "Humanity." "Hello, sweetheart." "Come on." "There's no need for you to become emotional." "I'm old enough to do things by myself." "Hey, David?" "You wanna talk about what happened at the clinic today?" "Why should I be experiencing emotion at this moment?" "What is that word you're thinking?" "What is "empathy"?" "So if I have felt pain..." "I should be able to identify with others... who feel pain." "Yeah." "Yes." "Good night, David." "What's the matter?" "Want some?" "I'm sorry." "I just can't hack it." ""God said, 'Let us make man... in our image... after our likeness. "'" "But "image"does not mean outer image... or every statue or photograph would be man." "It means the inner image... the spirit, the soul." "So we gather here today... to remember the inner beauty... of one who lost her hold." "Melanie Roberts somehow lost that image of herself... as a creature made in God's bountiful spirit." "But what of those in our midst... who do not have individual souls... or spirits?" "They have one mind... that they share between them... one spirit." "And they have the look of man... but not the nature of mankind." "What are you doing here?" "Looking for the baby." "The one who was born with us... the one who died." "How do you know about that?" "The baby's not here." "She was taken away." "Where?" "I don't know." "Do you have a memory of the baby?" "But it bothers you." "It hurts." "It hurts to lose a loved one." "She was to be with me." "We were to be together." "How do you know that?" "You've lost someone too." "Listen, I think I can teach them." "Well, anyway, I'll try." "I never told David about the Roberts baby." "Right." "And then he said, "She was to be with me"?" "What did that mean?" "I don't know." "Are they paired up, like a mate?" "Well, what can I teach such bright young students?" "What about human physiology?" "That's at least something I know a little bit about." "For example, does anybody here know how the eye works?" "Do you mean how do we see, or..." "Well, what else can the eye do?" " The eyes are..." " The eyes are the windows of the soul." "Yes, that's right, Mara." "I see you've been reading Proverbs." "I was speaking to Robert." "The eyes are the windows of the soul." "Right." "All right, if you'd rather talk about philosophy... instead of physiology, let's talk about the soul." "Alan." "Sorry." "Can you come to my office for a minute, please?" "Yes." "I'll be right there." "While I'm away... why don't you each take out a volume of the encyclopedia and... and try to learn a little something about our culture." "I know your game." "I know what you're up to." "Ever since you got here, I been watchin'." "Watchin' people leave this town... watchin' things die." "Ya ain't right." "None of ya." "And one of these days, somebody's gonna do somethin' about it." "I don't like the way you're lookin' at me, boy." "I got a gun too, and I ain't the only one." "One day somebody's gonna get up on a rooftop... and they're gonna start picking you little bastards off... one by one by one." "Well?" "Ain't ya gonna do somethin'?" "Ain't ya gonna bawl like all the other little pissants?" "Do somethin', damn it!" "God." "There are going to be changes." "God." "God help us." "The children did it." "I know they did it." "And my daughter was involved." "Now, who are they?" "I'd originally thought they were some form of mutation... some abrupt evolutionary jump." "It was their communal consciousness... but I couldn't explain the blackout or the mass pregnancies." "Midwich isn't the only colony of such children." "In a township in northern Australia, 30 infants were born in a single day." "They all died within ten hours of birth." "In an Inuit community outside of Anchorage... a group of ten children were born." "There were 20 births in a small village near the Turkish-Iranian border." "Each location was remote, isolated... and each had a blackout the same as Midwich." "And how long have you known about this?" "The way I see it, there's three possibilities." "Number one:" "Parthenogenesis... the development of a fetus without fertilization." "I know." "I don't buy that, either." "Number two:" "We do know the C.I.A. Slipped large doses of LSD to men... without them knowing to study effects of psychotropes on gene structure." "So maybe the government engineered the blackout... then artificially inseminated your women with super sperm." "First they knocked 'em out, then they knocked 'em up." "And what's the third possibility?" "Xenogenesis." "Implantation." "The production of an offspring unlike that of the parent." "Or should I say host?" "Come back to the project, Alan." "Not just a matter of protecting your daughter." "As you can see, it goes far, far beyond that." "You have to put this in the back of your mind." "Don't even think about it when you're around the children." " Don't ever let them know you know." " Why didn't you tell us?" " I mean, why didn't you warn us?" " Because I couldn't." "Well, I couldn't." "If anybody else knew, the children would know." "Look, I have spent years of my life building a wall around this... hiding it so they couldn't read what was in my mind." "But as their powers grow stronger, they just keep looking deeper and deeper." "I need your help." "Would you please just... come back to the project?" "We've made our decision." "Discussion will not change our plans." "We will live in the abandoned barn outside of town." "You will bring us supplies." "You can't stop us, you know." "Don't try." "You've been discussing us with Dr. Verner." "What did she tell you?" "You are hiding something." "I'm not letting you go." "You haven't been given an option." "Have you?" "You know, you don't always have to do everything they tell you." " We are the same." " No." "You're not." "You're David." "You're different." "I've come to get Julie." "Have you seen her?" "Is she at the barn?" "Fine." "Are