Review of Village of the Damned (1995) by Armand E — 15 May 2007

Nine months after the citizens of the village of Midwich fall into mysterious comas, twelve women give birth--including a teenager who was still a virgin. All born with white hair, as these chidlren grow, they start displaying telepathic powers and intellectual abilities far beyond their years. Will a coldhearted government scientist (Alley) be able to harness their abilities, or will they destroy all in their path in pursuit of an alien agenda?

"Village of the Damned" is an interesting fusion of the sci-fi and horror genres where Earth is threatened by alien in a very different and refreshing way. It is a tightly made movie, where every scene and every bit of dialogue is important. In fact, it is such a trim movie that it's one of those films that is ruined and rendered slightly incomprehensible at times when aired on network TV--even cable networks like the Sci-Fi Channel.

This is one of those films where the violence and gore is sparse, but when it is present, it is very shocking, impactful, and key to the mood and plot of the film. The inhuman and evil nature of the telepathic children (led by Lindsey Haun and Thomas Dekker) is driven home by the horrible deaths and tortures they visit upon those who they perceive as threatening (or merely annoying) them. Plus, when edited out, the viewer is left wondering "what the hell just happened?", such as when the children confront a mob of villagers wanting to kill them in the movie's third act, and when the Kirstie Alley character suffers her richly deserved fate, it has no impact whatsoever, due to "broadcast standards." This is a film that must be seen on DVD, rather than TV.

That said, this is also a movie that may be a little too trim. That might sound odd if you're a regular reader of my reviews--I tend to complain about too much padding and useless sequences in movies--but this film has the same flaw that all but wrecked "Star Wars: Episode II" and "Star Wars: Episode III": The director completely fails to convey the fact that time passes--sometimes several years--between scenes, and this results in occassional viewer confusion, such as when children who were just babies are suddenly attending school and frightening other children. A little bridging here and there (or even some of the much-dreaded montage sequences) would have been very useful and would have added immensely to the cohesion of the film.

Acting-wise, set-wise, and special effects-wise, the film is pretty decent; it's perhaps the best non "Star Wars" film Mark Hamill has appeared in. Reeve is excellent as the town doctor, who, while recognizing the evil and alieness in the children still tries to reach out to them and teach them humanity, and his performance here truly shows what a loss he was for movie fans.

Despite its flawed construction, "Village of the Damned" is still worth seeing if you enjoy tense sci-fi thrillers. Just don't bother watching it on TV, because you'll be watching a gutted version with its most impactful moments removed.

Village of the Damned.

Starring: Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski, Mark Hamill, Lindsey Haun, Thomas Dekker, Melanie Salenger, and Michael Pare.

Director: John Carpenter.