Village of the Damned (1995)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

John Wyndham (novel)
Stirling Silliphant (1960 screenplay) ...

Release Date:

28 April 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Beware the Children

Plot:

A small town's women give birth to unfriendly alien children posing as humans.

Plot Keywords:

Pregnant | Children | Small Town | Baby | Birth

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Christopher Reeve	...	Dr. Alan Chaffee
Kirstie Alley	...	Dr. Susan Verner
Linda Kozlowski	...	Jill McGowan
Michael Paré	...	Frank McGowan
Meredith Salenger	...	Melanie Roberts
Mark Hamill	...	Reverend George
Pippa Pearthree	...	Sarah, George's Wife
Peter Jason	...	Ben Blum
Constance Forslund	...	Callie Blum
Karen Kahn	...	Barbara Chaffee
Thomas Dekker	...	David McGowan
Lindsey Haun	...	Mara Chaffee
Cody Dorkin	...	Robert
Trishalee Hardy	...	Julie
Jessye Quarry	...	Dorothy

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's Village of the Damned (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some sci-fi terror and violence.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | DTS

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Italy:VM18 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1995) (VHS) | Finland:K-16 (uncut) (2000) (DVD) | Philippines:R-18 | Australia:M | Germany:16 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | UK:15 (video premiere) | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Inverness, California, USA

Company:

Alphaville Films

Trivia:

This was the final feature film completed by Christopher Reeve before a horse riding accident on 27 May 1995 left him paralyzed.

Goofs:

Continuity: Mara's white tights become blue anklets during her first visit to the Midwich Clinic.

Quotes:

Mara Chaffee: Emotion is irrelevant, it is not our nature
Dr. Alan Chaffee: I'm not sure you're right about that, Mara.
Mara Chaffee: Still you are aware of the others so you must be in some basic sense aware of who... what we are.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Horror Business (2005) (V)

Good Old School Film-making

John Carpenter, a respected director among the horror genre enthusiasts, gives us a remake of the classic 60's sci-fi /horror movie. Many people consider it the weakest Carpenter movie, but now, almost 10 years later, it's easy to notice why this movie was considered a failure in it's time, and certainly it's easier to appreciate it for what it is: an old school horror movie.

A year before Scream gave new life to the genre, this movie told the story of a small village lost in the rural areas of the U.S. where something strange happened one afternoon when the entire town fell unconscious. By strange circumstances 10 women got pregnant that day, but only 9 children survived. The remaining children look all the same and behave in strange ways, creating horror in town. All this while a government team studies them.

Christopher Reeve stars as the father of the leader of the children, Mara. Co-star Kirstie Alley as the government scientific in charge of the study. To be fair, the acting of the children was superb, while the acting of the adult characters was somewhat weak. Reeve steals the show, and Alley just seems out of place.

As I wrote before, the whole movie has that early 80's feeling, and I would dare to say that it feels as something made for TV. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it's probably the main reason this movie is not very popular. This old school style maybe was not very attractive for 95's audience, Carpenter would go in a better direction once reunited with Kurt Russell in 96's Escape From L.A.

I have not seen the original movie yet, so I came to it without any expectation, I can't say I ended pleased, but I found it entertaining, although quite slow at times.

It's worth to notice that it has beautiful cinematography, and even when it may be a flawed effort, it's worth a rent. It's one of those movies that takes it's time to grow on you.

7/10