Random Movie: Village of the Damned (1995)

In the past two decades, once prolific horror director John Carpenter has made only six features, one of which has not seen a proper release here in America. If Carpenter was still making movies as creepy and effective as Halloween or The Thing, this would be bothersome. Village of the Damned typifies Carpenter’s later entries in the genre, notably bland stories, decent-to-awful acting, and very little redeeming qualities. It was a disappointment especially coming off his far superior film the year prior, In the Mouth of Madness.

The film takes place in the small California town of Midwich, population 2000 (or so the quaint sign says at the beginning). It is not long however that the population tally starts fluctuating as the entire town is struck by an unexplainable mass black-out for six hours. Shortly after the blackout occurs, all of the women of childbearing age become pregnant, some even without the corresponding act of coitus. This is not only worrisome to the residents but also to the town’s doctor Alan (Christopher Reeve) as his wife is one of the newly knocked up. With the help of a fancy government doctor Susan Verner (Kirstie Alley), nine children are delivered at exactly the same time who all grow up with the same creepy eyes, platinum hair, and drab clothing. Oh, and the children can read minds and force others to hurt themselves if they feel threatened.

Based on the 1957 novel The Midwich Cuckoos as well as the 1960 movie of the same name, Village has an abundance of potentially creepy aspects to it that do not actually go anywhere. The concept is neat enough and there are some unsettling moments that play well like when little toddler Mara wills her mother to jump off a cliff. But even with an increasing number of “accidents” as the children come into contact with more people, the town is mostly oblivious of the danger or even willing to question the existence of the near-identical group of kids. It isn’t until the final act of the movie that the children become the overt aggressors and that plays well as they stand motionless in the middle of a street while a woman sets herself on fire or a gaggle of police and military gun each other down.

Imagine The Happening (it’s painful, I know) with children instead of trees and that is almost exactly what we get here right up to the sometimes cringe-worthy acting. Reeve and Alley are decent enough but mostly they both look bored. Mark Hamill plays a Catholic priest with some of the most ridiculously over-the-top dialogue ever (WE NEED FINGERPAINTS!). The rest of the cast is very broad but I cannot place too much fault with them as the story gives no one else an opportunity to stand out. Much like the children, all the adults of the town are cookie-cutter Caucasian Catholics that I kept getting confused with other similar-looking cast members. Was it the redneck, bearded dad that drives his truck into an oddly placed gas tank or was it the scholarly, bearded dad? I don’t remember but it doesn’t really matter.

Its clear that this isn’t Carpenter’s best film but it isn’t his worst either. That frustratingly makes it such an unmemorable proposition to watch that you begin to wish for some truly hammy performances or goofy lines to at least make it stand out.