User reviews

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

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?

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.

Sure, it's not the best horror film ever made, but it was fun. I'm sure that people who grew up with the original would like it better, that's to be expected. But I thought the movie was a good B-level movie with some creepy scenes and a few shocks, and let's not forget the cheese. Most of John Carpenter's movies fall into this category. Halloween was a bit different, but come on, even In The Mouth Of Madness had some cheesy parts, and it was plenty creepy. Most of his movies are just fun to watch, and when they're over, you forget them. A horror movie that truly disturbs people only comes once every few years. Most of them shouldn't be taken so seriously. Pop some popcorn, grab a beverage, put your feet up and have some fun with this one.

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.

If you haven't seen the original 1960 film, or read Whyndham's 'The Midwhich Cuckoos', then you might possibly like Carpenter's remake. It has degrees of suspense, and passable acting (perhaps most surprisingly by Christopher Reeve in his last performance prior to his paralysis), but these qualities are inconsistent throughout the film and it frequently falls flat.

If you've seen the original film then avoid this one, especially if you have read Whyndam's novel too, you will only come away from the experience with a sense of disappointment and feel cheated of the time you invested in watching it. This film lacks many things that the original had - great and consistent acting, tension, and suspense to name but three.

There seems to have been a conscious effort to add gore and violence, and that decision is perhaps the main reason this film fails so miserably compared to the original. The gratuitously graphic nature of the violence directly detracts from the suspense and tension so evident in the original. Whereas in another carpenter remake 'The Thing' the effects and violence enhanced the sense of dread, here they are responsible for destroying it.

There are other reasons that this film is quite dire, one of them being the narrative compromises made to attempt a recreation of the visual style of the original film e.g. the children all wear matching clothes which, in the original, was logical since in England children do indeed wear school uniforms. However Carpenter's US town sees the children uniformly garbed with no reason, other than to draw attention to their uniformity in a massively clumsy and illogical visual device.

Take my advice, watch the original and avoid this. It's one strictly for carpenter fanatics, not people who are simply fans of his work.

My mother turned on Village of the Damned one evening because Christopher Reeve was in it. I knew absolutely nothing about it beyond the fact that there was a movie by that title. After ten minutes I was completely hooked. After it was over I thought about it and realized there were some flaws, but still, while it lasted I was fascinated. I recommend it.

What made the original version of this film such a classic horror picture? A sense of understatement, of unspoken horror. John Carpenter has never been a director to master the art of understatement, and maybe that's why this movie is such a pale shadow of the 1960 version.

The best parts of this film are those that mirror the original. But since the remake was made in the 1990s, Carpenter could throw in grueling childbirth scenes, boiling arms, barbecuing heads, a grisly shootout, an alien baby that looks like one of those 1960s troll dolls in a bottle, and of course, the option of abortion for parents who don't want to go through with their strange pregnancies. In 1960, the idea of an alien "virgin birth" was left understated; Carpenter gives us pregnant women in white robes reaching for the heavens. What happened to the original eerie emphasis on how fast the children grew? I don't recall any mention of that in the remake; in fact, Alley mentions how long she has been observing the children.

The most misbegotten idea of all was the addition of Kirstie Alley and the subplot involving government agents SUPPORTING the alien children. And out of nowhere, in a town that seems vaguely Episcopalian (with emphasis on the 'alian'), a wild-eyed bunch of torch-waving fundamentalists appear to confront the children. All we're missing is a fat burgomeister in lederhosen.

The eyeball effects are good, adding color change to the original glow (which effect, by the way, still stands up in the B/W version). There are no glaring problems with casting or acting either; this was just an unnecessary and uninspiring remake of a classic film.

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

In the quiet small town in Southern California. Something terribly goes wrong in the small village of Midwich. After an unseen force invades a quiet coastal town. Ten woman mysteriously find themselves pregnant. Local Doctor (Christopher Reeve) and an mysterious government scientist Dr. Susan Verner (Kristie Alley) decide to help each other. When the woman simultaneously give birth... and the reign of terror begins.

This is a remake of the 1960 Classic film. The new version is directed by John Carpenter (Escape From New York, Escape From L.A.). Carpenter gives this version with much more explicit violence. Although the original was much more eerie but Carpenter manages to top several key scenes from the original. One of the Highlights of this remake is the Strong Performances by Reeve, Alley, Linda Kozlowski, Mark Hamill (as a Priest!), Thomas Deeker as David and Lindsey Haun "The Leader of the Emotionless Children".

