X
- 1995
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 38 m
- 1995
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 38 m
Summary A small town's women give birth to unfriendly alien children posing as humans.
Directed By: John Carpenter
- 1995
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 38 m
- 1995
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 38 m
Village of the Damned
41
6.1
Where to Watch
Summary A small town's women give birth to unfriendly alien children posing as humans.
Directed By: John Carpenter
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
41
21% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
29% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
50% Negative
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
41
21% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
29% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
50% Negative
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
Village of the Damned is a good-looking, well-wrought film with some knockout special effects, some dark humor and crisp portrayals.
The premise of Village of the Damned remains wonderfully scary: that an alien life force has descended on a community, inseminated its women, and spawned a gaggle of evil brainiacs with platinum-blond hair who can read your mind and do funny things with their eyes. [28 Apr 1995, p.3]
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 User Ratings
6.1
41% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
50% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
9% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 User Ratings
6.1
41% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
50% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
9% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Remakes made to make money quickly are a common thing in the film industry. To be honest, only a short time ago I knew that this movie was a remake. In fact, he became more famous than his predecessor, although the experts praised him and said that this film had no reason to exist beyond the profit he could raise. They may even be right, but this movie survived the test of time, and its predecessor did not.
Why did this happen? I think the weight of the director, John Carpenter, had a lot to do with it. Carpenter was able to create around him a legion of admirers, keeping alive his work. On the other hand, we still have Christopher Reeve, the eternal superman, in the lead role.
The script is the same as the original film: a group of children with similar characteristics grows in a secluded location after a bizarre incident where several women get pregnant without knowing how. Children quickly become the focus of bizarre accidents where adults self-mutilate or commit suicide for no apparent reason, as if deprived of their own will.
I recognize that this movie is not the best of Carpenter. It is far from that! But I can not throw it in the trash. Unlike some people, I felt that children were an intimidating presence, not so much for what they could do but for their lack of humanity and for the possibilities they had at hand. The film frightens us more by what makes us think than by what it shows us. However, the film ends up being lost, by embarking on easier and more predictable ways, with the action being more and more banal. Christopher Reeve stands out at this point, his good performance being an element that prevents the second half of the film from being deeply unpleasant.
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When the children in Carpenter’s Village flash their glowing eyes, hypnotizing the hapless grown-ups into committing a series of increasingly lurid suicides, the kids don’t seem much more bizarre — or frightening — than your average 10-year-old Nintendo freak.
Just like its albino-like villains, this Village is a pale imitation. [28 Apr 1995, p.3D]
Awful scripting and an unimaginative approach to re-imagining material's potential have left Universal with a theatrical in-and-outer on its hands.
His take on metaphor is painfully literal, his approach to style is hilariously Hollywood. In lieu of black-and-white realism, we're given visual shtick. [02 May 1995]
This is totally one of my less favorite films of John Carpenter, especially not only for being a remake but because he was unable to create tension and with this kind of stories is obligatory.
The only thing I really like about this film is the atmosphere because it does feels like the atmosphere in Carpenter's best films but the rest is Carpenter's poorest.
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Village of the Damned passing fantasy thriller. When viewing it, you can literally fall asleep. Village of the Damned is so mediocre both in its structure and level of suspense for a thriller that it can hardly be called a whole piece, it's just a set of scenes. In general, the viewer will not lose anything at all if you watch only the first and last 15 minutes of the film. I am very disappointed, this is probably one of the most boring and monotonous films of Carpenter's career. But the very idea of the arrival of aliens and the attempted invasion in this way is very interesting and so worn in the cinematographer. But the realization of all this is terrible.
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Awards
Razzie Awards
• 1 Nomination
Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 1 Nomination
