Village of the Damned (1995)

A small town's women give birth to unfriendly alien children posing as humans.

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

John Wyndham (book), Stirling Silliphant

Stars:

Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Reeve	...	Dr. Alan Chaffee
Kirstie Alley	...	Dr. Susan Verner
Linda Kozlowski	...	Jill McGowan
Michael Paré	...	Frank McGowan
Meredith Salenger	...	Melanie Roberts
Mark Hamill	...	Reverend George
Pippa Pearthree	...	Sarah, George's Wife
Peter Jason	...	Ben Blum
Constance Forslund	...	Callie Blum
Karen Kahn	...	Barbara Chaffee
Thomas Dekker	...	David McGowan
Lindsey Haun	...	Mara Chaffee
Cody Dorkin	...	Robert
Trishalee Hardy	...	Julie
Jessye Quarry	...	Dorothy

Storyline

An American village is visited by some unknown life form which leaves the women of the village pregnant. Nine months later, the babies are born, and they all look normal, but it doesn't take the "parents" long to realize that the kids are not human or humane.

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Plot Keywords:

alien | small town | alien life form | paranormal phenomena | world domination | 

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Taglines:

Beware the Children

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sci-fi terror and violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 April 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's Village of the Damned

Filming Locations:

Kirsting Court, Sierra Madre, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,222,450, 30 April 1995

Gross USA:

$9,418,365

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$9,418,365

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Alphaville Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo DTS Dolby SR Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was shot in western Marin County, California. Director John Carpenter had a house in Inverness for several years, so the location was essentially his second home at that time (as the director puts it, "his own backyard"). However, the locals were not happy to see the film crew in the area so they made the shoot very difficult by harassment and vandalism. Carpenter tells that while they were filming, for example, a sound take, a neighbor would start mowing his lawn or start up a chainsaw until he was paid to stop. Some of the people even tried to break into the equipment trucks. The whole experience essentially soured Carpenter on living in the area, where several scenes of his earlier film The Fog (1980) were also filmed.

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Goofs

Baby Mara, has dark brown eyes, older Mara has light blue eyes.

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Quotes

Mara Chaffee: You are thinking of the one who died
David McGowan: She was to be my partner
Mara Chaffee: Yes it's true. Without a mate you are of less importance to us and your development of emotions is disturbing. We can't leave you behind David, it's time we resolved this.

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Connections

Featured in It Takes a Village: The Making of Village of the Damned (2016)

User Reviews

Good Old School Film-making

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