The Remake does look better in Color than the 1960 Black & White original. This new version was a Box Office disappointment. The film plays better on Video than it did in Theaters but it is a must see in Widescreen, especially Gary B. Kibbe's terrific cinematography. Carpenter cut several scenes before the film's release. Scenes like 9 infants getting up together in the same time (Which is a Babies Puppet F/X from K.N.B EFX Group), 8 Children Attacked and Probably Killing Three Other Children. There is good visual effects by Industrial, Light and Magic. Carpenter Co-Composed the film's music.

DVD has an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and an terrific-Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DVD Features are the Original Theatrical Trailer, Bonus Trailer from Other Films and Production Notes. It would have better if the DVD has an audio commentary by Carpenter and Deleted Scenes. We might have these features on a Future DVD but highly doubtful from this Underrated film. One of the few underrated film by John Carpenter. Panavision. (****/*****).

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.

After a city wide event causes all the women to pass out, they discover that they're all pregnant. Once the children are born, they all look alike and have the same cold and creepy disposition besides one. Before long, all sorts of horrifying accidents and mysterious deaths occur whenever they're around.

This Carpenter film isn't mentioned among his best or most appreciated work, but it's an entertaining film on its own that deserves a little more love. The cast featuring Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, and Mark Hamill work overtime in trying to make this silly story make sense and Carpenter brings his trademark atmosphere and mood to every scene.

Not a bad remake of the 1960 classic film. Carpenter did add some violence to this remake... 1995 people are wanting more on-screen, more blood, guts and violence in their films - so Carpenter gave them some but it's not overly violent or bloody. I don't think this film is violent or bloody enough to satisfy most teens of the 1990s.

The story is a pretty good alien story to begin with and I think the cast and crew did a good job on this remake. No, it is not the original but it's still a pretty good sci-fi horror movie to kick back and enjoy.

As far as the children, I think both the 1960 and 1995 films are very creepy kids! I would be very nervous with them around - and the longer I was with them, the more I learned about them the more frightened I would become - if this was real! lol.

7/10

Garbage remake of a classic film replaces subtlety, originality, and intelligence with in-your-face shock violence. This is especially sad knowing this film came from a director I admire a great deal, John Carpenter. He was running out of steam in the 90's and it shows here. Gone is the smart script, tense direction, and memorable performances of the first film. Here you have a movie with a significantly larger budget made 30 years later and it fails to capture any of the chilling effectiveness of the original. The children are not spooky. They wear bad wigs and do not grip you with a sense of uneasiness the way they did in the other film. Even if you try to remove comparisons between the films and judge this on its own merits, it's still a weak effort that fails on most levels. Recommended only for Carpenter completists and those who like their horror dumbed-down.

This is a remake of the 1960 movie of the same name, but it has added value: it was directed by John Carpenter. So, in a small village one day everybody suddenly faint at the same time; but when they wake up, all the women are pregnant. Nine months later, all the children are born and quickly they grow to wreak havoc with their body-controlling and mind-reading abilities. The platinum-haired children simply do as they please, their ultimate goal is to expand their colonies across the globe and will get rid of anyone standing in their way trying to oppose them.

Such an interesting concept all-around. The film features great acting performances by the late Christopher Reeves (in his final performance before his accident), Kirstie Alley, Mark Hamill, and specially Lindsey Haun as Mara and Thomas Dekker as David (I recognized him from Seinfeld). Carpenter really knows how to set the atmosphere; in the beginning there are several characters introduced and quickly you get the "small village" vibe. Some parts reminded me of Twin Peaks, especially the amount of characters and their interactions.

The look of the children, their outfit and hair was phenomenal, it is one of the things you instantly remember about this movie, and of course the effect of their eyes when using their power.

I gotta say, I wasn't blown away by this movie, but I did liked it and enjoyed it. I prefer John Carpenter's other films, like Escape from New York, The Thing and They Live. Nevertheless, it is highly regarded by a lot of people who saw it in their youth and that has a special value, I completely relate to that.

Take your chance on this film; is not Carpenter's best but enjoyable nonetheless.

The original 'Village' from 1960 is a wonderful, eerie slice of British sci-fi. This utter nonsense starring superman does not deserve the credit of being seen. Go and rent the original, remove any preconceptions you may have about old movies, put yourself in the mindset of a cinema goer from 1960 and revel in the quiet charm and ultimately chilling experience that this film delivers. Or you could read the book by John Wyndham 'The Midwich Cuckoos', in fact do anything other than watch this contender for 'Worst Remake Ever'. At least IMDb voters seem to agree - 7.5 for the Brits, 5.3 for the Yanks - this time go with public opinion!

