All Rise...

Judge Patrick Naugle fears albino children.

Editor's Note

Our reviews of John Carpenter: Master Of Fear Collection (published September 18th, 2009) and Village Of The Damned / Children Of The Damned (published February 22nd, 2005) are also available.

The Charge

Fear the children.

The Case

For my money, there may be no other filmmaker whose work I admire more than writer/director/composer John Carpenter. It could be argued there are directors whose work is more respected or has more prestige, but you'll be hard pressed to find a director whose work is more entertaining than John Carpenter. Almost all of Carpenter's movies are filled with something interesting, be it aliens (The Thing, Starman, They Live), action heroes (Escape from New York, Ghosts of Mars) or malevolent forces from beyond the grave (Halloween, Prince of Darkness). A reevaluation of Carpenter's work shows that he was consistent in his films, rarely making any major missteps along the way (and when he did, as in the case of The Thing, he was vindicated by the passage of time). Even in what is considered the weakest of Carpenter's work—Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Vampires—there is still enough good stuff to make it worth a viewing.

Unfortunately, almost every filmmaker has to have at least a few clunkers in their filmography, and for Carpenter those two films are easy to spot. The least of Carpenter's efforts is what will sadly most likely be the filmmaker's final effort, 2010's anemic The Ward, which bears little of Carpenter's unique fingerprints. Carpenter's second worst film is his remake of the 1960 classic of the same name, 1995's Village of the Damned. Carpenter's retooling of that creepy sci-fi flick featured an odd cast and a plot that moves at an absolute snail's pace. There are moments where it's hard to believe this is the same guy who gave us Snake Plisskin and Michael Meyers.

Carpenter's Village of the Damned takes place in Midwich, California, following a strange event wherein a mysterious force knocks most of the town unconscious all at once. Once awoken, 10 of the town's women give birth simultaneously to children who all seem to have the same malady: abnormal growth rate, stark white hair, and an ability to read people's minds (as well as control them). The children's behavior has baffled the town's doctor (Christopher Reeve, Superman), as well as a government epidemiologist (Kristie Alley, Look Who's Talking) sent to investigate the the bizarre events.

While Village of the Damned isn't unwatchable, I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who really likes the film. Upon it's release in 1995 the film bombed theatrically (pulling in less than half its budget) and was torn apart by critics. The problems with Village of the Damned are many: square-jawed Christopher Reeves (in his last film role before his horse riding accident that paralyzed him) and a sultry looking Kristie Alley don't make for very interesting leads (Alley looks especially like a fish-out-of-water as a government agent). The supporting cast—filled with interesting character actors like Mark Hamill (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Linda Kozlowski (Crocodile Dundee), and Michael Pare (Eddie and The Cruisers)—are wasted on either small roles or roles that don't give the actors much to work with.

The choice to film this remake in color (the original 1960 film was in black and white) betrays the make-up effects; the children's stark, snow white hair comes close to looking ridiculous, not scary. Much of Carpenter's signature style is muted or non-existent, most likely due to studio interference. Although the film is certainly more violent than its predecessor (which relied more on atmosphere and sound than visual horror), that's not necessarily a good thing—the blood and gore by KNB Effects Group in the 1995 version of Village of the Damned seems to exist to satiate those looking for special effects, not to service the screenplay or story. There are, however, a lot of cars blowing up for some reason, so let's consider that to be small consolation.

In one interview John Carpenter noted that Village of the Damned was a film that he made under a "contractual obligation" with Universal Studios and that he wasn't very passionate about the end product. It shows. Village of the Damned feels as if it was made by committee, a film that doesn't have much reason for being except to capitalize on the 1960 original. As a die hard John Carpenter fan, I want to love this as much as Carpenter's other films (heck, I even have a soft spot for Ghosts of Mars), but alas I couldn't bring myself to feel anything more than disappointment.

Village of the Damned (Blu-ray) Collector's Edition is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen in 1080p high definition. Say what you will about the film itself, but Scream Factory offers up a great looking transfer to the Universal title. Colors are vibrant and while black levels appear sharp and inky dark. There's a very fine level of grain in the transfer and blemishes/imperfections are kept at the bare minimum. Fans of the film will be thrilled with how pleasing Village of the Damned looks on Blu-ray. The soundtrack is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround in English. This 5.1 audio mix features some nicely placed directional effects (especially during any action sequences), though the real boost comes from John Carpenter and Dave Davies' evocative film score. Also included on this disc are English subtitles.

Extra features include a brand new documentary including interviews with John Carpenter, producer Sandy King, actors Michael Pare, Peter Jason, Karen Kahn, Meredith Salenger, Thomas Dekker, Cody Dorkin, Lindsey Haun, Danielle Wiener-Keaton, and effects artist Greg Nicotero, a revisit of the filming locations ("Horror's Hallowed Grounds"), a lengthy interview with frequent Carpenter actor Peter Jason about his working relationship and personal with the director ("The Go To Guy: Peter Jason on John Carpenter"), vintage interviews with Carpenter, Christopher Reeves, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski, Mark Hamill, and Wold Rilla (the director of the original film), some vintage behind-the-scenes footage, a still gallery, and a theatrical trailer for Village of the Damned.

John Carpenter's Village of the Damned is one of the auteur's lesser works. The sole reason I recommend it is for Carpenter completists (like myself) who just have to have every one of his films on Blu-ray. There are a few good moments sprinkled throughout, but not enough to make it stand with films like Carpenter's The Thing or Escape from New York. As usual, Scream Factory has offered up a fantastic package with solid video and audio and a wealth of newly commissioned extra features. If you are a Village of the Damned fan, I can easily recommend this package on its technical merits alone.

The Verdict

Sadly, not one of John Carpenter's best efforts.

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