you all right?" "I'm sorry." "You're okay, aren't ya?" "Julie doesn't want to come with you." "Well, damn it, I don't care what Julie wants." "Her mother's frantic." "I'm bringin' her home." "Some kind of big accident, Doc, out by the barn." "Alan, wait!" "Alan, I was just informed... that the other towns with blackout children have been destroyed." " What?" "All of them?" " Everyone, the adults and the children." "They couldn't evacuate without the children knowing what was happening." " The governments gave no warning." " God." "What about Midwich?" "I've been told to pack and get out." "I'm leaving tonight." "Do the same." "Get out while you can." "Another man is dead." "Why do you hate us so much, Mara?" "It isn't a matter of hate." "It is a biological obligation." "You are thinking of what happened to the others." "Then our actions shouldn't surprise you." "We have to survive no matter what the cost." "We are the only ones left now." "I don't see why we can't reach an understanding." "Why can't we just live together?" "If we coexist, we shall dominate you." "That is inevitable." "Eventually you will try to eliminate us." "We are all creatures of the life-force." "Now it has set us at one another to see who will survive." " That's a cruel sport." " Life is cruelty." "We all feed on each other, exploit each other in some way to survive." "I don't agree with you." "I think that adaptation is the key to survival." "Cooperation and symbiosis... and compassion." "Why do you think your own survival depends upon emotion from us?" "Should we pity you?" "Empathize with your plight?" "You should feel!" "You should feel something!" "Without feelings, you're nothing." "You're just second-rate mimics of a higher organism." "That's right, a higher organism." "We're your superiors in our capacity to love." "Without compassion, you're a doomed species." "Emotion is irrelevant." "It is not our nature." "Well, I'm not so sure you're right about that, Mara." "Still, you are aware of the other colonies... so you must be, in some basic sense... aware of who... what we are." "Yes." "So the question becomes, "Should you be allowed to live?"" "You're suddenly thinking of an ocean." "You're blocking your thoughts rather effectively with this image." "We must leave here, spread out, disperse." "Soon we will have reached a stage where we can form new colonies." "You will arrange a method of getting us away from here." "What if I refuse you?" "You are a prisoner of your values... and you won't be able to deceive us." "You know that, don't you?" "Father?" "Yes, I know that." "Make your arrangements." "We must leave tonight." "You're thinking of the one who died." "She was to be my partner." "Yes, it's true." "Without a mate, you are of less importance to us." "And your development of emotions is disturbing." "We can't leave you behind, David." "It is time we resolved this." "Hurry up!" "Begone, everyone who is proud... and bring him low, and tread down the wicked where they stand!" " This is the last of it." " All right, get going." "Bind their faces in the world below." "Then will I also acknowledge to you... that your own right hand can give you victory!" "I'm glad you're here." "I wanted to talk to you." "I really think that I can help you." "Send 'em back to hell where they belong!" "You've got to stop!" "Please stop!" "You gotta stop!" "Sarah, please!" "Hast thou eyes of flesh?" "Dost thou see as man sees?" "A state of emergency has been declared." "Please return to your homes... and remain there until further notice." " Come here!" "Grab my hand, quick!" " Come on!" "Clear the streets." "Unauthorized people will be arrested." "This is a state of emergency." "Oh, please be home." "The children murdered Sarah." "Susan Verner too." "I just found her at the clinic." "The state police are on their way out to the barn." "They're going after the children." "We've gotta stop them." "No, you can't go out there." "You'll just get hurt." " We've gotta try!" " The state police can't do anything." " It'll be a bloodbath." " We gotta try." "No, Jill!" "Now, listen to me." "There's another way." "Now, look, something happened today." "I was able to block Mara from reading my thoughts." "How?" "I suddenly thought of the ocean." "I suddenly saw the view in front of our house." "You know how Barbara and I used to dream our dreams there?" "We used to stand on the cliff side... and in front of us was something so much more powerful than we'll ever be." "Well, that image came to me, and they couldn't see past it." "I know I can do that again." "I can build a wall." "I can build a wall and deceive them." "What are you gonna do?" "The only thing that we can do." "No!" "Not David!" "He's not one of them!" "No!" "Possible 417." "All units respond and echo your 10-4." "Multiple suspects." "Possible 417." "All units respond and echo your 10-4." "41-A." "41-A, do you copy?" "Echo, 41-A." "Do you copy?" "Okay, we're in position." "Send 'em in." "Roger, this is 2-A." "I copy. 241 in progress." "Stand by." "What are you waitin' for?" "You got your orders." "Get out!" "Oh, God." " More death." " Survival." "Tell us what arrangements you have made for us." "Well, I haven't had much time." "It is 11:22." "What are you anxious about?" "The arrangements." "Oh, yes." "Actually, I, uh..." "I left my notebook out in the car." "I wonder if somebody could go out and get it from the front seat of my car." "I am unable to see what you're thinking." "Well, I'm just... just wondering who's gonna go out and get the notebook from my car." "You are successfully blocking your thoughts." "You are thinking of a brick wall." "Why do you keep looking at the clock?" " Come on." "We're going now." " Mother, no." "Take your place." "Stop it!" "Leave her alone!" "Jill!" "Take him!" "Go now!" "Go!" "Don't worry, David." "We'll go someplace where nobody knows who we are."