Village of the Damned

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. (****/*****).