Village Of The Damned
John Carpenter has had one hell of a career, one of the greatest ever, but in many ways what he is and always has been was a good old fashioned B movie director, whose atmospheres and impeccable sense of style made his efforts a cut above the rest. Take this film of his from 1995, a remake of the 1960 classic now transported to a sleepy California town and populated by a cast of fading 80s icons including Christopher (Superman) Reeve, Linda (Mrs. Crocodile Dundee) Kozlowski, Michael (Eddie And The Cruisers) Pare (highly billed in the credits but the recipient of a VERY early exit), Meredith (Natty Gann) Salenger, and even Mark (Luke Skywalker) Hamill as the town preacher, all complemented by the still somewhat relevant Kirstie Alley as the chain smoking government scientist trying to keep the events under lock and key. The plot remains the same as from 1960, as a mysterious unseen force sweeps through the town rendering all the inhabitants unconscious for an extended period of time. When they awaken, a large number of women (including the town virgin) find themselves suddenly pregnant, which leads to Alley and her government goons sweeping in and informing the populace that they will take care of the townspeople’s needs and even pay them a $3000 allowance per baby per month if the women will bring the babies to term, enlisting the help of Reeve’s town doctor (himself an expectant father) for the mass deliveries. Of course as the babies grow to adolescence, they form a communal bond (as they all look nearly alike) and also display the frightening ability to psychically influence anyone who threatens them to matter of factly take their own lives as a result. Ironically, it is said that they have come to “respect” Reeve, and tolerate him enough that they allow him to become their exclusive tutor, trying to teach them basic subjects as well as the meaning of emotion and humanity, all the while one of them becomes almost kind of an odd duck of the bunch as he learns to display slight signs of empathy, no doubt due to the positive influence of his mother (Kozlowski). Obviously there are good issues raised by the standards of the sci-fi / horror genre, along with a healthy dose of morbid fascination brought on by the sight of one major character after another offing themselves about every 15 minutes or so. It must be said that Lindsey Hahn as the leader of the demonic kids is rather effective at her ability to be both cute and soulless at the same time, and Carpenter contributes the creepy and isolated atmosphere that keeps the story balanced at all times. It can be said that Hamill’s town preacher is not quite right, due possibly to miscasting or not having enough screen time to develop his character, and one gets the sense that the film was heavily edited of a number of important scenes that keeps the pace brisk but causes it to suffer as far as getting to know a number of the characters (Salenger’s virgin suffers from this as well), along with a handful of “what the hell” moments that challenge the story’s credibility. However, Reeve (in his last full performance before his paralyzing accident) provides a strong anchor as the story’s protagonist, earning the demonic kids’ trust at least in a conditional manner while doing his best to try to help the town as well, and the climax, when a boatload of cops and soldiers try to take down the kids only to be induced by them to start shooting each other left and right, is mayhem at its finest. Overall, while not one of the many Ultimate Grand Masterpieces of the Carpenter oeuvre, an entertaining B movie that remembers its roots and keeps it real…
8/10