Customer Reviews

Village of the Damned [VHS]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

If horror maven John Carpenter decides to do a remake of a classic sci-fi horror film, it should be safe for fans to assume that it's gonna be great. After all, this is the groundbreaking filmmaker who turned Michael Myers into a slasher-film icon in HALLOWEEN (1978) and directed the highly revered THE THING (1982), itself a remake of the classic 1951 film THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD. So when Mr. Carpenter's 1995 remake of the classic 1960 thriller VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED came out, it should've been a fantastic cinematic experience for horror and science-fiction fans. It should've been. Sadly, it wasn't.

For those of you unfamiliar with the basic plot of both films, here's a quick summary. In the middle of a seemingly average day, all of the residents of a small village mysteriously fall unconscious, and anyone attempting to go into the slumbering village also passes out. When the folks finally awaken, most everything seems to be perfectly normal. Normal, that is, with the exception that all of the women of the village capable of bearing children are pregnant. The mystery children are all birthed nine months later, and as they grow, it is very apparent that all of them have eerily similar physical characteristics. Also, they mature and learn much faster than the average child, which is creepy enough. But the real terror begins when they start exercising their preternatural psychic powers.

In the original 1960 film, it was always tacitly implied that the strange children were fathered by extraterrestrials, but nothing occurs in the film to blatantly prove such. This actually adds to the mystery of the origin of the children, which in turn heightens the suspense and terror...and the fun for the audience. Unfortunately, Carpenter's 1995 remake loses most of this fear-of-the-unknown suspense when it is revealed that one of the children had miscarried, and the aborted fetus, which has been preserved in the office of the village doctor, looks like the stereotypical sci-fi alien, complete with bug-eyes and an almond-shaped head.

The original film stars British actor George Sanders as the astute "father" of one of the mystery tots who eventually infers the evil nature of the village offspring and ultimately saves the world. Sanders was an accomplished veteran of both the British and U.S. cinema, and his talent and experience add a great deal of credibility to the film's fantastic plot. But for some reason, John Carpenter chose to cast Christopher Reeve as the lead in his remake. Though Reeve is an adequate actor who did a fine job as Clark Kent and his titular alter ego in SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (1978), he just simply does not have the range or depth of Sanders and is therefore unable to pull off a convincing average-Joe hero. Add to this the tepid performance of supporting actress Kirstie Alley (TV's CHEERS)--here grossly miscast as a government scientist--and it becomes impossible for the audience to suspend its disbelief and surrender to the fantasy of this film.

Carpenter's remake of VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is not without its moments, however. Gore hounds and fans of slasher films like Carpenter's HALLOWEEN will enjoy the scene where a man lies roasting on a barbeque grill. And though they are not as genuinely eerie as the children in the original film, the evil kiddos in Carpenter's remake can often be creepy little brats, and some of their scenes are quite scary.

Overall, the 1995 remake of VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is a disappointment, and true horror fans should avoid it and instead push harder for the original 1960 film to get the DVD treatment. In the mean time, fans who want to spend an evening with John Carpenter will probably get more satisfaction from viewing one of his other films like THE FOG (1980) or THEY LIVE (1988).

Being that I am not familiar with the story behind Village Of The Damned, or the John Wyndham novel (The Midwich Cuckoos) upon which it is based, I will try to keep my overview of the plot brief.

The story begins with a strange mist floating over a coastal town in the USA, and ten women suddenly find themselves pregnant with children that turn out to be alien creatures in humanoid form with immense powers of mind control. One specific fault I found with the plot is that, for supposedly "emotionless" creatures, these children sure get upset pretty easily. From what I could ascertain, much of the original idea of the story was to raise questions about mankind's inability to accept the unknown, and Reverend George (Mark Hamill) keeps the film consistent with this idea. The heroes, such as they are, consist of Allen Chaffee (Christopher Reeve), Jill McGowan (Linda Kozlowski), Frank McGowan (Michael Paré), and Doctor Susan Verner (Kirstie Alley). The last of these characters is a modern addition to the story that holds little rhyme nor reason except to modernize the script a touch, much like the more explicit violence and speech of this 1995 production. The bad guys are a group of white-haired children who sit around doing nothing a lot on a farmhouse for years until someone finally decides that there's something not quite normal about them and that they Must Be Stopped.

Not having seen the original 1960 production of this film, I cannot really comment on whether this is the best version of the film that one can lay out their thirty dollars for. However, if there is one thing that director John Carpenter does well, it is to take old horror stories and bring them into the modern age, albeit with variable results. Much of this film is unintentionally funny, and much of it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, but the whole sense of this on-screen town being doomed is carried well enough to make for an entertaining film. It is also worth noting that this is the last film Christopher Reeve appeared in before he was paralysed from the neck down in a horse-riding accident, a truly sad situation given his commanding presence as an actor. I personally liked Village Of The Damned according to John Carpenter. Many others don't, but I found it enjoyable enough to warrant repeated viewings.

