Village of the Damned (1995)
Genre: Horror / Scifi
Duration: 99 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: John Carpenter
Stars: Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley and Linda Kozlowski
IMDb score:
5,7 (37.273)
Releasedate: 28 April 1995
Village of the Damned plot
"Beware the children."
One day in the small American town of Midwich, all the people and animals suddenly faint for a few hours. Not much later it turns out that some of the female residents of Midwich are suddenly pregnant. The children they give birth to nine months later have an identical appearance and are very intelligent at a very young age. Then when several people start to die, the villagers know that something is seriously wrong with these strange children.
Actors and actresses
Dr. Alan Chaffee
Dr. Susan Verner
Jill McGowan
Frank McGowan
Melanie Roberts
Reverend George
Sarah, George's Wife
Ben Blum
Callie Blum
Barbara Chaffee
Reviews & comments
RuudC
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- 4636 messages
- 2529 votes
The poster of this movie has always stayed with me. Village Of The Damned always caught my eye whenever I was in the video store. In the second half of the 1990s, I only preferred watching action movies to horror. Yet those strange children with luminescent eyes continued to haunt my head. Not that it feels like I'm catching up now, but it's still nice to finally get around to such a film.
I'm not very familiar with Carpenter's nineties oeuvre. I've seen vampires and don't really appeal to me. I'm most curious about In The Mouth of Madness, but this Village Of The Damned is definitely worth it. Carpenter creates a good atmosphere and although you know that the children will cause a lot of trouble, it is a nice print and you do not know how the disaster will present itself. You don't have to do it for the actors. Christopher Reeve and Mark Hamill have never been world stars, but they do it right here. The children act against the catastrophic, but that does not spoil the fun. It doesn't get any sensational anywhere, but Carpenter guarantees entertaining horror, as is often the case.
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Richard_Voorhees
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- 2311 messages
- 2135 votes
Digged up from the collection today. Bought years ago as part of a "Classic Horror Box" that also contains JC's Halloween and the original The Blob. Partly because I always thought the poster with those children with luminescent eyes looked very cheesy, I never had a huge desire to see it.
Still, I have to admit that I didn't like it at all. I was not familiar with the original 1960 film and this story was 'new' for me.
When the women all turn out to be pregnant after a blackout, the viewer starts to suspect what is going on here.
Partly due to the strong acting of the children and a strong role by Christopher Reeve, the film remains entertaining from start to finish.
The soundtrack of Carpenter is again quite successful and the atmosphere that is sometimes created reminds me of King films such as Children of the Corn and Silver Bullet. Here too we are dealing with a small American community in which faith is still quite central.
Overall a pretty decent film, even though I thought those glowing eyes got a bit "too much" especially at the end. 
Nice for those who appreciate Carpenter's work.
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baspls
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- 4118 messages
- 1673 votes
"What is that word you're thinking? What is empathy?... So if I have felt pain I should be able to identify with others who feel pain."
Another remake from horror master John Carpenter, though perhaps he could have picked a more interesting film to re-imagine.
Mysteriously, everyone in the village of Midwich faints. When the people wake up again, all the women are found to be pregnant, and strange children are born...
Christopher Reeve in his last role before his horse riding accident that left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. This is certainly not his best role, but I thought he acted well, especially in the emotional scenes. Kirstie Alley (Star Trek II) also did a great job and Mark Hamil was very funny to see again after Star Wars. The demonic children only played cringingly bad, clearly repeating what Carpenter told them a second earlier.
I didn't think the kids turned out very well with their wigs and their CGI eyes. And how they took possession of the villagers was quite laughable. Of course in a 60s black and white horror no problem at all, but in a 90s film it is actually no longer possible.
The soundtrack of Carpenter was again successful and the images were also very beautiful. Especially if not much happens and the children are not in the picture, the film is not nearly so bad.
Entertaining film to watch once, but it doesn't compare to Carpenter's previous work.
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Insignificance
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- 3220 messages
- 5589 votes
My 17th Carpenter and it ends somewhere in the middle of his oeuvre. Only once in a while you get the idea of watching a movie of his. Strikingly enough, the music during the opening is the most penetrating thing you will hear. It feels a bit like a mandatory number. Doesn't alter the fact that the story, provided you enter the film blank, as far as that is still possible, will keep it going for some time. Every once in a while it at least has something new to offer.
From a blackout to collective pregnancies and more, while a much too plucky Kirstie Alley makes an appearance. Came across quite ridiculous, but hey, the kids are pretty creepy. It's a pity that their trick is repeated a bit too much and the scenario no longer manages to turn it around when the final comes along. Once that has played the cards, there isn't much left. All in all just a bit too tame and too colorless. Despite her.
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scorsese
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- 13573 messages
- 11361 votes
Mediocre film in which all the women of a village become pregnant at the same time due to an inexplicable event. This remake certainly does not compare to the original 1960. Mainly because the film is less subtly brought, which still makes part of the mystery and the tension is lost. There are a few nice moments and the atmosphere is also quite good.
Nice detail: the original doesn't talk about abortion at all.
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filmfan0511
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- 1123 messages
- 1156 votes
Village of the Damned can't really be called bad, I at least entertained myself for an hour and a half, but the sky-high level that Carpenter tapped in the 70s and 80s is clearly missing here . It's a bit too campy at times (if you see the poster, you already know enough), and the main problem is that there is a little bit of atmosphere in the film. And that with a director at the helm who is mainly known for his atmosphere creation, which is a bit of a shame. Nevertheless, there are some cool and cool individual scenes in it, like the blackout at the beginning with all those shots of the fallen people, or whenever the kids encourage someone to commit suicide[/spoiler ]. There is essentially no bad movie buried under the flaws and bad decisions. The cast is also quite nice, with good roles for Reeve and Mark Hamill. The child actors have to look very forced, but they don't even stand out in a negative sense. The music is okay as always in a Carpenter movie.
I'm not really familiar with Carpenter's 90s work yet (except for the great In the Mouth of Madness), but if this Village of the Damned is any indication, I don't expect to come across any real masterpieces by the best man anymore. But I could be wrong about that, we'll see. If there had been a better build-up of tension and, above all, more atmosphere, this would have even been on a high level. Now only a small 3*.
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