Village of the Damned

I saw "Village of the Damned" in the theater (Fresh Meadows, NY) and several times since. It's an okay movie. I'm a big fan of most of the films of John Carpenter. This is not one of his best movies but it's not one of his worst either. It's a watchable movie. It has more than a couple worthwhile moments. It often feels like a weak Stephen King movie. The cast of B-listers do a nice job. John Carpenter makes this one worth a watch. In lesser hands it probably wouldn't be worth the trouble.

This movie, which holds its own, is a remake of the 1960 film classic, which in turn was based on the book "The Midwich Cuckoos". This John Carpenterized version is a tad more gory and more colorful than the 1960 version.

The small town of Midwich one-day falls inexplicably asleep. Many accidents occur due to sudden narcolepsy, which is exaggerated in John Carpenter style. The result is that several of the village females including a virgin are in a motherly way. They all have their bouncing white hair babies the same day and as with the cuckoo eggs, they are too in love to notice the little quirks about having to control or mentally punish everyone. Compound this by other villages that fall to the same fate and you have an epidemic that threatens to wipe out the human race.

What action can be taken?

Is it too late?

If he/she were your child, what would you do?

John Carpenter's ambitious remake of the 1960s horror thriller/chiller about demonic children with extra-sensory perception powers who raise Hell in their home town. As with "The Thing", this remake of a horror classic is very creepy and atmospheric. Nothing less is to be expected of John Carpenter.

The late Christopher Reeve (1952-2004) gives a solid performance as the local doctor and all around nice guy protagonist Dr. Alan Chaffee, who unfortunately is the father of the ringleader of the evil hell-spawn children. Sadly, this was his last theatrical film before he was paralyzed below the neck in the notorious horse riding accident. Not to be overly sentimental with my praise, but he really was an underrated actor.

Interestingly, in addition to featuring Superman/Reeve, Mark Hamill, AKA: Voice of the Joker and also everyone's favorite Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, also appears as an ill-fated priest along with former Vulcan vixen Kirstie Alley as an FBI agent keeping an eye on the evil little bastards.

One day, in the village of Midwhich, the whole population and animals faint at the same time, causing many accidents and attracting authorities to the mysterious behavior including Dr. Susan Verner (Kirstie Alley). Out of the blue, people and animals awake, and soon the local Dr. Alan Chaffee (Christopher Reeve) realizes that all the women are pregnant, including a teenage virgin and Mrs. X, whose husband has been traveling for one year. The towners have a meeting to decide what to do with the babies, but Dr. K seduces them with the promise of a large allowance from the government to keep the babies for further research. When the babies grow-up, their parents realize that they have dark powers and soon they realize that Midwhich is in danger with the insidious children. What can be done to stop them?

John Carpentsr's "The Village of the Damned" is an interesting remake of the 1960 masterpiece. The storyline is basically the same but with state-of-art special effects. The creepy and dark conclusion fits well to the plot. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Cidade dos Amaldiçoados" ("The Village of the Damned")

Note: On 03 March 2025, I saw this film again.

Although this remake of the 1960 British horror classic doesn't quite look and feel its $22 million budget and also is somewhat bumpily edited, John Carpenter catches the essence of the story and transfers the eerie premise effectively to the screen thanks to fine casting and some well executed decisive segments. Christopher Reeve and Kirstie Alley play respectively the town doctor and the government researcher who realize a little too well what really happened to the small coastal town of Midwich, California when a strange "blackout" left the entire population temporarily unconscious and then ten random women pregnant with what turns out to be overly polite, bright and self-sufficient children. For a 1990s horror film, Village of the Damned is not particularly graphic; instead Carpenter creates real, timeless chills by putting the fascinating thematic concept from John Wyndham's novel to good use. The film's sociological and psychological aspects transcend the largely formulaic horror universe they are born out of. And the delightful performances by the children, particularly little Thomas Dekker as David, coupled with Carpenter's evocative music make this an effective chiller. It was Reeve's last performance before his accident.