This movie is one of the creepiest I've ever seen !! It seems so real! I love Mark Hamill as Reverend George. It was a top-notch performance! Beware the children!! It makes me want to reconsider having my own kids. Don't listen to the ones that totally bash this movie,it's awesome! However, if you get scared easily, have a weak stomach,or a weak heart for that matter, I wouldn't recommend that you watch this movie. For those of you that like to have the sh** scared out of you, this movie is the one for you!!!

Director John Carpenter has steeped to beyond the lowest level with this film, which barely emanates any scares at all. I found this film to be not only overly violent, but disappointing in several areas. Carpenter's remake of the 1960 original is bland, yet for some reason, I felt compelled to watch the film. Some scenes are very disturbing (the scene where Alley must perform an autopsy on herself while still alive is the most disturbing suicide/death I've seen in a while) and they are everywhere throughout the film. We get to see a woman put her arm in a boiling pan, a man get impaled with a broomstick, a man burn to death on the grill, and of course, a self-autopsy (yuck!). It seems as if somebody dies every 2 minutes. After about the first 2000 (it seems like) deaths, I felt completely dehumanized - that is, until the dreaded scene with Kirstie Alley. Even Carpenter fans should be warned about the disappointing quality of this film. The children radiate an aura of eerie quality however, which tends to give you the creeps on maybe... 2 occasions. Avoid this, unless you are specifically looking for a bland, predictable, and violent B-movie.

Grade: D

The 90's weren't too kind to writer/director John Carpenter. After pioneering the slasher genre in the late 70's and redefining the marriage of sci-fi and horror in the 80's, he was met with flop after flop, with each successive film receiving a smaller budget than the last. Enter "Village of the Damned," a little-seen remake of the 1960 film based on the novel by John Wyndham. While Carpenter's mark is clearly made, the director's frustrations can't help but ooze through in this serviceable yet underwhelming thriller.

A sleepy small town is knocked out only to find its female residents (apparently all 10 of them) inexplicably knocked up. To terminate or not to terminate, that is the question. When a chain-smoking scientist (a pre-weight gain Kirstie Alley) offers the women a cash bonus in exchange for seeing their pregnancies through, they ignorantly accept. Unfortunately, the little tykes grow up to be little Hellraisers in need of a good spanking. They are mean to their parents, they defy anyone who gets in their way and worst of all, they manage to look sort of cute in doing so. Even Superman himself (Christopher Reeve in his final film role) proves to be no match for the toxic tots, as the film caps off with a match of wits that is, well, child's play.

In spite of his low budget, Carpenter makes the best of things. Quite possibly the director who is best at making something out of nothing, our hero replaces heavy gore with carefully placed sound effects, effective musical cues and other things best left to the imagination. In one scene, a woman's hand is forced into a boiling pot of water to the point where her arm looks like a giant hot dog. Although we never see it really happen, it's one of many moments in the film that will have you squirming in your seat, imagining things far worse than what's onscreen. That's the brilliance of John Carpenter, and why "Village of the Damned" isn't quite the dud it's been made out to be all these years. Sure, it's got hammy performances all around (Mark Hamill in particular plays it up as the town priest) but it's still an interesting little film that goes to show that even at his lowest point, John Carpenter can run circles around everyone else.

For some reason this movie seems to always get bad reviews from critics and viewers. I'm not exactly sure why, but I think that people expect something different from John Carpenter and this wasn't it. They compare it to his other movies rather than looking at it on it's own.

I think that the movie was great, very well done in the way that it was shot and the way that the actors portrayed each character. It's interesting to see the different twist that John Carpenter put on the original novel by John Wyndam, "The Midwich Cuckoos." The tone of the movie is very eerie, with everything shot in a sort of gray, monotone atmosphere. The leader of the children is absolutely chilling and gives a great performance. I think that she really makes the movie with how she speaks and acts throughout the film. People just aren't used to seeing some seven year old look as if she could snap you in half with a blink of an eye.. literally.

The visual affects are awesome. Who doesn't like to see crazy glowing eyes? It's just cool looking. I highly recommend this movie to anyone not looking to rip it apart just because it's not 'gory' or 'violent' enough for them.

