The Damned (1962) review

Simon Wells (Macdonald Carey), a former insurance executive from the States, is on holiday in the U.K. when he's beaten and robbed by motorcycle gang leader King (Oliver Reed), but King's 20-year-old sister Joan (Shirley Anne Field) takes pity on Simon and they sail off together on his boat (Dolce Vita) - while on the run from King and his crew, they encounter nine "special" children who are trapped in a cave because they're a part of a cruel experiment.  Generally speaking, the mixture of a (then) "real world" London story and an odd sci-fi scenario shouldn't mesh, but this turns out to be a pleasantly unorthodox surprise that offers a warning about the usage of nuclear weapons and contains a strong performance by Reed, whose character is suspiciously ultra-possessive of Joan ... and it's revealed he's never had a girlfriend of his own (how ... curious).  It even concludes with a downbeat ending: sad sculptor Freya (Viveca Lindfors) is gunned down by unethical scientist Bernard (Alexander Knox), the kids are locked back up and everyone that was exposed to them is going to die from radiation poisoning.  I've warned people for years that being around grade schoolers too long is bad for your health, but no one ever seems to listen....