Village of the Damned

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.

The movie is pretty well pasted with a clever script and some creepy scenes. We also get some good acting from the adult actors and one of the child actors (David), but when we consider the other children, they seem to be creepier when they're 3-years old. When the movie brings you to the part where they're somewhere around 8 or 9 years old, the movie starts to loose the creepy elements. Basically because the children's acting starts to loose its balance as they tend to act mature. I think those children are creepier when they're unable to speak than they are when they try to talk in the manner of adults (eg. the scene where they all lined up infront of the campus, they were muted and still, and that had a creepy effect along with the score!!!). But besides that, the movie does have powerful special effects and some really neat scenes. The movie did a great job on the visuals and the scores!

9.5/10 -0.5 for loosing the creepy effect, but later as the movie reaches its climax where we get the children lining up in front of the cops, from then, the acting didn't seem so weird anymore and they're "mature" way of talking didn't seem to mess up the eeriness.

Carpenter seems incapable of actually making something not worth watching... I have certainly yet to see something of his that qualifies. Even the ones of his films that I didn't expect to love, I've always at least liked. This isn't his very best, no, but it certainly delivers. It pulls you in and doesn't let go until the credits start rolling. I haven't seen the original, of which this is a remake, nor have I read the novel. Thus, I can make no comparisons, although I certainly have no problem with the prospect of pursuing them. The mood is expertly built up. Most of the acting performances are great, including those of the children. The majority of the effects are excellent, and they're never downright bad. Cinematography and editing are marvelous. The plot is well-told and develops nicely, with surprises along the way(I can, of course, not verify if they are expected by those already familiar with the story from earlier sources). This is terrifying, and there are no cheap "jump scares" that don't pay off. The dialog is well-written and quotable. All of the music is the relatively simple(if it ain't broke don't fix it), well-composed pieces that John usually gives us. I recommend this to any fans of him, and to a lesser extent, anyone else who helped create this. 7/10

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.

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?