Village Of The Damned is probably my least favorite Carpenter film, though I don't hate it. First, it's a remake, and I'm pretty outspoken when it comes to remakes. Granted, Carpenter made The Thing, but that film didn't seem so much of a remake of the 50s film as it did a more true to form version of the original story. This is basically just an updated reworking of the original film . If you haven't seen the original Village Of The Damned, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Second, Village seemed a little rushed, coming out only a few months after Carpenter's superior In The Mouth Of Madness. For those unaware, here's the lowdown: One day in the small town of Midwich, every man, woman and child falls unconscious for six hours, resulting in a few deaths(one poor sap passes out on the barbecue grill) and a buttload of confusion. Shortly after, the women all find out they're pregnant, and they all give birth at the same time. The kids are intelligent, white-haired killing machines determined to kick everyone's butt. The sudden jump from toddlers to ten year olds isn't really explained. Do they grow at a terribly fast rate or did ten years pass? I guess it's really not important, but I couldn't help wondering. Actually the first 40 minutes of this movie are quite good and quite promising. Unfortunately after that, it just doesn't know what it wants to do. It's not particulalry scary, suspenseful or all that interesting. You can only see those glowing eyes so many times before it loses it's punch, and this effect is way overused. The latter half of the movie consists mainly of the kids wandering around and occasionally killing someone while the adults eventually get fed up and take action-action in the form of a Frankenstein-style mob complete with torches. I do get a little sad watching this and seeing Christopher Reeve only about a year away from his accident. He does the best job one could do with his role. Michael(Eddie and the Cruisers)Pare is given way too brief an appearance, and Mark Hamill even has a role as a priest, and also has the best lines in the film("What are they gonna do to us?", "We NEED fingerpaints"). All in all, Village Of The Damned is harmless to watch coz it still retains the Carpenter style, and the first half is actually quite good. Just don't be expecting The Thing.

This has got to be one of the worst movies of all time. The cast looked sad and bewildered throughout the entire movie, and I don't think that it was caused by their fear of the other-worldly children. No. They were terrified of what this turkey would do to their already-flagging careers. Christopher Reeves looked almost embarrassed saying the same lines over and over again for the whole 99 minutes. When the children forced Kirsty Alley to gut herself with a scalpel I'm sure that I could see a relieved smile break out on her face just before she passed on. Mark Hamil's performance was convincing despite the majority of his lines being a string of hackneyed 'these-children-should-be-damned-to-hell' tirades.

Repetition was what the movie suffered most. The original book, the Midwich Cuckoos was an inspirational story for its time, but much of the ground has already been covered to death in contemporary TV science fiction. The movie simply failed to capitalise on adult moral and social issues caused by the unwelcome visitors, or in fact the plight of the visitors themselves. For example it could have tackled the emotional issues felt by the parents by their offspring shunning then subjugating them. Instead it fell back on special effects and elaborate murders scenes. Therefore, the whole experience felt empty and dragged on unnecessarily. The whole thing could have been condensed into a snappy 30 minute Outer Limits episode and had much more impact.

I read the book as a child and really wanted the movie to be good, but it simply was not. Spend your hard-earned elsewhere and let John Carpenter forget his folly.

I tried very hard to enjoy this film, being a fan of John Carpenter, of the original English version of the film, and of the original book by John Wyndham. Unfortunately it is a very poor effort and for me ranks as John Carpenter's worst film.

Carpenter is the horror/sf/fantasy B-movie great of current times, comparable in many ways with Roger Corman and Val Lewton from the mid 20th century. He has a deft touch and usually manages to turn in a quirkily personal vision which is always worth watching, even if he occasionally loses complete control of his films. Like Corman, he sometimes seems to lack the patience required in order to be a really great director.

In his "The Thing" he brought the much loved Howard Hawks thriller from the early 50s up to date, and to his credit he made a film which was both original and also more faithful to the book than the earlier effort, but he completely missed the target with "The Village of the Damned".

The atmosphere of the original book is all about tension, claustrophobia, and the terror that the people next door in a peaceful village setting are not what they seem. It depends on malevolence and an understated, brooding approach in order to work. Carpenter failed completely to capture this on film, and consequently his "cuckoos" are merely nasty and spiteful.

They do not have the required air of unstoppable power, authority and - most importantly - intelligence. The frightening thing about the children in both the book and the earlier film was that they were always two or three steps ahead of the adults, toying with them as a human child might unemotionally torment a small animal. The audience, identifying with the adults, should be drawn into the situation and feel personally threatened, but Carpenter did not understand how to achieve this state of threat by understatement. His style is too gory and obvious for this type of film, which needs a more subtle, romantic or gentle hand in order to work. Ron Howard would be the perfect director for this film, precisely because he does not work in the horror genre.

Think that sounds silly? Well imagine this - a version of "Cocoon" in which the old people bathe in the "energised" water of the pool, but then are "infected" by the alien presence which uses them as camouflage to quietly and methodically take over the planet, rather like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". THAT is the sort of atmosphere that this film should have had, but completely missed.

Apart from that, there are also some gaping continuity holes in the script, and some truly absurd scenes that do not advance the action - evidence of Carpenter's typical haste and lack of patience with his films. What a shame that this was Christopher Reeves' last film role.

Village of the Damned (1995) (Ws) is the remake of the 1960 horror classic with the same title. Carpentener's version of the story is not nearly as frightening and Christopher Reeve does an alright job in the role of the doctor. The special effects feel a bit cheap and the music could have been better. Considering that the 1960 version is a classic in the genre of horror maybe Carpentener should have realized that any attempt on his behalf would never equal that of the original. It is not a dreadful movie but still it feels boring at times and I often find myself comparing how amazing I really thought the original movie was. 2/5.