VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED REVIEWED

“Village of the Damned” is one of the few Carpenter films that I saw in theaters. I was on a pretty hot streak for a bit going from “Memoirs of an Invisible Man” to “Ghosts of Mars”. But, why doesn’t anyone really stop to examine his take on “Village of the Damned”? It’s an amazing Sci-Fi/Horror novel that so many people have had trouble adapting. While sharing paranoia suburbia similarities to Levin’s “Stepford Wives”, this tale goes a bit further.

“Village of the Damned” wants to be an alien invasion movie, scary kid movie and a parental nightmare flick. While Carpenter leaned heavily on the 1960 adaptation, he never seems quite sure where to amp the gore or delve into the Sci-Fi aspects. So much of the alien investigation gets dropped in clumsy exposition via Kirstie Alley, while Christopher Reeve spends most of his time looking aghast before a third act turn of heart. I guess having your weird hair killer daughter as the Leader of the Damned puts you in an odd spot.

Somewhere between Peter Jason, Michael Pare, Mark Hamill and Linda Kozlowski; the makings of a strong Carpenter late 80s movie existed. Listening to the commentary and watching the bonus feature documentary, the truth came out. Universal wanted a wide audience early summer appealing movie to get asses in seats. What’s sad is that there could’ve been a seriously creepy October release here. But, there’s just so much material crammed into 99 minutes that it makes me wonder why no one attempted the tale as a TV mini-series. Especially when every film attempt glosses over the fact that this alien impregnation invasion has been happening all over the world. It’s just that Midwich is the only community that didn’t kill their kids as infants. Paths not traveled and all that.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New Interviews
• New Featurettes
• Vintage Interviews and Featurettes
• Trailer
• Still Gallery

A/V QUALITY STATS

• 2.35:1 1080p transfer
• DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track

RELEASE DATE: 4/12/16