John Carpenter 1995 remake of the classic Village of the Damned is also a classic. whatever what people may have say, this movie is awesome. the late great Christopher Reeve acting are amazing. its just sad to know that its is last movie before his horrible horse accident. but Reeve is not the best actor in the movie. i would give that title to Lindsey Haun. Lindsey acting as Mara, the leading child is simply amazing. this version is, in my opinion, way better than the original 1960 movie. a lot of people wont agree here thought...i totally recommend that movie, since its my 3rd all time favorite (first being 1982 Poltergeist and second, 1986 Aliens). i give Village of the Damned, a 10/10

Acceptable Carpenter's remake with the premise is still interesting enough to watch it , dealing about several strangely emotionless children all born at the same time in a small village in Midwich . The scene is an American village of Midwich in which rare mist overcomes the idyllic coastal location . At the same moment, every single person and animal in town has passed out just as suddenly; some unknown force has put all the inhabitants of Midwich to sleep. Everybody falls into a deep, mysterious sleep for several hours in the middle of the day. When the army gets involved, they find this force has precise boundaries. A few hours later, this strange force disappears and everyone wakes up. The mystery remains unsolved for weeks, but it has a sequel. Some months later every woman (Linda Kozlowski , Meredith Salenger) capable of child-bearing is pregnant . All Midwich women of childbearing age are unaccountably pregnant. And the glowing-eyed children they have will prove to be worse than what they could have feared. The children that are born out of these pregnancies seem to grow very fast and they all have the same blond hair and strange, penetrating eyes that make people do things they don't want to do ; all of them have telephatic powers . They result to be mind-controlling demons or aliens . Meanwhile the doctor (good performance by Christopher Reeve) along with a scientist (Kirstie Alley in a new role who doesn't appear in the former film and doesn't do much sense) attempt to stop their plans of conquest .

This Sci-Fi thriller contains chills , suspense , intrigue and creepy events about some precocious deadly children and their quest of power . However, it suffers from unimaginative account because being a copy from original film (1960) by Wolf Rilla with more violent and explicit scenes and fails to provide the intelligent atmosphere from previous story . Furthermore , it packs better cinematography by Gary Kibbe who photographs colorful scenarios from the village .Suspenseful and thrilling musical score by the same director John Carpenter .

Other renditions based on John Wyndham novel titled ¨The Midwich cuckoos¨ and well adapted by Stirling Silliphant are the following : The black and white classic (1960) by Wolf Rilla with George Sanders , Michael G. Wynne and Barbara Shelley and followed by ¨Children of the damned (64)¨ by Anton Leader with Ian Hendry , Alan Badel and Barbara Ferris . Rating : Acceptable and passable , providing pleasant screams for the viewer . Essential and indispensable seeing for John Carpenter followers .

The John Carpenter version of the Village of the Damned/Midwich Cuckoos is not a success. A previous reviewer has complemented the director on his original ideas. Unfortunately there are few evident in the film, and most were derived from the original film, or the book.

Village of the Damned is of course based on the best-selling book by John Wyndham. Incidentally, it is a work of fiction, and NOT based on a real event. The original film version (1960) was an entirely successful thriller. It fully exploited the potential of the material- the confusion caused by the "day out"; the fear and trepidation, and in some cases the humilitaion, of the unexpected pregnancies; the realisation that there was something truly unnatural about what was happening; the town trying to adjust to the changing situation; the slowly increasing sense of menace as the children grew older and more assertive; the rising fear as the community realised that the children were not just different, they were dangerous. Little of this development is evident in the 1995 remade.

This version was closer to a B-grade horror film. The physical shock elements largely superseded the psychological. Rather than suggesting a slowly rising sense of menace, Carpenter prefers to show a barbicued local. I suppose that this type of film is easier to make.

The telepathic connection between the children- indeed their oneness- was not indicated. In fact the symptoms of humanity shown by David, and his insubordination and eventual flight, are totally at odds with the basic storyline.

The actors and acting were variable. The children were generally very good. But many of the adults were either miscast, or acting poorly, or both.

There were a number of very odd changes to the story. If the children were afraid of being killed if they remained within an isolated community, why move out of town to a disused barn? This would make it so much easier for the authorities to kill them without hurting the locals. The other communities of "cuckoos" were simultaneously killed, so it is immediately expected that the Midwich children will follow. Surely if the US Government had intended to kill them as well they would be attacked at the same time as the other world governments acted.

The entire American government and scientific community was represented by one doctor- whose specialisation of epidemiology seemed rather odd. There was apparently no discussion of what the children were- or where they came from- until virtually the end of the film. Their extraterrestrial origins was then only hinted at- courtesy of a suitable gruesome alien body and accompanying "self-autopsy" by the doctor.

I have to say that this film was a considerable disappointment. A much better result could have been achieved with the material.