Village of the Damned (1995 film)
| Village of the Damned | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | John Carpenter |
| Produced by | Michael Preger Sandy King |
| Written by |
Screenplay: David Himmelstein Novel: John Wyndham |
| Starring | |
| Music by | John Carpenter Dave Davies |
| Cinematography | Gary B. Kibbe |
| Edited by | Edward A. Warschilka |
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Production
company |
Alphaville Films
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $22 million |
| Box office | $9.4 million (domestic) |
John Carpenter's Village of the Damned is a 1995 American science fiction-horror film directed by John Carpenter and a remake of the 1960 film of the same name which in turn is based on the novel The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham. The 1995 remake is set in Northern California, whereas the book and original film were both set in the United Kingdom. The 1995 film was marketed with the tagline, "Beware the Children", and stars Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski, Michael Pare, Mark Hamill, and Meredith Salenger. In a 2011 interview Carpenter described the film as a "contractual assignment" which he was "really not passionate about".
The quiet coastal town of Midwich in California's Marin County is invaded by an unseen force, causing a blackout for six hours, which leaves ten women mysteriously pregnant. Nine months later, the babies are born simultaneously on one night, though one is stillborn. At first, they all appear to be normal, but it does not take the parents long to realize that they aren't. The children are shown to all have pale skin, white hair, fierce intellect, and cobalt eyes. However, they also do not appear to possess a conscience or personalities. The children display eerie psychic abilities that can result in violent and deadly consequences whenever they experience pain or provocation.
The children soon "pair off," except for one of the boys, David, whose intended partner was the stillborn baby. As a result, he shows human compassion while still resembling the other children and retaining some degree of psychic powers. Their leader is Mara, the daughter of a local physician, Dr. Alan Chaffee. Mara's mother, Barbara, commits suicide by walking off an ocean cliff. Because of his childhood loss, David understands what the other children do not: emotion. He and his mother Jill McGowan (the local school teacher) share a brief conversation about this, displaying empathy and remorse. The children eventually move to the local barn as their classroom and for survival.
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Wikipedia